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Libya (Arabic: ليبيا Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya, 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 seventeenth largest in the world. The capital, Tripoli, is also Libya's largest city. The three traditional parts of the country are Tripolitania, the Fezzan and Cyrenaica.

Flag of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

Libya was ruled by Muammar Gaddafi under the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya for 42 years before he was overthrown and killed by rebel forces during the 2011 Libyan civil war. From 2014 to 2020 the country endured a second civil war between rival governments based in Tripoli and Tobruk. The Libyan economy has historically depended primarily upon revenues from the oil sector, and under Gaddafi's government these oil revenues combined with a small population gave Libya one of the highest GDPs per person in Africa. (Read more...)