With an area of around 1.76m sq km, Libya is the fourth largest country in Africa in terms of land mass. The country is mostly desert, with the Sahara covering the majority of its territory. Libya has a coastline stretching more than 1770 km along the Mediterranean Sea. The capital Tripoli is located on the western coast, and other major cities include Benghazi, Misrata and Tobruk.
Libya is predominantly urban, with an estimated population of 6.6m people primarily concentrated in cities along the coast as of early 2023. The population has grown rapidly over the past few decades and is one of the youngest in the world, with 50% of Libyans under 15 and a median age of 25.8 years in 2020.
The country is home to several ethnic groups, with Arabs making up the majority, at around 92%. Amazigh comprise about 5% of the total population and the remaining 3% is composed of Greeks, Maltese, Italians, Egyptians and Turks, as well as Tuareg and Tebu tribal groups, among others. Arabic is the official language of Libya, and it is spoken by the majority of the population. However, a small percentage of the country speaks Amazigh languages. The majority of Libyans practice Sunni Islam, which is the state religion. Although there are Christian and Jewish communities in the country, they make up a very small percentage of the population.
Libya’s geographic location has given it a privileged position historically, in terms of not only regional politics, but also migration as a major transit point for trans-Saharan trade, linking sub-Saharan Africa with the Mediterranean region. A combination of oil wealth and a need for workers increased migration from sub-Saharan Africa towards the end of the 1990s. The number of migrants in the country prior to the 2011 conflict was estimated at 2.5m, according to the International Organisation for Migration, and the number of foreign workers exceeded the native workforce.
In response to increased volatility, migration flows and trade patterns have altered significantly since 2011. To address a migration crisis, the EU has extended financial and technical support to Libyan authorities to support and enhance border control and migration management systems via the European Neighbourhood Policy.
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