Libya Map - Physical Map of Libya

Libya Facts and Country Information...

Libya, officially known as the State of Libya is located in the Maghreb region of North Africa and touches the Mediterranean Sea in the north. It has Egypt toits east, Sudan to its southeast, Niger and Chad to its south, Tunisia and Algeria to its west. It covers an area of about 2 million square kilometres and is proclaimed as the 4thlargest country in Africa.

At 1,800 kilometres, Libya has the longest coastline in the African continent, facing the Mediterranean Sea. A portion of Mediterranean Sea to the north of Libya is referred to as the Libyan Sea.

Libya also has oases like the Ghadames and the Kufrawhich are found scattered all over the country. The Libyan Desert covers most of the country's area and is considered as the most arid places on earth. Decades pass without any rainfall in this region. A large depression called the Qattara Depression also exists. It has Siwa Oasis on its western end.

There are a few scattered uninhabited small oases, usually linked to the major depressions, where water can be found by digging to a few feet in depth. In the west there is a widely dispersed group of oases in unconnected shallow depressions, the Kufra group, consisting of Tazerbo, Rebianae and Kufra.

Slightly further to the south are the massifs of Arkenu, Uweinat and Kissu. These granite mountains are ancient, having formed long before the sandstones surrounding them. Arkenu and Western Uweinat are ring complexes very similar to those in the Aïr Mountains. Eastern Uweinat (the highest point in the Libyan Desert) is a raised sandstone plateau adjacent to the granite part further west.

The plain to the north of Uweinat is dotted with eroded volcanic features. With the discovery of oil in the 1950s also came the discovery of a massive aquifer underneath much of the country. The water in this aquifer pre-dates the last ice ages and the Sahara desert itself. This area also contains the Arkenu structures, which were once thought to be two impact craters.