Background: Since he took power in a 1969 military coup Col. Muammar Abu Minyar al-QADHAFI has espoused his own political system - a combination of socialism and Islam - which he calls the Third International Theory. Viewing himself as a revolutionary leader he used oil funds during the 1970s and 1980s to promote his ideology outside Libya even supporting subversives and terrorists abroad to hasten the end of Marxism and capitalism. Libyan military adventures failed e.g. the prolonged foray of Libyan troops into the Aozou Strip in northern Chad was finally repulsed in 1987. Libyan support for terrorism decreased after UN sanctions were imposed in 1992. Those sanctions were suspended in April 1999.

Geographic coordinates: 25 00 N, 17 00 E

Map reference: Africa

Area
Total: 1,759,540 km²
Land: 1,759,540 km²
Water: 0 km²
Comparative: slightly larger than Alaska

Land boundaries
Total: 4,383 km
Border countries: (6) Algeria 982 km; , Chad 1,055 km; , Egypt 1,150 km; , Niger 354 km; , Sudan 383 km; , Tunisia 459 km

Coastline: 1,770 km

Maritime claims: territorial sea:12 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 lowest point: Sabkhat Ghuzayyil -47 m
Extremes highest point: Bikku Bitti 2,267 m

Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, gypsum

Land use
Arable land: 1%
Permanent crops: 0%
Permanent pastures: 8%
Forests and woodland: 0%
Other: 91% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 4,700 km² (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: hot, dry, dust-laden ghibli is a southern wind lasting one to four days in spring and fall; dust storms, sandstorms

Population: 4,992,838 (July 1999 est.)
Note: includes 161,251 non-nationals (July 1999 est.)
Growth rate: 2.4% (1999 est.)
Below poverty line: NA%

Nationality
Noun: Libyan(s)
Adjective: Libyan

Ethnic groups: Berber and Arab 97%, Greeks, Maltese, Italians, Egyptians, Pakistanis, Turks, Indians, Tunisians

Languages: Arabic, Italian, English, all are widely understood in the major cities

Religions: Sunni Muslim 97%

Age structure
0-14 years: 36% (male 930,661; female 891,046)
15-64 years: 60% (male 1,545,958; female 1,437,120)
65 years and over: 4% (male 93,726; female 94,327) (1999 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.4% (1999 est.)

Birth rate: 27.33 births/1000 population (1999 est.)

Death rate: 3.35 deaths/1000 population (1999 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1000 population (1999 est.)

Environment
Current issues: desertification; very limited natural fresh water resources; the Great Manmade River Project, the largest water development scheme in the world, is being built to bring water from large aquifers under the Sahara to coastal cities
International agreements party to: Desertification, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection
International agreements signed but not ratified: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Law of the Sea

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
Under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.08 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.99 male(s)/female
Total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (1999 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 28.15 deaths/1000 live births (1999 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 75.73 years
Male: 73.81 years
Female: 77.74 years (1999 est.)

Total fertility rate: 3.79 children born/woman (1999 est.)

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 76.2%
Male: 87.9%
Female: 63% (1995 est.)

Country name
Conventional long form: Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
Conventional short form: Libya
Local long form: Al Jumahiriyah al Arabiyah al Libiyah ash Shabiyah al Ishtirakiyah
Local short form: none

Government type: Jamahiriya (a state of the masses) in theory, governed by the populace through local councils; in fact, a military dictatorship

Capital: Tripoli

Administrative divisions: 25 municipalities (baladiyat, singular_baladiyah); Ajdabiya, Al 'Aziziyah, Al Fatih, Al Jabal al Akhdar, Al Jufrah, Al Khums, Al Kufrah, An Nuqat al Khams, Ash Shati', Awbari, Az Zawiyah, Banghazi, Darnah, Ghadamis, Gharyan, Misratah, Murzuq, Sabha, Sawfajjin, Surt, Tarabulus, Tarhunah, Tubruq, Yafran, Zlitan
Note: the 25 municipalities may have been replaced by 13 regions

Independence: 24 December 1951 (from Italy)

National holiday: Revolution Day, 1 September (1969)

Constitution: 11 December 1969, amended 2 March 1977

Legal system: based on Italian civil law system and Islamic law; separate religious courts; no constitutional provision for judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal and compulsory

Executive branch
Chief of state: Revolutionary Leader Col. Muammar Abu Minyar al-QADHAFI (since 1 September 1969); note_holds no official title, but is de facto chief of state
Head of government: Secretary of the General People's Committee (Premier) Muhammad Ahmad al-MANQUSH (since NA January 1998)
Cabinet: General People's Committee established by the General People's Congress
Elections: national elections are indirect through a hierarchy of peoples' committees; head of government elected by the General People's Congress; election last held NA (next to be held NA)
Election results: Muhammad Ahmad al-MANQUSH elected head of government; percent of General People's Congress vote_NA

