Africa
North Africa

Libya

Libya is a country in the region of 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.
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Photo: MrPanyGoff, GFDL.
Photo: Wikimedia, CC0.

Essential Destinations

Top destinations include Tripoli and Benghazi.

Photo: Jaw101ie, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is the capital, largest city, principal harbour and biggest commercial and manufacturing centre of the country of Libya. is in the north-west of Libya on the Mediterranean Sea. It is home to about 1.3 million people…

Photo: Dennixo, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is the second largest city in Libya, with a population of 630,000. It is a center of Libyan commerce, industry, transport and culture. It continues to hold institutions and organizations normally associated with a capital city, including several national government buildings as well as the National Library of Libya.

Photo: Wikimedia, Public domain.
is a commercial and industrial city in eastern Libya. It is a base to explore the nearby tourist areas such as the Ancient Greek ruins of Cyrene and Apollonia, and Libyan Desert trips south into Kufra.

Destinations to Discover

Explore places such as Surt and Misrata.

Photo: Chapultepec, Public domain.
is a city in Libya, best known as Muammar Gaddhafi's hometown. Prior to the civil war of 2011 it was bestowed with a number of governmental edifices subsequently destroyed by NATO aerial bombardment, relentless shelling by NTC rebel forces and then…

Photo: عبدالرحمن عبدالمنعم بعيو, CC BY-SA 4.0.
is a city in northwestern Libya located in the , situated 187 km to the east of on the Mediterranean coast near Cape .

Photo: Wikimedia, CC0.
, also spelled Lepcis Magna, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the Mediterranean coast of in the region of Libya.

Photo: Mario1952, CC BY-SA 1.0.
is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the and has a population of 120,000.

Photo: Robamler, CC BY-SA 3.0.
also known as Ghadames is an oasis town in Libya. The old part of the town is inscribed on UNESCO World Heritage List.

Photo: Houss 2020, CC BY-SA 4.0.
, in the of Libya, was the westernmost of the ancient "three cities" of Roman Tripolis, alongside Oea and . From 2001 to 2007 it was the capital of the former .

Photo: Zcarstvnz, CC BY-SA 4.0.
is a port city in northwestern Libya. It is famous for its beaches and seafood. It is the capital of the Nuqat al Khams district.

Photo: Pierre-Marie Tricaud, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is the capital of the municipality by the same name in Libya. It was once the capital of the ancient Fezzan region.

Photo: Sfivat, Public domain.
or Awbari is an oasis town and the capital of the , in the Fezzan region of southwestern Libya. It is in the Idehan , a Libyan section of the Sahara Desert.

Photo: Franzfoto, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is the capital of the in the Fezzan region of southwestern Libya, located just east of the border.

Photo: Wikimedia, Public domain.
is a town of 31,000 people in Kufra district, southeastern Libya. The city lies in the largest oasis in the Kufra basin.

Photo: Wikimedia, CC0.
is a town in northeastern Libya, on the Mediterranean coast. It is the birthplace of St. Mark the Evangelist.
Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Libya

  • Type: Country with 5,610,000 residents
  • Description: sovereign state in North Africa
  • Also known as: “Dawlat Lībiyā”, “LBA”, “Lībiyā”, “ly”, “State of Libya”, and “阿拉伯利比亚民众国”
  • Historically known as: “Al Jamāhīrīyah al ‘Arabīyah al Lībīyah ash Sha‘bīyah al Ishtirākīyah”, “Al Jumhūrīyah al ‘Arabīyah al Lībīyah”, “Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya”, “Kingdom of Libya”, “Libyan Arab Jamahiriyah”, “Libyan Arab Republic”, and “Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya”
  • Languages: Arabic, Italian, and English
  • Neighbors: , , , , , , and
  • Categories: sovereign state, Mediterranean country, and locality
  • Location: ,
  • View on Open­Street­Map
Latitude of center
27.14° or 27° 8′ 24″ north
Longitude of center
17.62° or 17° 37′ 12″ east
Population
5,610,000
Area
1,759,540 km² (679,362 miles²)
Elevation
512 metres (1,680 feet)
Capital
Currency
Dinar (LYD)
Phone code
.ly
Internet domain
218
Open­Street­Map ID
node 432425023
Open­Street­Map feature
place=­country
Geo­Names ID
2215636
Wiki­data ID
Q1016
This page is based on OpenStreetMap, GeoNames, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikivoyage.
We’d love your help improving our open data sources. Thank you for contributing.

