Libya covers 1,759,540 km² on the new Equal Earth world map, 1.3% of all land on Earth. It ranks 17th of 237 countries worldwide and 4th in Africa. At 27° latitude the old Mercator map inflates area by about 1.3×, drawing it closer to 2,217,020 km², a difference of roughly 26%.
For scale, Libya is roughly the same size as Sudan (1,878,000 km²).
You could fit 3 of Botswana inside Libya.
Libya: key figures
| True area | 1,759,540 km² |
| World rank | 17th |
| Share of world land | 1.3% |
| Rank in Africa | 4th / 58 |
| Old-map (Mercator) inflation | 1.3× |
| Apparent size on Mercator | 2,217,020 km² |
Largest countries in Africa (true area)
| Africa | |
|---|
| Algeria | 2,381,741 km² |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | 2,344,858 km² |
| Sudan | 1,878,000 km² |
| Libya (this country) | 1,759,540 km² |
| Chad | 1,284,000 km² |
| Niger | 1,267,000 km² |