Murzuq District

Murzuq (مرزق)
District
Country	Libya
Capital	Murzuk
Area	349,790 km2 (135,055 sq mi)
Population	78,621 (2006)
Density	0/km2 (0/sq mi)
Map of Libya with Murzuq district highlighted

Murzuq (Arabic: مرزق‎‎ Murzuq) is one of the districts of Libya. It is in the south of the country. Its capital is Murzuk. The city was occupied by the Ottoman Empire in 1578 and served as the capital of Fezzan off and on until the Ottomans ceded Libya to Italy in 1912. It was not occupied by the Italians until 1914.

To the southeast, Murzuq borders the Bourkou-Ennedi-Tibesti Region of Chad, and to the southwest it borders the Agadez Department of Niger. The border crossing to Niger is at Tumu. Domestically, it borders Ghat in the west, Wadi al Hayaa in northwest, west of Sabha, Sabha in northwest, east of Wadi Al Hayaa, Jufra in north and Kufra in the east.

Per the census of 2012, the total population in the region was 157,747 with 150,353 Libyans. The average size of the household in the country was 6.9, while the average household size of non-Libyans being 3.7. There were totally 22,713 households in the district, with 20,907 Libyan ones. The population density of the district was 1.86 persons per sq. km. Per 2006 census, there were totally 28,642 economically active people in the district.

Libya has mostly a flat undulating plain and occasional plateau, with an average elevation of around 423 m (1,388 ft). Around 91 per cent of the land is covered by desert, with only 8.8 per cent agricultural land (with only 1 % arable lands) and 0.1 per cent of forests. The major resources are petroleum, gypsum and natural gas. Along the coastal regions, the climate is Mediterranean in coastal areas, while it is desert climate in all other parts. Dust storms lasting four to eight days is pretty common during Spring. Triplotania is the northwest region, while it is Cyrenacia in the east and Fezzen in southwest. Fezzen is mostly full of deserts. The region receives an annual rainfall of 2.5 in (64 mm). There are no perennial rivers in the region, but the region is abundant with groundwater aquifers.