Satellite Map

Discover Libya from above in high-definition satellite imagery.
© Stadia Maps, Airbus DS, CNES, PlanetObserver, and Copernicus

In Other Languages

From Abkhazian to Zulu—“Libya” goes by many names.
  • Abkhazian: “Ливиа Ахәынҭқарра”
  • Abkhazian: “Ливиа”
  • Achinese: “Libya”
  • Adyghe: “Ливие”
  • Afrikaans: “Libië”
  • Akan: “Libya”
  • Albanian: “Libi”
  • Albanian: “Libia”
  • Amharic: “ሊቢያ”
  • Amis: “Libya”
  • Ancient Greek (to 1453): “Λιβύη”
  • Angika: “लीबिया”
  • Arabic: “اَلْجَمَاهِيرِيَّة اَلْعَرَبِيَّة اَللِّيبِيَّة اَلشَّعْبِيَّة اَلإِشْتِرَاكِيَّة” (historical)
  • Arabic: “الجمهورية الليبية”
  • Arabic: “الليبي”
  • Arabic: “الليبية”
  • Arabic: “الليبين”
  • Arabic: “دولة ليبيا”
  • Arabic: “لوبيا (دولة)”
  • Arabic: “لوبيا (ليبيا)”
  • Arabic: “لوبية (دولة)”
  • Arabic: “لوبية (ليبيا)”
  • Arabic: “ليببيا”
  • Arabic: “ليبي”
  • Arabic: “ليبيا”
  • Arabic: “ليبية”
  • Aragonese: “Libia”
  • Armenian: “Լիբիա”
  • Arpitan: “Libie”
  • Assamese: “লিবিয়া”
  • Asturian: “Libia”
  • Atayal: “Libya”
  • Azerbaijani: “Liviya”
  • Balinese: “Libya”
  • Bambara: “Libi”
  • Bambara: “Libya”
  • Banjar: “Libya”
  • Bashkir: “Ливия”
  • Basque: “Libia”
  • Bavarian: “Libyen”
  • Belarusian: “Лібія”
  • Belarusian: “Лівія”
  • Bengali: “লিবিয়া”
  • Betawi: “Libi”
  • Bhojpuri: “लिबिया”
  • Bhojpuri: “लिब्या”
  • Bhojpuri: “लीबिया”
  • Bhojpuri: “लीब्या”
  • Bishnupriya: “লিবিয়া”
  • Bislama: “Libia”
  • Bosnian: “Libija”
  • Breton: “Libia”
  • Buginese: “Libia”
  • Buginese: “Libiya”
  • Buginese: “ᨒᨗᨅᨗᨐ”
  • Buginese: “ᨒᨗᨅᨗᨕ”
  • Bulgarian: “Либийска Арабска Джамахирия” (historical)
  • Bulgarian: “Либия”
  • Burmese: “လစ်ဗျား”
  • Burmese: “လစ်ဗျားနိုင်ငံ”
  • Catalan: “Estat de Líbia”
  • Catalan: “Líbia”
  • Cebuano: “Libya”
  • Central Bikol: “Libya”
  • Central Kanuri: “Libya”
  • Central Kurdish: “لیبیا”
  • Chavacano: “Libya”
  • Chechen: “Ливи”
  • Chinese: “Lìbǐyà”
  • Chinese: “Libya”
  • Chinese: “利比亚 / 利比亞”
  • Chinese: “利比亚”
  • Chinese: “利比亚国”
  • Chinese: “利比亞”
  • Chinese: “利比亞國”
  • Chuvash: “Ливи”
  • Cornish: “Libi”
  • Cornish: “Lybi”
  • Corsican: “Libia”
  • Crimean Tatar: “Libiya”
  • Croatian: “Država Libija”
  • Croatian: “Libija”
  • Croatian: “Libijska Arapska Džamahirija” (historical)
  • Czech: “Libye”
  • Dagbani: “Libya”
  • Danish: “Libyan Arab Jamahiriya”
  • Danish: “Libyen”
  • Dhivehi: “ލީބިޔާ”
  • Dimli (individual language): “Libya”
  • Dinka: “Libya”
  • Dotyali: “लिबिया”
  • Dutch: “LBY”
  • Dutch: “Libie”
  • Dutch: “Libië”
  • Dutch: “Libische Arabische Republiek”
  • Dutch: “LY”
  • Dzongkha: “ལི་བི་ཡ”
  • Eastern Mari: “Ливий”
  • Egyptian Arabic: “ليبيا”
  • Esperanto: “Libio”
  • Esperanto: “LY”
  • Esperanto: “Ŝtato Libio”
