According to COUNTRYAAH, Libya is a State of North Africa (1,775,000 km²). Capital: Tripoli. Administrative division: Sha’biyah municipality (33). Population: 6,374,616 (2017 estimate). Language: Arabic. Religion: Sunni Muslims 97%, others 3%. Currency unit: Libyan dinar (1000 dirham). Human Development Index: 0.840 (52nd place). Borders: Mediterranean Sea (N), Egypt (E), Sudan (SE), Niger and Chad (S), Tunisia and Algeria (W). Member of: COMESA, Arab League, OCI, UN, OPEC and UA.
Independent since 1951, Libya is a socialist republic. With the constitutional reform of 1977, the country took the name of “Jamāhīrīya Arab Libyan Socialist People’s” and a system of popular government was established, exercised through 2700 representatives chosen by the grassroots popular congresses (CPB), which meet nationally in the People’s General Congress (GPC). This elects the organs of executive power: the General Secretariat and the General People’s Committee whose members act as ministers. Judicial power is exercised by the courts of first instance, assizes and appeals and, in its highest degree, by the Supreme Court. In 1988 a reform of the judicial bodies was launched: the people’s courts were created, which act as courts of first instance, and the figure of the Attorney General was established to check the correctness of the procedures. If the various civil, criminal and commercial codes are mainly based on the Egyptian model, the fundamental guide of the entire system is the Quran. The death penalty is in force and the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice is not accepted. The Libyan armed forces are divided into the three traditional weapons. Military service is carried out on a selective basis and has a variable duration, between 1 and 2 years. After independence Libya modeled its education system on that of neighboring Egypt. Education is compulsory and free for children aged 6 to 15. Primary school lasts 6 years and provides basic education. There are numerous Koranic schools organized by mosques. This form of education was very important in combating illiteracy, the percentage of which in 2015 was reduced to 8.6%. Primary school is then followed by three years of secondary education, which is also compulsory. Secondary education is given in general education institutions. The country’s main universities are located in Tripoli (1973) and Benghazi (1956).
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Climate
There are two climatic zones in Libya.
Coast
The coastal area is characterized by the warm, winter-humid Mediterranean climate. Temperatures are between 8 and 12 ° C at night and between 16 and 20 ° C during the day. In the dry, however, the temperatures rise to 30 to 33 ° C, at night temperatures usually drop to 20 to 22 ° C. The air humidity is all year round at relatively high values of 60 to 75%. Every year, between 250 and 400 mm of precipitation falls on 30 to 50 days, in Cyrenaica up to 600 mm. The rain falls almost exclusively between November and February.
Desert
By far the largest part of the country, which begins just behind the coast, lies in the area of the dry and hot desert climate zone. Here the winters are mild and the summers are very hot.
The precipitation is very low (maximum 35 mm per year), but can vary greatly one year to another and sometimes for years absent altogether.
The temperatures vary greatly between seasons and the day. In winter they are warm during the day at 18 to 24 ° C, the nights can be quite cool at 3 to 8 ° C; sometimes there is even frost. In spring it is warmer during the day at 24 to 35 ° C, at night it stays at 10 to 18 ° C. Then hot and dry sandstorms often occur. The summers in the Libyan interior are very hot with low humidity (20 to 30%). Temperatures of up to 50 ° C occur here; there are only a few regions in the world that get even hotter. The average maximum temperatures are 38 to 42 ° C; even at night the temperatures only drop to 20 to 26 ° C.
Best time to travel to Libya
The optimal time to travel to Libya depends on where you plan to go.
In the Libyan desert, the best travel time is between November and March / April. During this time, the daytime temperatures reach pleasant values, at night it is sometimes cold. In spring they are still bearable in the Libyan Sahara; but you have to reckon with sandstorms during this time. In summer, on the other hand, the temperatures in the Libyan desert are simply too high for travelers.
The Mediterranean coast with its lower temperatures, on the other hand, is all year round for a visit, be it to go on a beach vacation in summer or in autumn, winter and spring to tour the ancient sites.
