Wikipedia:Today's featured article/August 8, 2006



Libya is a country in North Africa. Bordering the Mediterranean Sea to the north, it lies between Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south and Algeria and Tunisia to the west. With an area of 1.8 million square kilometres, 90% of which is desert, Libya is the fourth largest nation-state in Africa by area, and the 17th largest in the world. The capital, Tripoli, is home to 1.7 million of Libya's 5.8 million people. The three traditional parts of the country are Tripolitania, the Fezzan and Cyrenaica. Libya's name is derived from the ancient Egyptian term "Lebu", referring to Berber peoples living west of the Nile. With one of the largest proven oil reserves in the world, Libya has one of the largest gross domestic products per capita in Africa. Libya is led by revolutionary Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi, whose foreign policy has often brought him into conflict with the West. (More...)

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