Editing Libya (section)

== Geography ==
{{Main|Geography of Libya|Wildlife of Libya|Climate change in Libya}}

[[File:Koppen-Geiger Map LBY present.svg|thumb|Libya map of Köppen climate classification|left]]

Libya extends over {{convert|1759540|km2|sqmi|0}}, making it the [[List of countries and dependencies by area|16th-largest nation in the world by size]]. Libya is bounded to the north by the [[Mediterranean Sea]], the west by [[Tunisia]] and [[Algeria]], the southwest by [[Niger]], the south by [[Chad]], the southeast by [[Sudan]], and the east by [[Egypt]], as well as maritime borders with [[Greece]], [[Italy]] and [[Malta]] to the north. Libya lies between latitudes [[19th parallel north|19°]] and [[34th parallel north|34°N]], and longitudes [[9th meridian east|9°]] and [[26th meridian east|26°E]]. Libya comprises three historical regions: [[Tripolitania]], [[Fezzan]], and [[Cyrenaica]]. 

At {{convert|1770|km|mi|0}}, Libya's coastline is the longest of any African country bordering the Mediterranean.<ref>{{cite web|title=Libya Background|url=http://www.educationlibya.org/country_profile.htm|publisher=Education Libya|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040426000721/http://www.educationlibya.org/country_profile.htm|archive-date=26 April 2004|date=30 March 2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2060.html |title=Field Listings – Coastlines |work=The World Factbook |access-date=5 February 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170716042040/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2060.html |archive-date=16 July 2017  }}</ref> The portion of the Mediterranean Sea north of Libya is often called the [[Libyan Sea]]. The climate is mostly extremely dry and desertlike in nature. However, the northern regions enjoy a milder [[Mediterranean climate]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.southtravels.com/africa/libya/weather.html |title=Weather and Climate in Libya |publisher=Southtravels.com |access-date=23 December 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605125808/http://www.southtravels.com/africa/libya/weather.html |archive-date=5 June 2013  }}</ref>

Six ecoregions lie within Libya's borders: [[Saharan halophytics]], [[Mediterranean dry woodlands and steppe]], [[Mediterranean woodlands and forests]], [[North Saharan steppe and woodlands]], [[Tibesti-Jebel Uweinat montane xeric woodlands]], and [[West Saharan montane xeric woodlands]].<ref name="DinersteinOlson2017">{{cite journal|last1=Dinerstein|first1=Eric|last2=Olson|first2=David|last3=Joshi|first3=Anup|last4=Vynne|first4=Carly|last5=Burgess|first5=Neil D.|last6=Wikramanayake|first6=Eric|last7=Hahn|first7=Nathan|last8=Palminteri|first8=Suzanne|last9=Hedao|first9=Prashant|last10=Noss|first10=Reed|last11=Hansen|first11=Matt|display-authors=1|year=2017|title=An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm|journal=BioScience|volume=67|issue=6|pages=534–545|doi=10.1093/biosci/bix014|issn=0006-3568|last16=Hayes|first40=Jonathan|first43=Roeland|last43=Kindt|first42=Yara|last42=Shennan-Farpón|first41=Heinz|last41=Klöser|first39=Shahina A.|last40=Timberlake|first44=Jens-Peter Barnekow|last39=Ghazanfar|first38=Annette|last38=Patzelt|first37=Anthony G.|last37=Miller|first36=Othman A.|last44=Lillesø|last45=van Breugel|first35=José C.|last15=Barber|last12=Locke|first12=Harvey|last13=Ellis|first13=Erle C|last14=Jones|first14=Benjamin|first49=Muhammad|first45=Paulo|last49=Saleem|first48=Khalaf F.|last48=Al-Shammari|first47=Maianna|last47=Voge|first46=Lars|last46=Graudal|last36=Llewellyn|last35=Brito|first16=Randy|last21=Price|last24=Suckling|first23=Don|last23=Weeden|first22=Jonathan E. M.|last22=Baillie|first21=Lori|first20=Wes|last25=Davis|last20=Sechrest|first19=Eileen|last19=Crist|first18=Vance|last18=Martin|first17=Cyril|last17=Kormos|first24=Kierán|first25=Crystal|first34=Lilian|first30=Peter|last34=Pintea|first33=Nadia|last33=de Souza|first32=Alexandra|last32=Tyukavina|first31=Svetlana|last31=Turubanova|last30=Potapov|last26=Sizer|first29=Tanya|last29=Birch|first28=David|last28=Thau|first15=Charles Victor|last27=Moore|first26=Nigel|first27=Rebecca|pmid=28608869|pmc=5451287|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Natural hazards come in the form of hot, dry, dust-laden [[sirocco]] (known in Libya as the ''gibli''). This is a southern wind blowing from one to four days in spring and autumn. There are also [[dust storm]]s and [[Dust storm|sandstorms]]. [[Oasis|Oases]] can also be found scattered throughout Libya, the most important of which are [[Ghadames]] and [[Kufra]].<ref name="WorldCulturalHeritage">{{cite web|title=Old Town of Ghadames (1986) Libyan Arab Jamahirya|url=http://heindorffhus.motivsamler.dk/worldheritage/frame-LibyaGhadames.htm|website=World Cultural Heritage|access-date=10 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810022226/http://heindorffhus.motivsamler.dk/worldheritage/frame-LibyaGhadames.htm|archive-date=10 August 2016 |date=20 July 2006}}</ref>

