Geography


    Source: This image is the intellectual property of Rei-artur. Redistribution under licence CC BY-SA 3.0

    Area: 1,760,000 km2 (0% water)
    Coastline: 1,770 km
    Terrain: Mainly barren soil, consisting of plains, plateaus and depressions. The biggest part of the country is a desert. Mountains are located in the southeast, northeast, northwest and west part of Libya
    Highest point: Bikku Bitti 2,267 m (in southeast Libya, on the Chad border)
    Climaste: Mediterranean climate on the coast, desert climate in the interior
    Geographical population distribution: The population is concentrated in norther Libya, mainly in cities to the west and east of the Gulf of Sidra. About 30% of the population resides in Tripoli and Benghazi
    Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, gypsum

    Demographics

    Population: 6,871,287 (2020)

    Annual population growth: 1.4% (2020)

    Population estimate in 2025: 7,268,000

    Population distribution by age group (2020)
    0-14 – 28%
    15-64 – 68%

    65+ – 5%

    Fertility rate (births per woman): 2.2 (2019)

    Birth rate (births per 1000 people): 18 (2019)

    Death rate (deaths per 1000 people): 5 (2019)

    Median age: 27.1 years (2015)

    Life expectancy (at birth): 73 years (2019)
    Males – 70 years

    Females – 76 years

    Net migration: -10,000 people (2017)

    Language: Arabic is the official language of Libya

    Religious groups: Sunni Muslims 91.2%, Other Muslims 5.4%, Christians (mainly Catholics and Orthodox) 2.4%, Buddhists 0.3%, Hindus 0.1%, Non-religious/atheists 0.2%, Other religions 0.1% (2015)

    Ethnic groups: Arabs 85.4%, Berbers 6.3%, Others 8.3% (2013)

    Economy

    GDP: $25.42 bill (2020)

    GDP per capita: $3,699.3 (2020)

    GDP annual growth rate: -31.3% (2020)

    Public debt (% GDP): 104.8% (2019)

    Inflation (CPI): 4.2% (2019)

    Unemployment: 19.4% (2020)

    Imports: $8,070,000,000 (2017)
    10 largest import partners (% total exports - 2017):Italy 15.0%, China 13.0%, Turkey 11.0%, Spain 7.6%, Tunisia 4.8%, Egypt 4.7%, Germany 4.1%, Cyprus 3.7%, Greece 3.7%, South Korea 3.5%

    Exports: $16,100,000,000 (2017)
    10 largest export partners (% total exports - 2017):Italy 18.0%, Germany 16.0%, Spain 14.0%, France 8.9%, USA 8.1%, China 7.6%, UK 6.2%, South Korea 3.6%, Greece 3.3%, Netherlands 3.1%

    Global Competitiveness Report (World Economic Forum)
    -

    Index of Economic Freedom (Heritage Foundation)
    -

    Income Inequality Index (Gini – World Bank)
    -

    Prosperity Index (Legatum Institute)
    42.08/100 (2021 – position 154/167)

    Politics and Government

    Form of government: Semi-presidential (according to the draft Constitution of 2017)

    Head of the Presidential Council and Prime Minister of the transitional Government of National Accord: Mohamed al-Menfi (2021)

    Executive branch: According to the draft Constitution that was approved in 2017, the President is head of the executive and is based in Tripoli. The President is elected for a 5-year term and has the right to serve up to two consecutive term. The Prime Minister and Ministers are appointed by the President.

    Legislative branch: Legislative power is based in Benghazi and is exercises by the House of Representatives (lower house) comprised of 200 members and the Senate (upper house) comprised of 78 members. The members of both chambers of the Parliament are elected directly from Libyan citizens.

    Judicial branch: Under the draft Constitution, the independence, integrity and effectiveness of the judiciary shall be the responsibility of the Supreme Judicial Council. The Constitutional Court based in Sabha shall be comprised of 12 members, of which 6 will be appointed by the Supreme Judicial Council, 3 by the President of the country and 3 by the legislature. The draft Constitution also mentions a Supreme Court, Court of Cassation, Prosecutor General and Court of Appeals.

    Parliamentary parties: In the last parliamentary elections (2014) all elected representatives were independent candidates

    Last elections: Local elections 2019 – In March and April local elections were completed in 22 municipalities (mainly in west Libya)

    Next elections: Presidential elections 24 December 2021

    Rule of Law - Human Rights

    Corruption Perceptions Index (Transparency International)
    17/100 (2020 - position 173/180)

    Rule of Law Index (World Justice Project)
    -

    Global Terrorism Index (Institute for Economics & Peace)
    6.766/10 (2019 – position 12/163)

    Fragile States Index (Fund For Peace)
    97.0/120 (2021 – position 17/179)

    Democracy Index (Economist Intelligence Unit)
    1.95/10 (2020 – position 157/167)

    Press Freedom Index (Reporters Without Borders)
    55.73/100 (2020 – position 165/180)

    Freedom in the World Index (Freedom House)
    9/100 (2021)

    Sources

    United Nations (UN – Population Division, UNdata, UN Development Programme), Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC), World Bank, Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED – St. Louis Fed), Composition of Religious and Ethnic Group Project (CREG – Cline Center for Advanced Social Research, University of Illinois), Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA), British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS – Military Balance), Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), NationMaster, The Libya Observer