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Where is Libya?
About Libya
The Land
The People
Life and Death
Health, Energy and the Environment
Education and Work
Travel, Communication and the Media

Libya is a vast country in the north east of Africa.

Libya borders the Mediterranean Sea.

The land is mostly flat.

The geographical coordinates for the centre of Libya, also known as lines of latitude and longitude, are:-
Latitude - 25 00N
Longitude - 17 00E

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Check the weather in Tripoli now.

This is the time in Tripoli now

The Libyan flag is three horizontal stripes of red (top), black (double width), and green with a white crescent and star centered on the black stripe. The colors represent the three major regions of the country. The crescent and star represent Islam, the main religion of the country.

The capital of Libya is Tripoli.

Libya is a in the middle of a civil war with no recognied government.

In elections everyone over the age of 18 can vote.

The currency in Libya is the Libyan dinar.

Arabic is the official language.

Hear the National Anthem


These are the anthem words

The words ×

These are the words to the Libyan National Anthem called Libya, Libya, Libya. It was restored as the anthem in 2011. This is a translation of the words.
If anthem fails to play click here

Chorus
Oh my country! With my struggle and my patience. Drive off enemies and mishaps,
And survive! Survive all through, we are your ransom, Oh Libya! 

Oh my country! You are the heritage of grandfathers, May God cast off any hand that would harm you
Do survive! We are for ever your soldiers, If you survive we care not who perishes. To you we give solemn pledges
That we, Oh Libya, will never fail you. We will never go back to fetters, we have been liberated, and we have freed our home country. Libya, Libya, Libya. 

Chorus

>Our grandfathers carried their swords when struggle called on them, Carrying the holy Quran in a hand, and the swords in the other
They fought till they spread religion, peace and prosperity all over the world. Eternity for them
They have built the integrity of our country. Libya, Libya, Libya.

Chorus

O son of Libya, oh sons of wild lions, We are for glory And glory is yours
Since we began our struggle, all people were with us, may god protect our independence
Seek the ultimate heights and be ready for the struggle, our youth. Life is a war for the glory of our home land. Libya, Libya, Libya.

Chorus

We have already written our own history of England but are asking schools in Libya to provide us with a detailed history of their own country. Check how here.


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The total land area of Libya is 1,759,740 sq kms which is the 4th largest in Africa.

Libya has no lakes, rivers and canals.

Libya has boundaries with 6 countries

• Egypt 1,115 kms
• Chad 1,050 kms
• Algeria 989 kms
• Tunisia 461 kms
• Sudan 382 kms
• Niger 342 kms

Libya has a coastline of 1,770 kms which is the 8th longest in Africa.

The highest point in Libya is Bikku Bitti at 2,267 metres.

The pie chart below shows how the land is split between agricultural land (crops and pastures), forests and other, which can be towns, villages, desert or frozen waste called tundra.

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The total population of Libya is 6.75 million people, making it the 34th largest country in Africa by population.

Of this number 3.26 million are females and 3.49 million are males.

A person from Libya is called a Libyan.

To be a citizen of Libya, one parent or grandparent must be a citizen of Libya. It is not sufficient to be born in Libya. You have to live in Libya for 3 to 5 years before you can begin to apply for citizenship.

The largest five cities in Libya, by population are:-

• Tripoli 1,150,989 people
• Benghazi 650,629
• Misratah 386,120
• Tarhuna 210,697
• Al Khums 201,943

For each country we will give you a diagram showing the population density. This is the average number of people for each square kilometre. Each little Owlbut is 1 person and the big yellow rectangle is 1 sq km. After a while you can compare countries and see which ones are the most crowded. Remember it is only an average as more people live closer together in towns and cities than in villages out in the country.



80.1% of the people live in cities or towns.

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The birth rate in Libya is 17.2 births per 1,000 of population

The death rate in Libya is 3.7 deaths per 1,000 people.

Check this against the birth rate. If the death rate is higher than the birth rate then the population will decrease unless immigrants arrive in the country.

There are 9.6 deaths of girls under 1 year per 1,000 of births and 11.3 deaths of boys.

The median age for females is 29.2 and for males is 29.5. The median age is that age which divides the population exactly in half so there are the same number of people above the median age as below it.

We have no figures for the average age of a woman when she has her first child.

The elderly dependency ratio is 6.4. This is the number of elderly people (ages 65+) per 100 people of working age (ages 15-64).

The potential support ratio is 15.5. This is the number of working-age people (ages 15-64) per one elderly person (ages 65+). As a population ages, the potential support ratio tends to fall, meaning there are fewer potential workers to support the elderly.

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Libya spends 5.0% of its total income on health care.

There are 2.09 doctors per 1,000 people.

There are 3.7 hospital beds per 1,000 people.

32.5% of the population are estimated as obese.

54.2% of the urban population and 54.9% of the rural population have drinking water that is either piped into their home or they have access to a public tap, a protected borehole, well, spring or protected rainwater collection facility.

96.8% of the urban population and 95.7% of the rural population have access to a flushing toilet that is connected to a sewer, a pit latrine (that is a permanent hole in the ground that is looked after) or a composting toilet.

Libya releases 57.0 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by burning fossil fuels in the process of producing and consuming energy. This puts it as the 5th highest in Africa.

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We have no figures for the amount Libya spends of its total income on education.

Children usually start school at age 6 in Libya. Primary education is for six years until age 12 and secondary education must continue till 15 but can go on to 18/19. This may be followed by further education at a university or college.

We are awaiting information for school terms in Libya.

85.6% of females and 96.7% of males are able to read and write by the age of 15.

48.7% of all people aged between 16 and 24 are not in work. Among females 67.8% are unemployed while with males 40.8% can't find work.

The total number of people available for work in Libya is 1.11 million.

They work in the following sectors.

• Agriculture includes farming, fishing and forestry work
• Industry includes mining, manufacturing, construction and energy workers
• Services is everything else

30.0% of the workforce are unemployed.

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There are 68 paved airports in Libya, which is the 3rd highest number in Africa.


There are no railways in Libya.


There are 100,024 kilometres of roads in Libya, which means Libya is in 9th place for the most kilometres of roads in Africa.

There is 1 major national newspapers in Libya.

There are 7.66 million mobile phone users.

21% of the people have a fixed landline.



1.33 million people have access to the internet at home via any device (computer or mobile).

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