Libya - Administrative Divisions and Cities

Administrative Divisions and Cities

Main articles: Subdivisions of Libya and Districts of Libya See also: List of cities in Libya

Historically the area of Libya was considered three provinces (or states), Tripolitania in the northwest, Barka (Cyrenaica) in the east, and Fezzan in the southwest. It was the conquest by Italy in the Italo-Turkish War that united them in a single political unit. Under the Italians Libya, in 1934, was divided into four provinces and one territory (in the south): Tripoli, Misrata, Benghazi, Bayda, and the Territory of the Libyan Sahara.

After independence, Libya was divided into three governorates (muhafazat) and then in 1963 into ten governorates. The governorates were legally abolished in February 1975, and nine "control bureaus" were set up to deal directly with the nine areas, respectively: education, health, housing, social services, labor, agricultural services, communications, financial services, and economy, each under their own ministry. However, the courts and some other agencies continued to operate as if the governorate structure were still in place. In 1983 Libya was split into forty-six districts (baladiyat), then in 1987 into twenty-five. In 1995, Libya was divided into thirteen districts (shabiyah), in 1998 into twenty-six districts, and in 2001 into thirty-two districts. These were then further rearranged into twenty-two districts in 2007:

Arabic	Transliteration	Pop (2006)	Land area (km2)	Number (on map)
البطنان	Butnan	159,536	83,860	1
درنة	Derna	163,351	19,630	2
الجبل الاخضر	Jabal al Akhdar	206,180	7,800	3
المرج	Marj	185,848	10,000	4
بنغازي	Benghazi	670,797	43,535	5
الواحات	Al Wahat	177,047		6
الكفرة	Kufra	50,104	483,510	7
سرت	Sirte	141,378	77,660	8
مرزق	Murzuq	78,621	349,790	22
سبها	Sabha	134,162	15,330	19
وادي الحياة	Wadi al Hayaa	76,858	31,890	20
مصراتة	Misrata	550,938		9
المرقب	Murqub	432,202		10
طرابلس	Tripoli	1,065,405		11
الجفارة	Jafara	453,198	1,940	12
الزاوية	Zawiya	290,993	2,890	13
النقاط الخمس	Nuqat al Khams	287,662	5,250	14
الجبل الغربي	Jabal al Gharbi	304,159		15
نالوت	Nalut	93,224		16
غات	Ghat	23,518	72,700	21
الجفرة	Jufra	52,342	117,410	17
وادي الشاطئ	Wadi al Shatii	78,532	97,160	18

Libyan districts are further subdivided into Basic People's Congresses which act as townships or boroughs. The following table shows the largest cities, in this case with population size being identical with the surrounding district (see above).

No.	City	Population (2010)
1	Tripoli	1,800,000
2	Benghazi	650,000
3	Misrata	350,000
4	Bayda	250,000
5	Zawiya	200,000
Source: