Country name:
conventional long form: State of Libya
conventional short form: Libya
local long form: Dawiat Libiya
local short form: Libiya
etymology: name derives from the Libu, an ancient Libyan tribe first mentioned in texts from the 13th century B.C.

Government type:
in transition

Capital:
name: Tripoli (Tarabulus)
geographic coordinates: 32 53 N, 13 10 E
time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
etymology: originally founded by the Phoenicians as Oea in the 7th century B.C., the city changed rulers many times over the successive centuries; by the beginning of the 3rd century A.D. the region around the city was referred to as Regio Tripolitana by the Romans, meaning "region of the three cities" - namely Oea (i.e., modern Tripoli), Sabratha (to the west), and Leptis Magna (to the east); over time, the shortened name of "Tripoli" came to refer to just Oea, which derives from the Greek words "tria" and "polis" meaning "three cities"

Administrative divisions:
22 governorates (muhafazah, singular - muhafazat); Al Butnan, Al Jabal al Akhdar, Al Jabal al Gharbi, Al Jafarah, Al Jufrah, Al Kufrah, Al Marj, Al Marqab, Al Wahat, An Nuqat al Khams, Az Zawiyah, Banghazi (Benghazi), Darnah, Ghat, Misratah, Murzuq, Nalut, Sabha, Surt, Tarabulus (Tripoli), Wadi al Hayat, Wadi ash Shati

Independence:
24 December 1951 (from UN trusteeship)

National holiday:
Liberation Day, 23 October (2011)

Constitution:
history: previous 1951, 1977; in July 2017, the Constitutional Assembly completed and approved a draft of a new permanent constitution; in September 2018, the House of Representatives passed a constitutional referendum law in a session with contested reports of the quorum needed to pass the vote, and submitted it to the High National Elections Commission in December to begin preparations for a constitutional referendum

Legal system:
Libya's post-revolution legal system is in flux and driven by state and non-state entities

International law organization participation:
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICC

Citizenship:
citizenship by birth: no
citizenship by descent only: at least one parent or grandparent must be a citizen of Libya
dual citizenship recognized: no
residency requirement for naturalization: varies from 3 to 5 years

Suffrage:
18 years of age, universal
[see also: Suffrage country ranks ]

Executive branch:
chief of state: Chairman, Presidential Council, Fayiz al-SARAJ (since December 2015)
head of government: Prime Minister Fayiz al-SARAJ (since December 2015)
cabinet: GNA Presidency Council (pending approval by the House of Representatives - as of December 2018)
elections/appointments:

direct presidential election to be held pending election-related legislation and constitutional referendum law
election results: NA

Legislative branch:
description: unicameral House of Representatives (Majlis Al Nuwab) or HoR (200 seats including 32 reserved for women; members directly elected by majority vote; member term NA); note - the High Council of State serves as an advisory group for the HoR
elections: last held on 25 June 2014 ( parliamentary election to be held pending election-related legislation); note - the Libyan Supreme Court in November 2014 declared the HoR election unconstitutional, but the HoR and the international community rejected the ruling
election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; composition - men 158, women 30, percent of women 16%; note - only 188 of the 200 seats were filled in the June 2014 election because of boycotts and lack of security at some polling stations; some elected members of the HoR also boycotted the election

Judicial branch:
NA; note - government is in transition

Political parties and leaders:
NA

International organization participation:
ABEDA, AfDB, AFESD, AMF, AMU, AU, BDEAC, CAEU, COMESA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (NGOs), ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, LAS, MIGA, NAM, OAPEC, OIC, OPCW, OPEC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer)

Diplomatic representation in the US:
Ambassador Wafa M.T. BUGHAIGHIS (since 29 November 2017)
chancery:

1460 Dahlia Street NW, Washington, DC
telephone: [1] (202) 944-9601
FAX: [1] (202) 944-9606

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Richard B. NORLAND (since 22 August 2019)
telephone: [218] (0) 91-220-3239
embassy: Sidi Slim Area/Walie Al-Ahed Road, Tripoli (temporarily closed)
mailing address: US Embassy, 8850 Tripoli Place, Washington, DC 20521-8850
note: the US Embassy in Tripoli closed in July 2014 due to fighting near the embassy related to Libyan civil unrest; embassy staff and operations temporarily first relocated to Valetta, Malta and currently are temporarily relocated to Tunis, Tunisia

Flag description:
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

National symbol(s):
star and crescent, hawk; national colors: red, black, green

National anthem:
name: Libya, Libya, Libya
lyrics/music: Al Bashir AL AREBI/Mohamad Abdel WAHAB
note: also known as "Ya Beladi" or "Oh, My Country!"; adopted 1951; readopted 2011 with some modification to the lyrics; during the QADHAFI years between 1969 and 2011, the anthem was "Allahu Akbar," (God is Great) a marching song of the Egyptian Army in the 1956 Suez War