Political geography can be taken to include the geographical analysis of formal political territories of all kinds, and an interest in political spheres of influence. Thus defined, Libya must have provided an almost unparalleled range of topics for study in the past 20 years. Internal administrative districts have been changed three times. The international boundaries of the state have been the subject of debate and dispute. In 1975 Libya occupied a large tract of northern Chad and became heavily involved in the Chadian civil war in 1980. Maritime boundary delimitation began in the 1980s and Libyan claims to historic water status for the Gulf of Sirte were disputed by the United States. At least eight attempts at political mergers with other states have been made by Colonel Qadhafi, while other Libyan foreign policy adventures have been widespread, especially in Africa. In the face of this plethora of geopolitical activity it is disappointing to report that the political geography of Libya has not received the attention it deserves from scholars in Britain or elsewhere. Only in one area of study — international boundaries — is the literature reasonably plentiful, and of a high calibre (detailed bibliographies in Alawar 1983; Lawless 1987). While this emphasis may be justified on the grounds that Libya's boundaries are major potential ‘flashpoints’ (Copson 1982) it leaves a great deal of potentially useful geopolitical insights as yet unexplored. No publications have been traced for example on the implications of the changing location of Libya's designated capital city, from Tripoli to Benghazi — Tripoli to Beida to Tripoli and now — conceivably — to Sirte.