Libya

Libya is a country in North Africa. In the north it has a Mediterranean Sea coast, with Egypt to the east and Tunisia to the west. It also has land borders with Algeria, Chad, Niger, and Sudan. More than 90% of the country is desert or semidesert.

Regions

Cities

Capital: Tripoli - One of the major highlights is the 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Murzuq, Sabha, Sawfajjin, Surt, Tarabulus, Tarhunah, Tubruq, Yafran, Zlitan; note - the 25 municipalities may have been replaced by 13 regions

Ports and harbors: Al Khums, Banghazi, Darnah, Marsa al Burayqah, Misratah, Ra's Lanuf, Tobruk, Tripoli, Zuwarah

Other destinations

Leptis Magna - Another highlight is the old Roman city of Leptis Magna. In its time, this site was the second largest town of the Roman Empire, after Rome.

Understand

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
highest point: Bikku Bitti 2,267 m

Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, gypsum

Land use: arable land: 1.03%
permanent crops: 0.17%
other: 98.8% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 4,700 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: hot, dry, dust-laden ghibli is a southern wind lasting one to four days in spring and fall; dust storms, sandstorms. More than 90% of the country is desert or semidesert

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

History

Independence: 24 December 1951 (from Italy)

National holiday: Revolution Day, 1 September (1969)

Constitution: 11 December 1969, amended 2 March 1977

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.

Disputes - international: Chadian rebels from Aozou region reside in Libya; Libya claims about 19,400 sq km in Niger as well as part of southeastern Algeria in currently dormant disputes.

People

Population: 5,368,585
note: includes 662,669 non-nationals, of which an estimated 500,000 or more are Africans living in Libya (July 2002 est.)

Nationality: noun: Libyan(s)
adjective: Libyan

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

Get in

Passports and visas are required for entry into Libya for most nationalities. Those who have passports indicating travel to Israel will not be allowed to enter. It is now legal for Americans to travel to Libya and spend money there. Although the US State Department website claims that US citizens cannot obtain visas from the new Libyan Liaison Office in Washington DC, the office appears to provide and process visa applications for US citizens. See Visa Application Form for US Citizens for more information.

By plane

Tripoli is served by most major European and Arab airlines and of course by Libyan Airlines which uses the airport as its main hub. Essentially one may expect daily flights to the major regional airports such as Heathrow, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Rome, Cairo and multiple flights per week to Milan, Manchester, Vienna, Alexandria, etc. Wikipedia has a comprehensive list of airlines that serve Tripoli.

A new private Libyan airline called "Afriqiyah" provides services to many European and African cities with Tripoli as a hub. It uses new Airbus aircraft and seems to be expanding its route map rapidly. http://www.afriqiyah.aero/

Another new private Libyan airline "Buraq" provides domestic services as well as some limited international flights (example to Istanbul).

There are also some international routes between Libya's second city Benghazi to destinations such as Alexandria and Cairo (according to the LAA website London and Casablanca are planned from Benghazi). These tend to be more seasonal and one should check schedules ahead of time.

Of course there are many direct flights from places such as Amsterdam to small oasis towns in the middle of the Sahara but these are operated by the oil companies for private purposes (i.e. to ferry the foreign oil workers directly to the oil fields).

By train

Libya has no international train connections and no significant domestic train infrastructure.

By car

One may travel to Libya overland. There are bus and "shared taxi" (accommodating 6 people in a station wagon) services from such places as Tunis, Alexandria, Cairo, Djerba, etc.

There are many online blogs showing people having done the trip in their own 4x4s or using their own dirt bikes, campervans, etc. It would seem that they encounter quite some difficulty at the border (1-2 days to clear paperwork type problem) but considerable hospitality once in the country.

By bus

There are bus services to both Tunisia and Egypt.

By boat

Get around

By plane

Libyan Airlines has many domestic air routes and they are relatively inexpensive. The same goes for the new private Buraq airlines which actually seems to be more reliable.

By train

Libya has had no train system since 1965. There are various plans to rebuild some lines.

