Demographic trends
Libya’s rate of population growth is among the highest in North Africa. The influx of foreign workers into the country since the 1960s accounts for part of this rapid growth, but Libya’s annual rate of natural increase (birth rate minus death rate) has also been quite high. In the late 20th century and into the early 21st, death rates steadily declined to substantially below the world average, but birth rates remained relatively high. On the whole, Libya’s population is quite young: more than two-thirds of the population is younger than 30 years of age; of that, about one-third is younger than 15. Libya’s infant mortality rate is the lowest in continental Africa and far below the global rate, portending continued rapid growth well into the 21st century.
Articles from Britannica encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
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Libya - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
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Libya is a country in North Africa. Large amounts of oil have brought wealth to the country. Tripoli is Libya’s capital and largest city.
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Libya - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)
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The petroleum-rich country of Libya lies in northern Africa along the southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Libya blends its role as one of the world’s most important producers of petroleum with a traditional Arab society based on the Islamic religion. In Tripoli, the capital and the largest city, nomadic herders mingle with construction engineers and bearded imams, or Islamic religious teachers. In rural areas herds of sheep, goats, and camels graze alongside modern highways.
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