Country · Africa
Libya
State of Libya
Libya is a country in Northern Africa. Its capital city is Tripoli. About 6.7 million people live there, in an area of 1 759 540 square kilometres.
Picture credit: Sanadalahlafi (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Abdul-Jawad Elhusuni (عبدالجواد الحسوني) (CC BY-SA 3.0) · SamiAlshalwi (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Daniel and Kate Pett (CC BY 2.0) · Cüneyt Türksen (CC BY 3.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Libya?
Libya lies in Northern Africa, on the continent of Africa.
It sits in the northern half of the world, roughly 2 783 km from the equator.
It shares a border with 6 countries: Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Niger, Sudan and Tunisia.
How big is Libya?
Libya covers 1 759 540 square kilometres.
That is about 4.9 times the size of Germany.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 16th largest.
Spread out evenly, that is roughly 3.8 people per square kilometre.
Who lives in Libya?
About 6.7 million people live in Libya.
That is the 107th biggest population in the world.
People here speak Arabic.
They pay with the Libyan dinar (ل.د).
On average, people born here can expect to live about 76 years.
The land of Libya
It lies between the tropics and the poles, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes Libya different?
Websites from here often end in .ly.
Libya and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about 0.9 live in Libya.
It takes up about 1.3 % of all the land that countries stand on.
Within Africa it is the 4th largest of 54 countries, and the 35th most populated.
That is emptier than the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Libya and its neighbours
Algeria, its largest neighbour, is about 1.4 times bigger.
Algeria has more people: 42.2 million against 6.7 million.
Where this country lands in the record lists
Questions children ask
What is the capital of Libya?
The capital of Libya is Tripoli. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in Libya?
About 6.7 million people live in Libya, which makes it the 107th most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
Which countries border Libya?
Libya borders Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Niger, Sudan and Tunisia — 6 neighbours in total.
How big is Libya?
Libya covers 1 759 540 square kilometres, making it the 16th largest country in the world. That is about 4.9 times the size of Germany.
Which continent is Libya in?
Libya is in Africa, in the part called Northern Africa.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
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