Tunisia vs. Libya
Geography
| Tunisia | Libya | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Algeria and Libya | Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt, Tunisia, and Algeria |
| Geographic coordinates | 34 00 N, 9 00 E | 25 00 N, 17 00 E |
| Map references | Africa | Africa |
| Area | total: 163,610 sq km land: 155,360 sq km water: 8,250 sq km | total: 1,759,540 sq km land: 1,759,540 sq km water: 0 sq km |
| Area - comparative | slightly larger than Georgia | about 2.5 times the size of Texas; slightly larger than Alaska |
| Land boundaries | total: 1,495 km border countries (2): Algeria 1034 km, Libya 461 km | total: 4,339 km border countries (6): Algeria 989 km, Chad 1050 km, Egypt 1115 km, Niger 342 km, Sudan 382 km, Tunisia 461 km |
| Coastline | 1,148 km | 1,770 km |
| Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 12 nm | territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive fishing zone: 62 nm note: Gulf of Sidra closing line - 32 degrees, 30 minutes north |
| Climate | temperate in north with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers; desert in south | Mediterranean along coast; dry, extreme desert interior |
| Terrain | mountains in north; hot, dry central plain; semiarid south merges into the Sahara | mostly barren, flat to undulating plains, plateaus, depressions |
| Elevation extremes | highest point: Jebel ech Chambi 1,544 m lowest point: Shatt al Gharsah -17 m mean elevation: 246 m | highest point: Bikku Bitti 2,267 m lowest point: Sabkhat Ghuzayyil -47 m mean elevation: 423 m |
| Natural resources | petroleum, phosphates, iron ore, lead, zinc, salt | petroleum, natural gas, gypsum |
| Land use | agricultural land: 64.8% (2018 est.) arable land: 18.3% (2018 est.) permanent crops: 15.4% (2018 est.) permanent pasture: 31.1% (2018 est.) forest: 6.6% (2018 est.) other: 28.6% (2018 est.) | agricultural land: 8.8% (2018 est.) arable land: 1% (2018 est.) permanent crops: 0.2% (2018 est.) permanent pasture: 7.6% (2018 est.) forest: 0.1% (2018 est.) other: 91.1% (2018 est.) |
| Irrigated land | 4,590 sq km (2012) | 4,700 sq km (2012) |
| Natural hazards | flooding; earthquakes; droughts | hot, dry, dust-laden ghibli is a southern wind lasting one to four days in spring and fall; dust storms, sandstorms |
| Environment - current issues | toxic and hazardous waste disposal is ineffective and poses health risks; water pollution from raw sewage; limited natural freshwater resources; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification | desertification; limited natural freshwater resources; the Great Manmade River Project, the largest water development scheme in the world, brings water from large aquifers under the Sahara to coastal cities; water pollution is a significant problem; the combined impact of sewage, oil byproducts, and industrial waste threatens Libya's coast and the Mediterranean Sea |
| Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Law of the Sea |
| Geography - note | strategic location in central Mediterranean; Malta and Tunisia are discussing the commercial exploitation of the continental shelf between their countries, particularly for oil exploration | note 1: more than 90% of the country is desert or semidesert note 2: the volcano Waw an Namus lies in south central Libya in the middle of the Sahara; the caldera is an oasis - the name means "oasis of mosquitoes" - containing several small lakes surrounded by vegetation and hosting various insects and a large diversity of birds |
| Total renewable water resources | 4.615 billion cubic meters (2017 est.) | 700 million cubic meters (2017 est.) |
| Population distribution | the overwhelming majority of the population is located in the northern half of the country; the south remains largely underpopulated as shown in this population distribution map | well over 90% of the population lives along the Mediterranean coast in and between Tripoli to the west and Al Bayda to the east; the interior remains vastly underpopulated due to the Sahara and lack of surface water as shown in this population distribution map |
Source: CIA Factbook
