a republic in N Africa, on the Mediterranean: became an Italian colony in 1912; divided after World War II into Tripolitania and Cyrenaica (under British administration) and Fezzan (under French); gained independence in 1951; monarchy overthrown by a military junta led by Colonel Gaddafi in 1969; Gaddafi's authoritarian regime overthrown in 2011 following a popular uprising, leading to prolonged violence and instability. It consists almost wholly of desert and is a major exporter of oil. Official language: Arabic. Official religion: (Sunni) Muslim. Currency: Libyan dinar. Capital: Tripoli. Pop: 6 374 616 (2017 est). Area: 1 760 000 sq km (680 000 sq miles)
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
Lib•y•a
(lib′ē ə),USA pronunciation n.
- Place Names[Anc. Geog.]the part of N Africa W of Egypt.
- Place NamesItalian, Libia. a republic in N Africa between Tunisia and Egypt: formerly a monarchy 1951–69. 5,648,359;
679,400 sq. mi. (1,759,646 sq. km). Cap.: Tripoli.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'Libya' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Al Marj
- Arab League
- Arabic
- Benghazi
- Cyrenaica
- Fezzan
- Idris I
- LD
- Libia
- Libyan
- Libyan Desert
- Maghreb
- Middle East
- North Africa
- Ramses III
- Sidra
- Tobruk
- Tripoli
- Tripolitania
- Tritonis
- ammoniac
- dinar
- dirham
- millieme
- pound
- tripoli
- varnish