Libya is highly vulnerable to the effects of [[climate change]] and underprepared to deal with them.<ref>{{Cite web |last=University of Notre Dame |date=2022 |title=ND-GAIN Country Index |url=https://gain.nd.edu/our-work/country-index/rankings/ |access-date=5 March 2025 |website=Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative}}</ref><ref name=":42">{{Cite web |last1=UNDP |last2=UNICEF |last3=IOM UN Migration |last4=COP 27 |date=October 2022 |title=UN Climate Change Fact Sheet: Libya |url=https://libya.iom.int/sites/g/files/tmzbdl931/files/documents/UN%20Climate%20Change%20Factsheet%20Libya.pdf}}</ref> The effects of [[climate change in Libya]], such as [[desertification]], sea level rise, flooding, and irregular weather patterns are already noticeable and are expected to increase.<ref name=":42" /> These pose significant threats to Libya's agriculture, food and water security and economic development and sustainability.<ref>{{Cite web |last=UNDP |title=Libya: Environment and Climate Change |url=https://www.undp.org/libya/environment-and-climate-change |access-date=2025-03-05 |website=UNDP |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":16">{{Cite web |last=World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal |title=Libya |url=https://climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org/country/libya |access-date=2025-03-05 |website=climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org |language=en}}</ref>

Libya was a pioneer state in North Africa in species protection, with the creation in 1975 of the El Kouf protected area. The fall of Muammar Gaddafi's regime favoured intense [[poaching]]: "Before the fall of Gaddafi even hunting rifles were forbidden. But since 2011, poaching has been carried out with weapons of war and sophisticated vehicles in which one can find up to 200 gazelle heads killed by militiamen who hunt to pass the time. We are also witnessing the emergence of hunters with no connection to the tribes that traditionally practice hunting. They shoot everything they find, even during the breeding season. More than 500,000 birds are killed in this way each year, when protected areas have been seized by tribal chiefs who have appropriated them. The animals that used to live there have all disappeared, hunted when they are edible or released when they are not," explains zoologist Khaled Ettaieb.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://orientxxi.info/magazine/le-maghreb-prend-conscience-du-declin-de-sa-biodiversite,4034 |title=Le Maghreb prend conscience du déclin de sa biodiversité |date=4 August 2020 |access-date=13 October 2020 |archive-date=15 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415011801/https://orientxxi.info/magazine/le-maghreb-prend-conscience-du-declin-de-sa-biodiversite,4034 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Libyan Desert ===
[[File:Libyan Dessert.jpg|thumb|Libya is a predominantly desert country. Over 95% of the land area is covered in desert.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-08-26 |title=Libya |url=https://reports.unocha.org/en/country/libya/card/2r82XSjHkw/ |access-date=2023-07-19 |website=reports.unocha.org |language=en |archive-date=5 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405202255/http://reports.unocha.org/en/country/libya/card/2r82XSjHkw/ |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
[[File:Water Stress, Top Countries (2020).svg|thumb|Libya is the fourth-most water-stressed country in the world.]]
The [[Libyan Desert]], which covers most of Libya, is one of the most arid and sun-baked places on earth.<ref name="SalakLibya" /> In places, decades may pass without seeing any rainfall at all, and even in the [[highland (geography)|highlands]] rainfall seldom happens, once every 5–10 years. At [[Jebel Uweinat|Uweinat]], {{As of|2006|lc=y}} the last recorded rainfall was in September 1998.<ref name="Libdesert">{{cite web |url=http://www.fjexpeditions.com/frameset/florafauna.htm |author=András Zboray |title=Flora and Fauna of the Libyan Desert |publisher=Fliegel Jezerniczky Expeditions |access-date=5 February 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121208062321/http://www.fjexpeditions.com/frameset/florafauna.htm |archive-date=8 December 2012  }}</ref>

