Wildfires in Libya
14 fires over 100 hectares with an official perimeter since 2017, adding up to 4,115 hectares burned across 8 districts.
Only fires of 100 ha or more get an entry: smaller ones are not in the lists or the entry totals, but they are in the official yearly series.
Key facts
- According to Copernicus EFFIS, 169 hectares burned in Libya in 2025.
- The worst year in Libya since 2017 was 2020, with 2,615 hectares burned according to Copernicus EFFIS.
- According to Copernicus EFFIS estimates, an average of 550 hectares burn in Libya each year (2017–2025 average).
- Largest fire recorded by WorldFires in Libya since 2017: Al Marj fire, June 2020, with 961 hectares burned — perimeter measured by satellite (Copernicus EFFIS).
Figures computed on 25 October 2026 from the WorldFires database; each sentence names its source. Reusable under CC BY 4.0 with credit to WorldFires.
The official record
2006–2026›See the year-by-year table
| Year | Fires | hectares | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 0 | — | EFFIS |
| 2025 | 1 | 169 | EFFIS |
| 2024 | 1 | 200 | EFFIS |
| 2023 | 2 | 326 | EFFIS |
| 2022 | 3 | 173 | EFFIS |
| 2021 | 2 | 295 | EFFIS |
| 2020 | 8 | 2,615 | EFFIS |
| 2019 | 6 | 667 | EFFIS |
| 2018 | 4 | 272 | EFFIS |
| 2017 | 3 | 234 | EFFIS |
| 2016 | 0 | — | EFFIS |
| 2015 | 0 | — | EFFIS |
| 2014 | 0 | — | EFFIS |
| 2013 | 7 | 5,924 | EFFIS |
| 2012 | 0 | — | EFFIS |
| 2011 | 0 | — | EFFIS |
| 2010 | 0 | — | EFFIS |
| 2009 | 0 | — | EFFIS |
| 2008 | 0 | — | EFFIS |
| 2007 | 0 | — | EFFIS |
| 2006 | 0 | — | EFFIS |
National estimates from Copernicus EFFIS, which only counts fires larger than 30 hectares.
Fire calendar
The peak usually comes in week 23 (around 7 June): that is the median of the week with the most burned area in each year since 2017.
Each cell is one week; the colour shows the area of the fires on record that started that week, in quartiles for this country. Tap a cell for details.
When it burned: year by year, month by month
Hectares with an official perimeter by the fire’s starting month, and the largest fire of each year.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Σ | Largest of the year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 169 | 169 | Al Marj 169 ha | |||||||||||
| 2024 | 200 | 200 | Al Marj 200 ha | |||||||||||
| 2023 | 258 | 258 | Al Qubbah 258 ha | |||||||||||
| 2022 | 102 | 102 | Al Marj 102 ha | |||||||||||
| 2021 | 219 | 219 | Al Qubbah 219 ha | |||||||||||
| 2020 | 1k | 961 | 2,370 | Al Marj 961 ha | ||||||||||
| 2019 | 190 | 220 | 118 | 528 | Tajura' wa an Nawahi al Arba 190 ha | |||||||||
| 2018 | 101 | 101 | Al Jabal al Akhdar 101 ha | |||||||||||
| 2017 | 168 | 168 | Al Jabal al Akhdar 168 ha |
Hectares burned per year
What burns: vegetation burnt by year
Copernicus EFFIS · Corine Land CoverOf the 4,115 ha that EFFIS mapped in Libya since 2017 in fires of 30 ha or more, 41% was forest, 0% shrubland, 36% other natural land and 23% farmland. 2020 was the year with the most forest burnt: 1,020 ha, 43% of everything that burnt that year.
Breakdown by the Corine Land Cover classes that EFFIS computes inside each perimeter. Only perimeters of 30 ha or more linked to a fire page, so the sum does not match the country total. Forest: coniferous, broadleaved and mixed; shrubland: sclerophyllous and transitional; built-up and other: artificial surfaces and other land cover.
- Forest41 %
- Shrubland0 %
- Other natural land36 %
- Agricultural areas23 %
- Built-up and other< 1 %
›See the year-by-year table
| Year | hectares | Forest | Shrubland | Other natural land | Agricultural areas | Built-up and other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 169 | 49 % | 0 % | 11 % | 41 % | 0 % |
| 2024 | 200 | 4 % | 0 % | 18 % | 78 % | 0 % |
| 2023 | 258 | 61 % | 0 % | 39 % | 0 % | 0 % |
| 2022 | 102 | 0 % | 0 % | 13 % | 87 % | 0 % |
| 2021 | 219 | 81 % | 0 % | 18 % | 1 % | 0 % |
| 2020 | 2,370 | 43 % | 0 % | 43 % | 14 % | 0 % |
| 2019 | 528 | 13 % | 0 % | 36 % | 49 % | 2 % |
| 2018 | 101 | 52 % | 0 % | 9 % | 39 % | 0 % |
| 2017 | 168 | 63 % | 0 % | 24 % | 12 % | 0 % |
Tell me what burns here
New fires in this area by RSS: paste the link into your reader, no email needed.
Largest recorded fires
Districts that have burned most often in Libya
- 5×Al Marj4 years · 2,126 ha
- 3×Tajura' wa an Nawahi al Arba2 years · 725 ha
- 2×Al Qubbah2 years · 483 ha
- 2×Al Jabal al Akhdar2 years · 273 ha
Full ranking: by number of fires, area and share of the municipality →
Fires in 2025 · 1
Fires in 2024 · 1
Fires in 2023 · 1
Fires in 2022 · 1
Fires in 2021 · 1
Fires in 2020 · 3
Fires in 2019 · 4
Fires in 2018 · 1
Fires in 2017 · 1
Frequently asked questions
- How much land burns in Libya in an average year?
- According to Copernicus EFFIS estimates, an average of 550 hectares burn in Libya each year (2017–2025 average).
- What was the worst wildfire year in Libya?
- The worst year in Libya since 2017 was 2020, with 2,615 hectares burned according to Copernicus EFFIS.
- What is the largest wildfire recorded in Libya?
- Largest fire recorded by WorldFires in Libya since 2017: Al Marj fire, June 2020, with 961 hectares burned — perimeter measured by satellite (Copernicus EFFIS).
- When is wildfire season in Libya?
- In Libya, 93% of the area burned in fires with a WorldFires page since 2017 burned in May–July; the month with the most burned area: May.