Districts of Libya

Prior to 2013 there were twenty-two first level administrative subdivisions known by the term shabiyah (Arabic singular شعبية šaʿbiyya, plural šaʿbiyyāt) which constituted the districts of Libya.

Historically the area of Libya was considered three provinces (or states), Tripolitania in the northwest, Cyrenaica in the east, and Fezzan in the southwest.

[6] After the French and British occupied Libya in 1943, it was again split into three provinces: Tripolitania in the northwest, Cyrenaica in the east, and Fezzan-Ghadames in the southwest.

The second meaning was used by the Libyan government to refer to the districts of Libya, in tandem with the general ideology of the state.

A lower level, equivalent to a county, exists and divides each Shabiyah into smaller entities.

[8][9][10] The list is as following: (2020 in km2) The 2001 reorganization of Libya into districts (shabiya)[13] resulted in thirty-two districts and three administrative regions (المنطقة الإدارية): The three administrative regions are missing from the above map, Qatrun,[14] Marada,[15] and Jaghbub[16] In 1998 Libya was reorganized into twenty-six districts which were: Butnan, Jafara, Jufra, Kufra, Marj, Murqub, Quba, Al Wahat, Bani Walid, Benghazi, Derna, Gharyan, Jabal al Akhdar, Murzuq, Misrata, Nalut, Nuqat al Khams, Sabha, Sabrata/Sorman, Sirte, Tarhuna/Msalata, Tripoli, Wadi al Hayaa, Wadi al Shatii, Yafran, and Zawiya[17] On 2 August 1995 Libya dropped the baladiyat system and reorganized into thirteen districts (shabiyat).

The table hereunder lists the old twenty-five baladiyat in alphabetical order with a link to each one and numbered to be located on the map.

Fazzan wasn't strictly a district, but a historical muhafazah or wilayah along with Tripolitania (capital Tripoli) and Cyrenaica (capital Cyrene -near nowadays Shahhat- with Diocletian, moved to Ptolemais after the earthquake of 365, and to Barce -nowadays Barca- with Omer Bin Khattab in 643).