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Oct 23, 2023 · Explore the geography, regions, and resources of Libya with various maps and facts. Learn about its location, climate, governorates, capital, and more.
- Tripoli (Tarabulus)
- State of Libya
- 1,759,540.00 km 2
- 1,759,540.00 km 2
Libya is a country in northern Africa with a long coastline on the Mediterranean Sea. It has a diverse geography, a turbulent history, a unitary republic government and a rich culture.
Oct 1, 2024 · Detailed Maps of Libya. Libya political map. 2348x2593px / 1.67 Mb Go to Map. Map of Districts of Libya. 2800x2684px / 715 Kb Go to Map. Libya physical map. 1076x1044px / 420 Kb Go to Map. Libya road map. 2296x2374px / 1.33 Mb Go to Map.
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Explore the map of Libya, a North African country with no permanent rivers but rich in oil and gas. Learn about its history, geography, culture and conflicts with the Nations Online Project.
- Overview
- Land
- Relief
- Drainage
- Soils
Libya, country located in North Africa. Most of the country lies in the Sahara desert, and much of its population is concentrated along the coast and its immediate hinterland, where Tripoli (Ṭarābulus), the de facto capital, and Benghazi (Banghāzī), another major city, are located.
Libya comprises three historical regions—Tripolitania in the northwest, Cyrenaica in the east, and Fezzan in the southwest. The Ottoman authorities recognized them as separate provinces. Under Italian rule, they were unified to form a single colony, which gave way to independent Libya. For much of Libya’s early history, both Tripolitania and Cyrenaica were more closely linked with neighbouring territories than with one other.
Libya is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea on the north, Egypt on the east, Sudan on the southeast, Niger and Chad on the south, and Tunisia and Algeria on the west.
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Libya is underlain by basement rocks of Precambrian age (from about 4 billion to 540 million years ago) mantled with marine and wind-borne deposits. The major physical features are the Nafūsah Plateau and the Al-Jifārah (Gefara) Plain in the northwest, the Akhḍar Mountains (“Green Mountains”) in the northeast, and the Saharan plateau, which occupies much of the rest of the country.
The Al-Jifārah Plain covers about 10,000 square miles (26,000 square km) of Libya’s northwestern corner. It rises from sea level to about 1,000 feet (300 metres) at the foothills of the Nafūsah Plateau. Composed of sand dunes, salt marshes, and steppe, the plain is home to most of Libya’s population and to its largest city, Tripoli. The Nafūsah Plateau is a limestone massif that stretches for about 212 miles (340 km) from Al-Khums on the coast to the Tunisian border at Nālūt. West of Tarhūnah it rises steeply from the Al-Jifārah Plain, reaching elevations between 1,500 and 3,200 feet (450 and 975 metres).
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In northeastern Libya, the Akhḍar Mountains stretch along the coast between Al-Marj and Derna. These limestone mountains rise steeply from the coast to about 2,000 feet (600 metres) and then stretch about 20 miles (30 km) inland, reaching nearly 3,000 feet (900 metres) at their highest points.
The Saharan plateau makes up about nine-tenths of Libya. About half of the plateau is sand desert, making it truly a sea of sand. Al-Harūj al-Aswad is a hilly basaltic plateau in central Libya. Covered with angular stone fragments and boulders, it rises to about 2,600 feet (800 metres) and is crowned by volcanic peaks. Al-Ḥamrāʾ Plateau lies south of the Nafūsah Plateau. It harbours bare rock outcroppings that rise to 2,700 feet (820 metres). In the Fezzan region in the southwest, a series of long depressions and basins contain wadis (dry riverbeds) and oasis settlements. Mobile sand dunes that reach heights of 300 feet (90 metres) are found in the Fezzan’s Marzūq desert and in the eastern Libyan Desert, which extends into Egypt. The country’s highest elevations are Bīkkū Bīttī peak (Picco Bette), which rises to 7,436 feet (2,267 metres) on the Libya-Chad border, and Mount Al-ʿUwaynāt, with an elevation of 6,345 feet (1,934 metres) on the Libya-Sudan-Egypt border.
There are no permanent rivers in Libya. The numerous wadis that drain the uplands are filled by flash floods during the rains but then quickly dry up or are reduced to a trickle. The largest wadi systems are the Wadi Zamzam and Wadi Bayy al-Kabīr, both of which empty into the sea on the western coast of the Gulf of Sidra. Other large wadis drain th...
The gray-brown soils of the Al-Jifārah Plain and the Nafūsah Plateau in the west are fertile, although over-irrigation has led to increased soil salination. In the east the soils of the Barce plain—which stretches between the Akhḍar Mountains and the sea—are light and fertile. Rich alluvial soils are found in the coastal deltas and valleys of large...
Libya is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa and a part of the Arab world. Although the country is rich in history and culture and has great tourism potential, the country has been in the news for all the wrong reasons since the 1960s. Overview. Map. Directions.
Learn about Libya's location, size, regions, climate, and natural features. See maps, diagrams, and photos of Libya's topography, coastline, and maritime claims.