  • Estonian: “Liibüa Riik”
  • Estonian: “Liibüa”
  • Ewe: “Libia”
  • Ewe: “Libya nutome”
  • Ewe: “Libya”
  • Extremaduran: “Líbia”
  • Farefare: “Libya”
  • Faroese: “Libya”
  • Fiji Hindi: “Libya”
  • Finnish: “Libya”
  • Finnish: “Libyan Arab Jamahiriya”
  • Finnish: “Libyan valtio”
  • French: “l’État de Libye”
  • French: “Libye”
  • French: “LY”
  • French: “Jamahiriya arabe libyenne” (historical)
  • Fulah: “Libi”
  • Fulah: “Libiya”
  • Gagauz: “Libiya”
  • Gagauz: “Liviya”
  • Galician: “Libia”
  • Ganda: “Libya”
  • Georgian: “ლიბია”
  • German: “Libyen”
  • German: “Staat Libyen”
  • German: “Libysch-Arabische Dschamahirija” (historical)
  • Ghanaian Pidgin English: “Libya”
  • Ghanaian Pidgin English: “State of Libya”
  • Gilaki: “ليبي”
  • Goan Konkani: “लिबिया”
  • Gorontalo: “Libya”
  • Greek: “Λιβύη”
  • Greek: “Λιβυκή Αραβική Τζαμαχιρία”
  • Guarani: “Livia”
  • Guarani: “Lívia”
  • Guianese Creole French: “Libi”
  • Gujarati: “લિબિયા”
  • Gujarati: “લીબિયા”
  • Haitian: “Libi”
  • Hakka Chinese: “Libya”
  • Hausa: “Libiya”
  • Hausa: “Libya”
  • Hebrew: “לוב”
  • Hindi: “लीबिया”
  • Hungarian: “Líbia Állam”
  • Hungarian: “Líbia”
  • Hungarian: “Líbiai Arab Jamahiriya”
  • Iban: “Libia”
  • Icelandic: “Líbía”
  • Icelandic: “Líbýa”
  • Ido: “Libia”
  • Igbo: “Libia”
  • Igbo: “Libya”
  • Iloko: “Libya”
  • Inari Sami: “Libya staatâ”
  • Inari Sami: “Libya”
  • Indonesian: “Libya”
  • Interlingua: “Libya”
  • Interlingue: “Libya”
  • Irish: “an Libia”
  • Irish: “An Libia”
  • Italian: “Libia, Repubblica Araba”
  • Italian: “Libia”
  • Italian: “Repubblica Libica”
  • Jamaican Creole English: “Libia”
  • Japanese: “リビア”
  • Japanese: “リビア国”
  • Japanese: “社会主義人民リビア・アラブ国”
  • Javanese: “Libya”
  • Kabiyè: “Liibii”
  • Kabyle: “Libya”
  • Kalaallisut: “Libya”
  • Kalmyk: “Либудин Аһу Социгализмин Араб Улс Орн”
  • Kannada: “ಲಿಬಿಯಾ”
  • Kannada: “ಲಿಬ್ಯಾ”
  • Kara-Kalpak: “Libya”
  • Kara-Kalpak: “Liviya”
  • Kashmiri: “لِبیا”
  • Kashmiri: “لیٖبیا”
  • Kashubian: “Libiô”
  • Kazakh: “Ливия”
  • Khmer: “លីប៊ី”
  • Kikuyu: “Libya”
  • Kinyarwanda: “Libiya”
  • Kirghiz: “Ливия”
  • Komering: “Libya”
  • Kongo: “Libia”
  • Korean: “리비아”
  • Kotava: “Libia”
  • Kurdish: “Lîbya”
  • Kurdish: “لیبیا”
  • Ladin: “Libia”
  • Ladino: “Libya”
  • Lao: “ລິເບຍ”
  • Latin: “Libya”
  • Latvian: “Lībija”
  • Ligurian: “Libia”
  • Limburgan: “Libië”
  • Lingala: “Libí”
  • Lingala: “Libîya”
  • Lingua Franca Nova: “Libia”
  • Literary Chinese: “利比亞”
  • Lithuanian: “Libija”
  • Lithuanian: “Libijos Didžioji Liaudies Socialistinė Arabų Respublika”
  • Livvi: “Livii”
  • Lojban: “libgu’e”
  • Lombard: “Libia”
  • Low German: “Libië”
  • Low German: “Libyen”
  • Lower Sorbian: “Libyska”
  • Luba-Katanga: “Libi”
