| Location | Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt, Tunisia, and Algeria |
| Geographic coordinates | 25 00 N, 17 00 E |
| Map references | Africa |
| Area | total: 1,759,540 sq km land: 1,759,540 sq km water: 0 sq km |
| Area - comparative | about 2.5 times the size of Texas; slightly larger than Alaska |
| Land boundaries | 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 | 1,770 km |
| Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive fishing zone: 62 nm note: Gulf of Sidra closing line - 32 degrees, 30 minutes north |
| Climate | Mediterranean along coast; dry, extreme desert interior |
| Terrain | mostly barren, flat to undulating plains, plateaus, depressions |
| Elevation extremes | highest point: Bikku Bitti 2,267 m lowest point: Sabkhat Ghuzayyil -47 m mean elevation: 423 m |
| Natural resources | petroleum, natural gas, gypsum |
| Land use | 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 | 4,700 sq km (2012) |
| Total renewable water resources | 700 million cubic meters (2017 est.) |
| Natural hazards | hot, dry, dust-laden ghibli is a southern wind lasting one to four days in spring and fall; dust storms, sandstorms |
| Geography - note | 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 |
Source: CIA World Factbook
This page was last updated on September 18, 2021
