1983 Edition

Airfields

83 total, 81 usable; 2 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 5 with runways 1,2202,439 m

Branches

Armed Forces of Liberia, Liberia National Coast Guard

paramount political power and authority rests with the Secretariat of the General People's Congress, which theoretically functions as a parliament with a cabinet called the General People's Committee

Capital

Tripoli

Civil air

3 major transport aircraft

Coastline

1,770km People

Communists

no organized party, negligible membership Libya (continued)

Elections

representatives to the General People's Congress are drawn from popularly elected municipal committees

Ethnic divisions

97% Berber and Arab with some black stock; some Greeks, Maltese, Jews, Italians, Egyptians, Pakistanis, Turks, Indians, and Tunisians

Government leaders

Col. Mu'ammar Abu Minyar al-QADHAFI (no official title; runs country and is treated as chief of state); Miftah al-Ista 'UMAR, Secretary of the General People's Congress (chief of state in theory but not treated as such)

Highways

8,524 km total; 804 km bituminous treated, 2,055 km gravel, 4,731 km improved earth, and remainder unimproved earth

Inland waterways

no significant waterways

Labor force

1.5 million, of which about 550,000 are resident foreigners Government

Land boundaries

4,345 km Water

Language

Arabic; Italian and English widely understood in major cities

Legal system

based on Italian civil law system and Islamic law; separate religious courts; no constitutional provision for judicial review of legislative acts; legal education at Law School at University of Libya at Benghazi; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Limits of territorial waters (claimed)

12 nm (except for Gulf of Sidra where sovereignty is claimed and northern limit of jurisdiction fixed at 32°30'N and the unilaterally proclaimed 100 nm zone around Tripoli)

Literacy

50%

Military budget

for fiscal year ending 30 June 1983, $23.2 million; 5.5% of central government budget fSee reference map VII) Land 1,758,610 km2; 93% desert, waste, or urban; 6% agricultural; 1% forest

Military manpower

males 15-49, 467,000; 252,000 fit for military service; no conscription

National holiday

Independence Day, 1 September

Nationality

noun — Libyan(s); adjective — Libyan

Official name

Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

Political parties

none

Political subdivisions

10 administrative provinces closely controlled by central government

Population

3,684,000 (July 1984), average annual growth rate 5.2%

Ports

1 major (Monrovia), 4 minor

Railroads

499 km total; 354 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 145 km 1.067-meter narrow gauge; all lines single track; rail systems owned and operated by foreign steel and financial interests in conjunction with Liberian Government

Religion

97% Sunni Muslim

Suffrage

universal adult

Telecommunications

telephone and telegraph service via radio-relay network; main center is Monrovia; 7,700 telephones (0.5 per 100 popl.); 3 AM, 4 FM, and 5 TV stations; Atlantic Ocean satellite station Defense Forces

Type

republic; major overhaul of the constitution and government structure in March 1977 established a system of popular congresses, which theoretically controls the ruling General Secretariat