Geography of Libya

Libya is considered to be a vast nation because of its total area. Its total land area is 1,759,540 km² (approx. 679,359 mi²). Continental shelf of Libya is approximately 64,763 km² (around 25,005 mi²). Libya is located in Africa. Africa is the world’s second-largest and second-most populous continent. African countries include, but are not limited to, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Egypt. Libya has 6 neighbouring countries. Its neighbours include Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Niger, Sudan, Tunisia. Libya is not a landlocked country. It means that is is bordered by at least one major body of water. The average elevation range of Libya is 423 m (1,388 ft).

Neighbors

Total length of land borders of Libya is 4339 kilometers (~1,675 miles). Libya shares its land borders with 6 different countries, and has the same number of unique land boundaries to neigbouring territories. As in the case of Libya, if a country has the same number of unique neighboring territories as number of land borders, than that country has no non-contiguous sections of a land border. This is in contrast to several countries that have multiple non-contiguous sections of land borders. Libya has 6 neighbouring countries. Its neighbours include Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Niger, Sudan, and Tunisia. The lengths of the land borders of Libya with its neighbouring countries are as follows:

• Algeria - 982 km (610 mi),
• Chad - 1055 km (656 mi),
• Egypt - 1115 km (693 mi),
• Niger - 354 km (220 mi),
• Sudan - 383 km (238 mi),
• Tunisia - 459 km (285 mi).

Cities

The capital city of Libya is Tripoli. The largest city in Libya is Tripoli.

Elevation

The average elevation range of Libya is 423 m (1,388 ft). The highest point of Libya is Bikku Bitti, with its official height being 2267 m (7,438 ft). The lowest point of Libya is Sabkhat Ghuzayyil. It lies at -47 m (-154 ft), i.e. below the sea level. The elevation difference between the highest (Bikku Bitti) and lowest (Sabkhat Ghuzayyil) points of Libya is 2314 m (2 ft).

Area

The total land area of Libya is 1,759,540 km² (approx. 679,359 mi²). and the total exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is 351,589 km² (~135,749 mi²). The continental shelf of Libya is approximately 64,763 km² (around 25,005 mi²). Including land mass and EEZ, the total area of Libya is approximately 2,111,129 km² (~815,108 mi²). Libya is considered to be a vast nation because of its total area.

Forest and arable land

2,170 km² of Libya's territory is covered in forests, and forest land comprises 0% of all the land in the country. There are 18,123 km² of arable land in Libya, and it comprises 1% of the country's total territory.

Read our section on climate to discover what parameters affect these and other biomes of the country.

Natural resources

The most notable natural resources found in Libya are petroleum, natural gas, gypsum.