Libya with the capital city Tripoli is located in Africa (Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea). It covers some 1,759,540 square kilometres (slightly larger than Alaska) with 6,173,000 citizens.

About the flag and history of Libya

Three horizontal bands of red (top), black (double width), and green with a white crescent and star centered on the black stripe; the National Transitional Council reintroduced this flag design of the former Kingdom of Libya (1951-1969) on 27 February 2011; it replaced the former all-green banner promulgated by the QADHAFI regime in 1977; the colors represent the three major regions of the country: red stands for Fezzan, black symbolizes Cyrenaica, and green denotes Tripolitania; the crescent and star represent Islam, the main religion of the country.

The Italians supplanted the Ottoman Turks in the area around Tripoli in 1911 and did not relinquish their hold until 1943 when defeated in World War II. Libya then passed to UN administration and achieved independence in 1951. Following a 1969 military coup, Col. Muammar al-QADHAFI assumed leadership and began to espouse his political system at home, which was a combination of socialism and Islam. During the 1970s, QADHAFI used oil revenues to promote his ideology outside Libya, supporting subversive and terrorist activities that included the downing of two airliners - one over Scotland, another in Northern Africa - and a discotheque bombing in Berlin. UN sanctions in 1992 isolated QADHAFI politically and economically following the attacks; sanctions were lifted in 2003 following Libyan acceptance of responsibility for the bombings and agreement to claimant compensation. QADHAFI also agreed to end Libya's program to develop weapons of mass destruction, and he made significant strides in normalizing relations with Western nations. Unrest that began in several Middle Eastern and North African countries in late 2010 erupted in Libyan cities in early 2011. QADHAFI''s brutal crackdown on protesters spawned a civil war that triggered UN authorization of air and naval intervention by the international community. After months of seesaw fighting between government and opposition forces, the QADHAFI regime was toppled in mid-2011 and replaced by a transitional government. Libya in 2012 formed a new parliament and elected a new prime minister.

National administrative regions of Libya

• Al Jabal al Akhdar
• Al Jufrah
• Al Kufrah
• Al Marj
• An Nuqat al Khams
• Az Zawiyah
• Banghazi
• Darnah
• Ghat
• Libya (general)
• Misratah
• Murzuq
• Nalut
• Sabha
• Sha`biyat al Butnan
• Sha`biyat al Jabal al Gharbi
• Sha`biyat al Jafarah
• Sha`biyat al Marqab
• Sha`biyat al Wahat
• Sha`biyat Wadi al Hayat
• Sha`biyat Wadi ash Shati'
• Surt
• Tarabulus

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