  • Luxembourgish: “Libyen”
  • Macedo-Romanian: “Libia”
  • Macedonian: “Либија”
  • Madurese: “Libya”
  • Maithili: “लीबिया”
  • Malagasy: “Libia”
  • Malagasy: “Libya”
  • Malay: “Libya”
  • Malayalam: “ലിബിയ”
  • Maltese: “il-Libja”
  • Maltese: “l-Istat tal-Libja”
  • Maltese: “Libja”
  • Manipuri: “ꯂꯤꯕꯤꯌꯥ”
  • Manx: “Yn Leeb”
  • Maori: “Rīpia”
  • Marathi: “लिबिया”
  • Marathi: “लीबिया”
  • Mazanderani: “لیبی”
  • Min Dong Chinese: “Libya”
  • Min Dong Chinese: “Lṳ̄-bī-ā”
  • Min Nan Chinese: “Libya”
  • Minangkabau: “Libya”
  • Mingrelian: “ლიბია”
  • Mirandese: “Líbia”
  • Moksha: “Кирдемастор Либия”
  • Moksha: “Либия”
  • Mongolian: “Ливи”
  • Moroccan Arabic: “ليبيا”
  • N'Ko: “ߟߌߓߌ߫”
  • Nauru: “Libya”
  • Navajo: “Haʼaʼaahjí Ghą́ą́ʼaskʼidii Biłikahii Bikéyah”
  • Neapolitan: “Libbia”
  • Nepali: “लिबिया”
  • Newari: “लिब्या”
  • North Ndebele: “Libhiya”
  • Northern Frisian: “Libyen”
  • Northern Frisian: “Liibyen”
  • Northern Luri: “لیبی”
  • Northern Sami: “Libya stáhta”
  • Northern Sami: “Libya”
  • Norwegian Bokmål: “Den sosialistiske arabiske folkerepublikken Libya”
  • Norwegian Bokmål: “Libya”
  • Norwegian Bokmål: “Staten Libya”
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: “Libya”
  • Norwegian: “Libya”
  • Novial: “Libia”
  • Obolo: “Libia”
  • Occitan (post 1500): “Libia”
  • Official Aramaic (700-300 BCE): “ܠܘܒܐ”
  • Official Aramaic (700-300 BCE): “ܠܝܒܝܐ”
  • Old English (ca. 450-1100): “Libia”
  • Oriya: “ଲିବିଆ”
  • Oriya: “ଲିବ୍ୟା”
  • Oromo: “Liibiyaa”
  • Ossetian: “Ливи”
  • Pali: “लिबिया”
  • Pampanga: “Libya”
  • Pangasinan: “Libia”
  • Pangasinan: “Libya”
  • Panjabi: “ਲੀਬੀਆ”
  • Papiamento: “Libia”
  • Pedi: “Libya”
  • Persian: “لیبویه”
  • Persian: “لیبی”
  • Persian: “لیبیا”
  • Pfaelzisch: “Libye”
  • Pfaelzisch: “Libyen”
  • Piemontese: “Libia”
  • Pitcairn-Norfolk: “Libiia”
  • Polish: “Libia”
  • Polish: “Libijska”
  • Portuguese: “Líbia Árabe Jamahiriya”
  • Portuguese: “Líbia”
  • Portuguese: “Republica da Líbia”
  • Portuguese: “República da Líbia”
  • Pushto: “لیبیا”
  • Pushto: “لېبيا”
  • Quechua: “Libia”
  • Quechua: “Libya”
  • Quechua: “Lipya”
  • Romanian: “Libia, Jamahiriya Arabă”
  • Romanian: “Libia”
  • Romansh: “Libia”
  • Rundi: “Libiya”
  • Russia Buriat: “Ливи”
  • Russian: “Государство Ливия”
  • Russian: “Ливия”
  • Rusyn: “Лібія”
  • Sakizaya: “Libya”
  • Samoan: “Libya”
  • Samogitian: “Lėbėjė”
  • Sango: “Libïi”
  • Sanskrit: “लिबिया”
  • Sardinian: “Lìbia”
  • Saterfriesisch: “Libyen”
  • Scots: “Libie”
  • Scottish Gaelic: “Libia”
  • Serbian: “Libija”
  • Serbian: “Либија”
  • Serbo-Croatian: “Libija”
  • Shan: “မိူင်းလိပ်ႉပျႃး”
  • Shona: “Libya”
  • Shona: “Ribhiya”
  • Sicilian: “Libbia”
  • Sicilian: “Lìbbia”
