Libya weather, climate and geography

Geography

About 95% of Libya, Africa's fourth largest country, consists of desert (the Sahara). In the west the Sahara desert extends into Tunisia and Algeria, in the east into Egypt, and across the southern frontiers into Niger, Chad and Sudan. Only 20% of the desert features sand dunes - most of it consists of hamada (rock plateau) and, in the south, dramatic basalt mountains, the highest point of which is Bikubiti (2285m), near the Chad border. There are a few oases scattered throughout the country, mainly in the south.

There are almost 1,770 km (1,100 miles) of Mediterranean coast, with a low plain extending from the Tunisian border to the Jebel Akhdar (Green Mountain) area in the east. Inland the terrain becomes more hilly. Agriculture has developed mainly on the coast between Zuwarah and Misratah in the west and from Marsa Susa to Benghazi in the east. In the uplands of the old province of Cyrenaica and on Jebel Akhdar the vegetation is more lush.

Desertification is a huge problem, but the Great Manmade River Project, the largest water development scheme in the world, was built to bring water from large aquifers under the Sahara to the coastal cities.