Likewise, the temperature in the Libyan Desert can be extreme; on 13 September 1922, the town of [['Aziziya]], which is located southwest of [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]], recorded an air temperature of {{convert|58|°C|°F|1}}, considered to be a world record.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.extremescience.com/hottest.htm |title=How Hot is Hot? |publisher=Extreme Science |access-date=5 February 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130202020747/http://www.extremescience.com/hottest.htm |archive-date=2 February 2013 }}</ref><ref name="Death_Valley">{{cite web|url=http://wmo.asu.edu/world-highest-temperature |title=World: Highest Temperature |access-date=15 January 2013 |year=2012 |work=World Weather / Climate Extremes Archive |publisher=Arizona State University |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130104143844/http://wmo.asu.edu/world-highest-temperature |archive-date= 4 January 2013 }}</ref><ref name=El_Azizia>{{cite journal|last=El Fadli|first=KI|title=World Meteorological Organization Assessment of the Purported World Record 58&nbsp;°C Temperature Extreme at El Azizia, Libya (13 September 1922)|journal=Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society|date=September 2012|doi=10.1175/BAMS-D-12-00093.1|volume=94|issue=2|page=199|display-authors=etal|bibcode=2013BAMS...94..199E|doi-access=free|issn=0003-0007 }}</ref> In September 2012, however, the world record figure of 58&nbsp;°C was determined to be invalid by the [[World Meteorological Organization]].<ref name="Death_Valley"/><ref name=El_Azizia/><ref>{{cite news |last=Westcott |first=Tom |title=Libya loses 'world's hottest place' record |url=http://www.libyaherald.com/2012/09/15/libya-loses-worlds-hottest-place-record/ |work=Libya Herald |date=15 September 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130820231702/http://www.libyaherald.com/2012/09/15/libya-loses-worlds-hottest-place-record/ |archive-date=20 August 2013  }}</ref>

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]].<ref name="Libdesert" /> Aside from the scarps, the general flatness is only interrupted by a series of [[plateau]]s and massifs near the centre of the Libyan Desert, around the convergence of the Egyptian-Sudanese-Libyan borders.

Slightly further to the south are the [[massif]]s 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.<ref name="Libdesert" />

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 Libya. The water in the [[Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System]] pre-dates the last [[Ice age]]s and the Sahara Desert itself.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_562.html |title=Fossil Water in Libya |publisher=NASA |access-date=5 February 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130218110002/http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_562.html |archive-date=18 February 2013  }}</ref> This area also contains the [[Arkenu structures]], which were once thought to be two impact craters.<ref name="CigoliniOthers2012a">Cigolini, C, C Laiolo, and M Rossetti (2012) ''Endogenous and nonimpact origin of the Arkenu circular structures (al-Kufrah basin-SE Libya)'' Meteoritics & Planetary Science. 47(11):1772–1788.</ref>