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Libya, officially the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, GSPLAJ, is a country in North Africa. Bordering the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Libya lies between Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west. It is largely composed of the Sahara, and the population is concentrated along the coast, where the capital is Tripoli, the authoritarian state with one policy-making body. The capital of the country is Tripoli, the official language is Arabic, the official religion is Islam, and the monetary unit is Libyan Dinar (LD). The estimated population according to 2007 is 6,342,000.

Before the discovery of oil in the 1950s, Libya was poor in natural resources and severely limited by the climatic conditions of the Sahara. After the discovery of petroleum Libya became one of the richest countries of the Middle East and Africa. Before that the country was almost entirely dependent upon foreign aid and the import of commodities necessary for the maintenance of its economy. 

In the country’s northeastern corner, the Akhdar Mountains stretch for about 100 miles along the coast between Al-Marj and Darnah. Libya extends over 1,759,540 square kilometers (679,182 sq. mi), making it the 17th largest nation in the world by size. The main physical features are the Nafūsah Plateau and the Al-Jifārah (Gefara) Plain in the northwest, the Akhḍar Mountains in the northeast, and the Saharan plateau, dwelling much of the rest of the country. The Al-Jifārah Plain covers about 10,000 square miles of Libya’s northwestern corner. It is a country of North Africa and is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea on the north, Egypt on the east, The Sudan on the southeast, Niger and Chad on the south, and Tunisia and Algeria on the west. It is largely composed of the Sahara, and the population is concentrated along the coast, where the de facto capital, Tripoli (Ṭarābulus), and Banghāzī (Benghazi), the de jure capital, are located. 

Bordering the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Libya lies among Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west. With an area of approximately 1.8 million square kilo metres (700,000 sq mi), 90% of which is desert, Libya is the fourth largest country in Africa by area, and the 17th largest in the world. The capital, Tripoli, is home to 1.7 million of Libya's 5.7 million people. The three traditional parts of the country are Tripolitania, the Fezzan and Cyrenaica.