Abstract Twenty-one studies of intelligence in North Africa are summarised showing a median British IQ of 84. Data are reported for a standardisation of the Standard Progressive Matrices on a sample of 600 adults in Libya giving a median British IQ of 81. Results are reported for the urban–rural, gender and education levels in means and variance. Confirmatory factor analysis provided evidence of four first-order factors and one general factor accounting for 58.7% of the reliable variance.