Libya Population, Main Cities and Geography

By | January 27, 2023

Libya: population and cities

Population

Population

According to Countryaah website, Libya has around 6.7 million people.

Ethnic composition

In Libya predominantly Arabs and minorities of Berbers live in a narrow strip in the north-west, Tuaregs in a smaller area in the west and south-west and Tebus in the south-east. There are also numerous workers from Egypt, China, Turkey, India and Germans – to name a few of the home nations – in the country

Religious

affiliation Islam is the state religion in Libya, around 97% of the population are Muslims (including from the reform order of the Sunni Senussi and Ibadis). There are also Catholic, Coptic and Orthodox minorities.

Overall, around 2.7% profess Christianity.

National language

The official language in Libya is Arabic. In addition, Berber and Nilo-Saharan languages as well as English and Italian are in use.

Capital and other cities

Tripoli

is the capital of Libya is a detailed illustration of the city can be found here >>> Benghazi (including Benghazi) Benghazi has about 650,000 residents and is the second largest city of Libya. The port city is located in the east of the country on the Mediterranean. Tobruk Tobruk has about 125,000 residents and is located in the east of the country on the Atlantic Ocean. Leptis Magna The once third largest city of the Roman Empire is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Already during the Italian colonial era, excavations revealed many theaters, thermal baths, market forums, basilicas and boulevards, which have been preserved in enormous height and with numerous designs. According to Abbreviation Finder, LBY stands for Libya in English. Click to see other meanings of this 3-letter acronym.

Ghadames

Ghadames with its approx. 7,000 residents, who are mainly composed of Berbers and Tuaregs, is an oasis city in the west of the country.

Other cities are:

  • Az-Zawiyah with around 250,000 residents
  • Homs (Al-Khums) with around 150,000 residents
  • Misurata (Misratah) with around 130,000 residents.

Libya: geography, map

Overall, a good 85% of the country’s area is taken up by the Sahara. Only around two percent of the area can be used for agriculture. After Sudan, Algeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya is the fourth largest country in Africa by area. Libya covers an area of 1,775,500 km². Check topmbadirectory for politics, flags, famous people, animals and plants of Libya. Thereof:

  • ForestOnly around 0.1% of the country is forested.
  • DesertAround 90% of the country is occupied by the Sahara.
  • Fields and fieldsAround 2% of the land is used as arable land or fields, especially for growing barley and wheat, date palms, olive trees, tobacco, wine, vegetables and peanuts.

Libya shares a border with the following six countries:

Algeria with a length of 982 km,

Egypt with a length of 1,115 km,

Niger with a length of 354 km,

Sudan with a length of 383 km,

Chad with a length of 1,055 km and

Tunisia with a length of 459 km.

National borders

Libya shares a border with the following six states:

– Algeria with a length of 982 km,

– Egypt with a length of 1,115 km,

– Niger with a length of 354 km,

– Sudan with a length of 383 km,

– Chad with a length of 1,055 km and

– Tunisia with a length of 459 km.

Longitude and latitude

Libya extends over the following geographical latitude (abbreviation Δφ) and geographical longitude (abbreviation Δλ):

Δφ = from around 20 ° to 33 ° north latitude Δλ = from around 009 ° to 025 ° east longitude

You can find detailed information on this subject under Longitude and Latitude.

Time

For Libya, the following value applies to Central European Time (CET), i.e. the time (without summer time) in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. A minus sign means that it is earlier there and a plus sign that it is later than after CET:

Δt (CET) = + 1 h

Further and detailed explanations of the time can be found under Time zones, time.

Highest level of the sun in Tripoli

Tripoli lies at a northern latitude of around φ = 33 °.

As long as the sun is at the tropic, i.e. at δ = 23.5 °, summer starts in Tripoli, June 21st. Then, for the highest position of the sun at noon, according to Eq. 1 (see position of the sun):

33 ° = (90 ° – h) + 23.5 °

so:

H = 80.5 °

With 80.5 ° the sun in Tripoli has the highest level of the entire year above the horizon (more precisely: above the horizon).

mountains

Bikku Bitti

The highest mountain in the country is the Bikku Bitti with a height of 2,267 m.

Rivers

In Libya – as one of the few countries in the world – there are no rivers that carry water all year round.

There are only so-called “wadis” there, which only temporarily carry water after heavy rainfall.

Lakes

There are no larger lakes in Libya.

The Sahara

The Sahara covers an area of around 9 million km², making it the largest dry desert in the world. However, only about 20% of the Sahara is what can be described as a sandy desert. In contrast, 80% of it is a stone or rubble desert. The Sahara in northern Africa stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Nile and on the other side further to the Red Sea in the east. In the north it is bounded by the Maghreb – Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya, in the south lies the Sahel zone.

Sand dunes of the kind that an outsider would imagine can be found in the Ténéré sand desert in Niger – which is often referred to as the desert in the desert (Sahara). There are “real” sand dunes with heights of up to 400 m, and there are also a few wadis (rivers that only carry water at times) and valleys with numerous plants and animals. Mainly Tuaregs live here. Numerous dinosaur fossils were found in the vicinity of Tiguidit, proof that the climate here was significantly different in their time (they died out 60 million years ago). In the west it is bounded by the Air Mountains.

Countries in which parts of the Sahara are located in addition to Libya: Egypt, Algeria, Mali, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger, Sudan, Chad and Tunisia. The few residents of the Sahara are Arabs, Berbers and Moors as well as small groups of Tubu or Tuaregs.

Great Syrte, Mediterranean

In the north of the country, Libya borders on the Great Syrte over a length of around 1,770 km and thus directly on the Mediterranean Sea.

Libya Population