Libya (Arabic: ليبيا Lībiyā; Libyan vernacular: Lībya; Amazigh: ), officially the Great Socialist People's Libyan
Flag of Libya
Arab Jamahiriya ( الجماهيرية العربية الليبية الشعبية الإشتراكية العظمى Al-Jamāhīriyyah al-`Arabiyyah al-Lībiyyah aš-Ša`biyyah al-Ištirākiyyah al-`Udhmā), is a country in North Africa. Bordering the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Libya lies between Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west. With an area of almost 1.8 million square kilometres (700,000 sq mi), 90% of which is desert, Libya is the fourth largest country in Africa by area, and the 17th largest in the world. The capital, Tripoli, is home to 1.7 million of Libya's 5.7 million people.
The three traditional parts of the country are Tripolitania, the Fezzan and Cyrenaica. The name "Libya" is an indigenous (i.e. Berber) one, which is already attested in Egyptian texts as , R'bw (= Libu), which refers to one of the tribes of Berber peoples living west of the Nile. In Greek the tribesmen were called Libyes and their country became "Libya", although in ancient Greece the term had a broader meaning, encompassing all of North Africa west of Egypt, and sometimes referring to the entire continent of Africa. Later on, at the time of Ibn Khaldun, the same, big tribe was known as Lawata[citation needed].
Libya has one of the highest Gross Domestic Products per person in Africa, largely because of its large petroleum reserves.
Location of Libya
The country is led by Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi, whose foreign policy has often brought him into conflict with the West and governments of other African countries. However, Libya publicly gave up any nuclear aspirations after the US invasion of Iraq, and Libya's foreign relations today are less contentious.
Capital: (and largest city) Tripoli
Official languages: Arabic
Government: Jamahiriya - Leader Col. M. al-Gaddafi (de facto) Z. M. az-Zenati (de jure) - Prime Minister Baghdadi Mahmudi
Independence: - relinquished by Italy February 10, 1947 - from France/UK under UN Trusteeship December 24, 1951
Area: - Total 1,759,540 km² (17th) 679,359 sq mi - Water (%) negligible
Population: - estimate 5,670,688 (105th) - 2006 census 5,670,6881 - Density 3.2 /km² (218th) 8.4 /sq mi
GDP (PPP): 2006 estimate - Total $74.97 billion (67th) - Per capita $12,700 (58th)
HDI: (2005) 0.798 (medium) (64th)
Currency: Dinar (LYD)
Time zone: EET (UTC+2) - Summer (DST) not observed (UTC+2)
Arab Countries Guide 
