Sabha District

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See sabhā for the Indian concept of "council".
Sabha (سبها)
Country  Libya
Capital Sabha
Area 15,330 km2 (5,919 sq mi) [1]
Population 134,162 (2006) [2]
Density 9 / km2 (23 / sq mi)
Map of Libya with Sabha district highlighted
Former Sabha District size in the pre-2007 administrative system.

Sabha (Arabic: سبهاSabhā) is one of the districts of Libya. It is located near the center of the country, in the Fezzan region. The capital is the city of Sabha, with a population of 130,000.

The district populations' ethnicity is primarily a mixture of Arab, Bedouin, and Sub-Saharan African Black descent. People of each ethnicity ('unmixed') are also common.


The Sabha District is in the northwestern Libyan Desert section of the Sahara Desert.

The capital of Sabha is the largest and most important city of southern Libya. It has a small domestic airport. The Sabha Air Base is in the district.

The Gaberoun oasis, on a spring fed lake, is a rustic tourist resort and the site of Bedouin village ruins that is located in the district near Sabha city.

Neighboring districts[edit]

Sabha District borders the following districts:


The major settlements of Sabha District include:

Al Jadeed الجديد

The Gaberoun oasis, in the Sabha District.


In the Libyan Civil War, Gaddafi forces maintained control of large parts of the district and city longer than elsewhere in the country. The National Transitional Council took control of the city on 11 September 2011.[3]

There are legal and illegal passenger buses that pass through the district from the southern Sahara/Maghreb/Sahel countries - such as Niger. The journey can take seven days from the border to Sabha city. It can be one of the more dangerous routes in the country, as it goes through the Libyan Desert. Bus drivers can lose their way and passengers sometimes die from lack of food or water. People from Ghana, Togo, and Sudan also come through Sabha to work in Libya, or in Europe via Tripoli and other North African Mediterranean Sea port cities.


  1. ^ before 2007 administrative reorganization
  2. ^ "Districts of Libya". Retrieved 27 October 2009. 
  3. ^ BBC News "Libya conflict: Anti-Gaddafi fighters take Sabha" - accessed 9.23.2011.

Coordinates: 27°02′N 14°26′E﻿ / ﻿27.033°N 14.433°E﻿ / 27.033; 14.433