Libya

total:

4.27 cu km/yr (14%/3%/83%)

per capita:

730 cu m/yr (2000)

• desertification;
• 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

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified:

Law of the Sea

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.96 male(s)/female

total population:

1.05 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

noun:

Libyan(s)

adjective:

Libyan

conventional long form:

Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

conventional short form:

Libya

local long form:

Al Jamahiriyah al Arabiyah al Libiyah ash Shabiyah al Ishtirakiyah al Uthma

local short form:

none

name:

Tripoli (Tarabulus)

geographic coordinates:

32 53 N, 13 10 E

time difference:

UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

• 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• note - the 25 municipalities may have been replaced by 13 regions

• none;
• note - following the September 1969 military overthrow of the Libyan government, the Revolutionary Command Council replaced the existing constitution with the Constitutional Proclamation in December 1969;
• in March 1977, Libya adopted the Declaration of the Establishment of the People's Authority

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

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 (Prime Minister) al-Baghdadi Ali al-MAHMUDI (since 5 March 2006)

cabinet:

General People's Committee established by the General People's Congress

elections:

• national elections are indirect through a hierarchy of people's committees;
• head of government elected by the General People's Congress;
• election last held March 2006 (next to be held March 2009)

election results:

NA

other:

• Arab nationalist movements;
• anti-QADHAFI Libyan exile Movement;
• Islamic elements

chief of mission:

Ambassador Ali Suleiman AUJALI

chancery:

2600 Virginia Avenue NW, Suite 705, Washington, DC 20037

telephone:

[1] (202) 944-9601

FAX:

[1] (202) 944-9060

chief of mission:

Ambassador Gene A. CRETZ

embassy:

off Jaraba Street, behind the Libyan-Swiss clinic, Ben Ashour

mailing address:

US Embassy, 8850 Tripoli Place, Washington, DC 20521-8850

telephone:

[218] 91-220-3239

agriculture:

17%

industry:

23%

services:

59% (2004 est.)

lowest 10%:

NA%

highest 10%:

NA%

general assessment:

• telecommunications system is state-owned and service is poor, but investment is being made to upgrade;
• state retains monopoly in fixed-line services;
• mobile cellular telephone system became operational in 1996;
• multiple providers for a mobile telephone system that is growing rapidly;
• combined fixed line and mobile telephone density is approaching 100 telephones per 100 persons

domestic:

microwave radio relay, coaxial cable, cellular, tropospheric scatter, and a domestic satellite system with 14 earth stations

international:

• country code - 218;
• 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 (2008)

total:

100,024 km

country comparison to the world: 41

paved:

57,214 km

unpaved:

42,810 km (2003)

total:

17

country comparison to the world: 101

by type:

cargo 9, liquefied gas 3, petroleum tanker 4, roll on/roll off 1

foreign-owned:

4 (Kuwait 1, Norway 1, Syria 2)

registered in other countries:

3 (Malta 3) (2008)

males age 16-49:

1,682,183

females age 16-49:

1,611,001 (2008 est.)

males age 16-49:

1,466,578

females age 16-49:

1,409,684 (2009 est.)

male:

60,710

female:

58,219 (2009 est.)

• Libya has claimed more than 32,000 sq km in southeastern Algeria and about 25,000 sq km in the Tommo region of Niger in a currently dormant dispute;
• various Chadian rebels from the Aozou region reside in southern Libya

current situation:

Libya is a transit and destination country for men and women from sub-Saharan Africa and Asia trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation

tier rating:

• Tier 2 Watch List - Libya is on the Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to address trafficking in persons in 2007 when compared to 2006, particularly in the area of investigating and prosecuting trafficking offenses;
• Libya did not publicly release any data on investigations or punishment of any trafficking offenses (2008)