By road

As explained above there are many online blogs showing people having done the trip in their own 4x4s or using their own dirt bikes, campervans, etc. It would seem that they encounter considerable hospitality once in the country. In fact it is not uncommon to see SUVs with Texas plates on them in Tripoli (most likely US oil workers of which approx 5-10,000 live in Libya). It is also not uncommon to see convoys of European campervans on Libya's highways. One German citizen recently back from a dirt bike tour of the dessert explained how it was nearly impossible to get gas station attendants to accept payment for gas fill-ups since he was quite the novelty. In fact gasoline in Libya is typically cheaper than bottled water.

Some self-drive car rental services are available in the large cities but the rates are typically high and the cars unreliable.

There are many bus services between the major cities and it is certainly a cheap way to travel. The larger bus companies use modern air conditioned touring buses which are relatively comfortable. This is important on the longer journeys (such as Tripoli to Benghazi which takes about 14hours by bus). The buses make stops for meals and the very important tea (shahee) breaks along the way. A faster method is to take the "shared taxis" but some of the drivers tend to be more reckless in order to cut the travel time.

Talk

Languages: Arabic is the main language though some more localised languages such as Berber and Touareg are used in many small town. English is somewhat widely understood in the major cities. Libya's Italian colonial past and access to Italian television in the 1980s makes that language relatively well understood. However this is no where near the level of, for example, French in Tunisia or Morocco.

Buy

Economy

Economy - overview: The socialist-oriented economy depends primarily upon revenues from the oil sector, which contributes practically all export earnings and about one-quarter 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. Import restrictions and inefficient resource allocations have led to periodic shortages of basic goods and foodstuffs. The non-oil 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. Climatic conditions and poor soils severely limit agricultural output, and Libya imports about 75% of its food. Higher oil prices in 1999 and 2000 led to an increase in export revenues, which improved macroeconomic balances and helped to stimulate the economy. The suspension of UN sanctions in 1999 also boosted growth. Libya's January 2002 51% devaluation of the official exchange rate of the dinar is another fiscal plus, although it will also bring higher inflation.

Currency: Libyan dinar (LYD)

Currency code: LYD

Exchange rates: Libyan dinars per US dollar - 0.6501 (December 2001), 0.6501 (2001), 0.5403 (2000), 0.5403 (1999), 0.3785 (1998), 0.3891 (1997); market rate for Libyan dinars per US dollar - 1.55 (January 2002)
note: Libya devalued its official rate for foreign trade on 1 January 2002 to 1.30 dinars per US dollar; the previous official rate was 0.63 dinar per US dollar (Dec 2001 )

Drink

Alcohol is officially banned in Libya though some rumors are heard that the government plans to introduce alcohol sales in some resorts planned for mass western tourism in the future. In reality alcohol is very readily available through a local black market (anything from whiskey to beer to wine). It should be noted that penalties for unlawful purchase can be quite stiff and travellers should always exercise appropriate common sense with respect to local laws and, more importantly, local sensitivities and traditions.

Sleep

Major cities have a range of accommodations available from shabby hotels to true five-star ones. Prices vary accordingly. While it seems to be diminishing with the arrival of more tourists every year, Libyans have a strong tradition of taking travellers into their own homes and lavishing hospitality on them. This is certainly true in the smaller towns and villages. Youth Hostels associated with the IYH Federation (HI) are available. Please contact the Liyan Youth Hostel Association T.+218 21 4445171.

Stay safe

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

Respect

Religions: Sunni Muslim 97%

Contact

Diplomatic representation in the US: Libya does not currently maintain an embassy in the US but a new "liaison office" opened in 2005 in Washington DC. The Libyan Liaison Office is located at:

2600 Virginia Avenue, NW Suite 705 Washington, DC 20037 Tel. 202-944-9601 Fax. 202-944-9606

Go to the Libyan Liaison Office's website for more information.

Diplomatic representation from the US: The US suspended all embassy activities in Tripoli on May 2nd, 1980, but on June 28, 2004, a U.S. Liaison Office opened in Tripoli. See http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_951.html for contact information.

Communications

Telephones - main lines in use: 500,000 (1998)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 20,000 (1998)

Telephone system: general assessment: telecommunications system is being modernized; mobile 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 (1999)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 16, FM 3, shortwave 3 (2002)

Radios: 1.35 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 12 (plus one low-power repeater) (1999)

Televisions: 730,000 (1997), satellite television is widely watched

Internet country code: .ly

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 4 (2005)

Internet users: 20,000 (2001) but steadily growing. Many internet cafes in larger cities.