Libya 🇱🇾
Libya is a country in Africa with a population of 6,812,341. Its capital is Tripoli. The official currency is LYD, and the main languages are Arabic.
Quick facts
- Capital: Tripoli
- Continent: Africa
- Population: 6,812,341
- Area: 1,759,540 km²
- Density: 3.9 people per km²
- Currency: LYD
- Languages: Arabic
- ISO code: LY
Where Libya sits
Libya 🇱🇾 is one of 54 countries in Africa, with its capital at Tripoli. It covers 1,759,540 square kilometres — 16th in the world — and is home to about 6,812,341 people, 106th globally.
The countries it shares a continent with include Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania. If you are learning geography region by region — which works far better than alphabetically, because memory for places is spatial — those are the ones to learn alongside it.
How Libya compares
Raw figures are hard to hold on their own, so it helps to anchor them. In population, Libya sits closest to Bulgaria and Paraguay. In land area, its nearest counterparts are Sudan and Iran.
At 3.9 people per square kilometre it is far below the world average of 59.4. It ranks higher by area than by population, so it is more spacious than its population alone suggests.
Arabic is an official language in 25 countries here, among them Algeria, Bahrain, Chad and Comoros, and 20 others. The LYD is used by Libya and no one else.
To see Libya next to every other country, sort the country rankings by population, area or density; its currency and languages are listed alongside every other country's in world currencies and world languages.
How to remember Libya
Tripoli, the capital and largest city, is on the Mediterranean coast in the northwest. Its old name 'Tripoli-of-the-West' tells it apart from Tripoli in Lebanon. For the flag, three regions, three stripes, with the moon and star on the wide black middle one.
The flag of Libya: red, black, green and white
🇱🇾 The flag is three horizontal stripes of red, black (twice as wide) and green, with a white crescent and star in the middle. Each colour stands for one of the three historic regions: red for Fezzan, black for Cyrenaica and green for Tripolitania. The crescent and star stand for Islam. The design was first used by the Kingdom of Libya from 1951 and was brought back in 2011.
Region and neighbours
Libya is a large country in the Maghreb region of North Africa, on the Mediterranean Sea, where the Sahara and the Libyan Desert cover most of the land. It shares land borders with 6 countries: Egypt, Sudan, Chad, Niger, Algeria and Tunisia.
- Egypt 🇪🇬 — capital Cairo
- Sudan 🇸🇩 — capital Khartoum
- Chad 🇹🇩 — capital N'Djamena
- Niger 🇳🇪 — capital Niamey
- Algeria 🇩🇿 — capital Algiers
- Tunisia 🇹🇳 — capital Tunis
Three facts about Libya
- Libya is the fourth-largest country in Africa, and over 95% of its land is desert.
- The Great Man-Made River is the world's largest irrigation project. It pumps ancient underground water from the desert to the coast.
- Tripoli was founded in the 7th century BC by the Phoenicians.
Sources: Wikipedia: Libya, Wikipedia: Flag of Libya, Wikipedia: Tripoli, Libya, CIA World Factbook.
Quiz yourself on Libya
- African capitals quiz — match Libya to Tripoli
- African flags quiz — spot the Libya flag among its neighbours
Quizzes that include Libya
Three angles are worth covering for any country — where it is, what its flag looks like, and what its capital is. For Libya those are:
- Africa map quiz — place it on a blank map
- Africa flags quiz — identify its flag among its neighbours
- Africa capitals quiz — match it to Tripoli
- Libya capital quiz — five quick questions starting with Libya
- Daily Map Challenge — five countries to find on a blank world map, the same five for everyone each day
Doing all three for one continent before moving on is far more efficient than learning flags globally, then capitals globally, then the map.
Read more about Libya
- Capital of Libya: Tripoli — the capital in detail, with size and density rankings
- All 54 countries of Africa
Nearby countries
- Algeria 🇩🇿 — capital Algiers
- Angola 🇦🇴 — capital Luanda
- Benin 🇧🇯 — capital Porto-Novo
- Botswana 🇧🇼 — capital Gaborone
- Burkina Faso 🇧🇫 — capital Ouagadougou
- Burundi 🇧🇮 — capital Gitega
- Cabo Verde 🇨🇻 — capital Praia
- Cameroon 🇨🇲 — capital Yaoundé
- Central African Republic 🇨🇫 — capital Bangui
- Chad 🇹🇩 — capital N'Djamena
- Comoros 🇰🇲 — capital Moroni
- Congo 🇨🇬 — capital Brazzaville
Frequently asked questions
What are the colours of the Libya flag?
The flag of Libya is three horizontal stripes of red, black (twice as wide) and green, with a white crescent and star in the middle. Each colour stands for one of the three historic regions: red for Fezzan, black for Cyrenaica and green for Tripolitania. The crescent and star stand for Islam. The design was first used by the Kingdom of Libya from 1951 and was brought back in 2011.
Which countries border Libya?
Libya shares land borders with Egypt, Sudan, Chad, Niger, Algeria and Tunisia.
How can I remember the capital of Libya?
Tripoli, the capital and largest city, is on the Mediterranean coast in the northwest. Its old name 'Tripoli-of-the-West' tells it apart from Tripoli in Lebanon. For the flag, three regions, three stripes, with the moon and star on the wide black middle one.