Legislative branch: unicameral General People's Congress (NA seats; members elected indirectly through a hierarchy of peoples' committees)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court

International organization participation: ABEDA, AfDB, AFESD, AL, AMF, AMU, CAEU, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, NAM, OAPEC, OAU, OIC, OPEC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNITAR, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO

Diplomatic representation
In the us: Libya does not have an embassy in the US
From the us: the US suspended all embassy activities in Tripoli on 2 May 1980

Flag description: plain green; green is the traditional color of Islam (the state religion)

Economy overview: The socialist-oriented economy depends primarily upon revenues from the oil sector, which contributes practically all export earnings and about one-third of GDP. These oil revenues and a small population give Libya one of the highest per capita GDPs in Africa, but little of this income flows down to the lower orders of society. Low oil prices in 1998 cut back revenue sharply, and GDP growth fell by 1%. In this statist society, import restrictions and inefficient resource allocations have led to periodic shortages of basic goods and foodstuffs. The nonoil manufacturing and construction sectors, which account for about 20% of GDP, have expanded from processing mostly agricultural products to include the production of petrochemicals, iron, steel, and aluminum. Agriculture accounts for only 5% of GDP; it employs 18% of the labor force. Climatic conditions and poor soils severely limit farm output, and Libya imports about 75% of its food requirements. The UN sanctions imposed in April 1992 do not have a major impact on the economy although they have increased transaction and transportation costs.

Real gdp growth rate: -1% (1998 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity: $6,700 (1998 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 5%
Industry: 55%
Services: 40% (1996 est.)

Agriculture products: wheat, barley, olives, dates, citrus, vegetables, peanuts; beef, eggs

Industries: petroleum, food processing, textiles, handicrafts, cement

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Labor force: 1 million
By occupation industry: 31%
By occupation services: 27%
By occupation government: 24%
By occupation agriculture: 18%

Unemployment rate: 30% (1998 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Budget
Revenues: $3.6 billion
Expenditures: $5.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $N/A (1998 est.)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Exports: $6.8 billion (f.o.b., 1998 est.)
Commodities: crude oil, refined petroleum products, natural gas
Partners: Italy, Germany, Spain, France, Turkey, Greece, Egypt

Imports: $6.9 billion (c.i.f., 1998 est.)
Commodities: machinery, transport equipment, food, manufactured goods
Partners: Italy, Germany, UK, France, Spain, Turkey, Tunisia, Eastern Europe

Debt external: $4 billion (1998 est.)

Exchange rates: Libyan dinars (LD) per US$1_0.3799 (November 1998), 0.3891 (1997), 0.3651 (1996), 0.3532 (1995), 0.3596 (1994; official rate:0.45 (December 1998)

Electricity
Production: 17 billion kWh (1996)
Production by source fossil fuel: 100%
Production by source hydro: 0%
Production by source nuclear: 0%
Production by source other: 0% (1996)
Consumption: 17 billion kWh (1996)
Exports: 0 kWh (1996)
Imports: 0 kWh (1996)

Telephones: 411,000 (1999 est.)

Telephone system: telecommunications system is being modernized; cellular telephone system became operational in 1996
Domestic: microwave radio relay, coaxial cable, cellular, tropospheric scatter, and a domestic satellite system with 14 earth stations
International: satellite earth stations_4 Intelsat, NA Arabsat, and NA Intersputnik; submarine cables to France and Italy; microwave radio relay to Tunisia and Egypt; tropospheric scatter to Greece; participant in Medarabtel

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $NA
Percent of gdp: NA%

Airports: 143 (1998 est.)
With paved runways total: 60
With paved runways over 3047 m: 24
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 6
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 22
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 5
With paved runways under 914 m: 3 (1998 est.)
With unpaved runways total: 83
With unpaved runways over 3047 m: 5
With unpaved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 2
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 15
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 42
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 19 (1998 est.)

Pipelines: crude oil 4,383 km; petroleum products 443 km (includes liquefied petroleum gas or LPG 256 km; natural gas 1,947 km

Railways: note:Libya has had no railroad in operation since 1965, all previous systems having been dismantled; current plans are to construct a 1.435-m standard gauge line from the Tunisian frontier to Tripoli and Misratah, then inland to Sabha, center of a mineral-rich area, but there has been no progress; other plans made jointly with Egypt would establish a rail line from As Sallum, Egypt, to Tobruk with completion set for mid-1994; no progress has been reported

Waterways: none

Merchant marine
Total: 30 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 588,928 GRT/989,662 DWT
Ships by type: cargo 9, chemical tanker 1, liquefied gas tanker 3, oil tanker 9, roll-on/roll-off cargo 4, short-sea passenger 4 (1998 est.)

Disputes international: maritime boundary dispute with Tunisia; Libya claims about 19,400 km² in northern Niger and part of southeastern Algeria