  • Silesian: “Libijo”
  • Sindhi: “لبيا”
  • Sinhala: “ලිබියාව”
  • Skolt Sami: “Libya riikk”
  • Skolt Sami: “Libya valdia”
  • Skolt Sami: “Libya”
  • Slovak: “Líbya”
  • Slovak: “Lýbijská arabská džamahírija”
  • Slovenian: “Libija”
  • Slovenian: “Libijska arabska Jamahiriya”
  • Somali: “Libiya”
  • Somali: “Liibya”
  • South Azerbaijani: “لیبی”
  • Southern Sotho: “Libya”
  • Spanish: “Estado de Libia”
  • Spanish: “Libia, República Árabe”
  • Spanish: “Libia”
  • Standard Moroccan Tamazight: “ⵍⵉⴱⵢⴰ”
  • Sundanese: “Libya”
  • Swahili: “Libya”
  • Swati: “ILibhiya”
  • Swedish: “Libyen”
  • Swedish: “Staten Libyen”
  • Swiss German: “Libye”
  • Sylheti: “ꠟꠤꠛꠤꠀ”
  • Tachelhit: “Libya”
  • Tagalog: “Libya”
  • Tajik: “Либиё”
  • Tajik: “Либия”
  • Talysh: “Libijə”
  • Talysh: “Libya”
  • Tamil: “லிபியா”
  • Taroko: “Libya”
  • Tatar: “Ливия”
  • Telugu: “లిబియా”
  • Thai: “ประเทศลิเบีย”
  • Thai: “ลิเบีย”
  • Tibetan: “ལི་པི་ཡ།”
  • Tibetan: “ལི་བི་ཡ།”
  • Tigrinya: “ሊቢያ”
  • Tigrinya: “ሊብያ”
  • Tonga (Tonga Islands): “Līpia”
  • Tosk Albanian: “Libyen”
  • Tsonga: “Libiya”
  • Tumbuka: “Libya”
  • Tumbuka: “State of Libya”
  • Tunisian Arabic: “ليبيا”
  • Turkish: “Libya”
  • Turkmen: “Liwiýa”
  • Twi: “Libia”
  • Twi: “Libya”
  • Tyap: “Li̱biya”
  • Tyap: “Si̱tet Li̱biya”
  • Udmurt: “Ливия”
  • Uighur: “لىۋىيە”
  • Ukrainian: “Держава Лівія”
  • Ukrainian: “Лівійська Арабська Джамахірія”
  • Ukrainian: “Лівія”
  • Upper Sorbian: “Libyska”
  • Urdu: “لیبیا”
  • Uzbek: “Liviya”
  • Venetian: “Lìbia”
  • Venetian: “Łìbia”
  • Veps: “Livii”
  • Vietnamese: “Li-bi”
  • Vietnamese: “Libya”
  • Vietnamese: “Libyan Arab Jamahiriya”
  • Vietnamese: “Nhà nước Libya”
  • Vlaams: “Libië”
  • Vlax Romani: “Libiya”
  • Volapük: “Lübän”
  • Võro: “Liibüä”
  • Walloon: “Libeye”
  • Waray (Philippines): “Libya”
  • Welsh: “Libia”
  • Welsh: “Libya”
  • Western Armenian: “Լիպիա”
  • Western Balochi: “لیبیا”
  • Western Frisian: “Libië”
  • Western Frisian: “Lybje”
  • Western Mari: “Ливи”
  • Western Panjabi: “لبیا”
  • Western Panjabi: “لیبیا”
  • Wolof: “Libi”
  • Wu Chinese: “利比亚”
  • Yakut: “Лиибийэ”
  • Yiddish: “ליביע”
  • Yoruba: “Libiya”
  • Yoruba: “Líbyà”
  • Yue Chinese: “利比亞”
  • Zeeuws: “Libië”
  • Zhuang: “Libya”
  • Zulu: “i-Libya”
  • Zulu: “ILibhiya”
  • Zulu: “ILibiya”
  • “LBY”
  • “Lėbėjė”
  • “Libia”
  • “Libya”
  • “Liibüä”
  • “LY”
  • “ma Lipija”
  • “लीबिया”

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About Mapcarta. Data © OpenStreetMap contributors and available under the Open Database License". Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, except for photos, directions, and the map. Description text is based on the Wikivoyage page “Libya”. Photo: Wikimedia, CC0.