Lebanon is located on the Mediterranean bordering Syria and
Israel. It has a total area of 10,400 square kilometers, and
its major river, the Nahr al-Litani, is the only river of its
kind in the Middle East that does not cross international borders.
The Lebanese population was estimated at 3,627,774 in July 2001,
a figure that has not changed much in the past 25 years. This
is due primarily to the traditionally high rate of emigration
that was accelerated by the civil war between 1975 and 1991.
Although ethnically quite homogeneous, the Lebanese are divided
along confessional lines with more than 14 major Christian and
Muslim sects and many more minor ones. Arabic is the official
language, but French, English and Armenian are also spoken. Some
of the most important educational institutions of higher education
such as the American University in Beirut teach in English, while
the University of St. Joseph follows the French system of education
and teaches the majority of its courses in French. Lebanon has
a unicameral National Assembly which elects the president of
the republic. Its members are elected by popular vote on the
basis of sectarian proportional representation to serve four-year
terms. The legal system is a mixture of Ottoman law, canon law,
Napoleonic code, and civil law. Because of its complex confessional
divisions Lebanon's personal status laws are determined by
the various communities religious authorities. The sixteen
year civil war devastated the once thriving Lebanese economy,
which is now burdened with an estimated $28.6 billion public
debt (July 2002), due in part to borrowing for the physical reconstruction
of Beirut and other war damaged parts of the country. Family
remittances, banking services, manufactured and farm exports,
and international aid provide the main sources of foreign exchange.
Al-Bab.com (http://www.al-bab.com/arab/countries/lebanon.htm)
Provides a quick briefing via links to other sites including information on travel and cites recent publications about Lebanon.
Al-Bawaba (http://albawaba.com/en/countries/Lebanon)
It is a major portal site that links a number of other websites on all the Arab countries. It contains up-to-date information on the political, business, social, cultural and religious aspects of a particular country. Just click on the name of the country for information in English and Arabic.
An-Nahar Daily (http://www.annahar.com/)
Site of the most important private daily newspaper in Lebanon. Founded in 1933, it provides daily news on politics, business, culture events and much more (in Arabic). The site has also a women’s magazine in French.
Arab Fund for Economic & Social Development (http://www.arabfund.org/)
Search for information on projects funded throughout the Arab world.
Arab German Consulting (http://www.arab.de/arabinfo/lebanon.htm)
Major portal site on the Arab countries. Includes up-to-date information on the government, history, economy, education systems.
Arab Net (http://www.arab.net/)
It is a major Arab website that contains information on the government, history, geography, business, culture, transport, tourism of each country, and provides links to other relevant websites.
Arabic Keyboard (http://www.listenarabic.com/arabic-keyboard.php)
“This site allows you to type Arabic characters with out an Arabic keyboard. Additionally, you can edit what you write by placing the mouse pointer inside the text area and using it as you normally do to type and edit Arabic texts.”
CIA -- The World Factbook (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/le.html)
An annual publication of the CIA, contains up-to-date information on all aspects of the political, social and military history of a particular country.
Center for Statistics (http://www.cas.gov.lb/)
Official statistics on population, transportation, construction, banks, markets, foreign trade and other important issues - includes a monthly bulletin.
Country Reports about ... (http://www.countryreports.org/Lebanon.aspx)
Offers links to sites about many countries by such subjects as government, the military, economy, the weather, etc.
The Daily Star (http://www.dailystar.com.lb/)
Most important English language daily newspaper in Lebanon. Covers political, business and cultural news and events.
Development Gateway Country Overview (http://www.developmentgateway.org/)
“The Development Gateway helps communities, organizations, and individuals build partnerships, share ideas, and work together to reduce poverty.” Search by development projects as well as by country to identify additional web sites and documents.
Encyclopedia.com (http://www.encyclopedia.com)
From the Electronic Library, searching the Encyclopedia.com by country provides numerous narrative articles on its history, culture, politics.
Fares.net (http://www.fares.net)
Site includes a directory and a list of sites on a wide range of subjects including tourism, entertainment, culture, the media, news and business in English and Arabic. Search under the name of the country.
Infoplease (http://www.infoplease.com/)
Part of the electronic Learning Network, this homepage allows searches by country which yield articles in almanacs, dictionaries, encyclopedias, biographical works, etc. Additional reference links are provided as well.
Leb Seek (http://www.lebseek.com/)
Small but useful search engine with links to numerous cultural, economic and social sites.
Lebanon - Al-Mashriq (http://almashriq.hiof.no/lebanon/index.html)
Important portal on every aspect of Lebanon’s social, economic and political life.
Lebanon The Cedars’ Land ( http://tyros.leb.net/maps/index.html)
Map of Lebanon with links to the cities listed, most pages include Lebanese music.
Lebanon Directory (http://dmoz.org/Regional/Middle%5FEast/Lebanon/)
Mega portal that can be searched by country. Includes information on all aspects of life in that country.
Lebanon Links (http://www.lebanonlinks.com/)
Major Lebanese portal that includes links to banks, universities, international organization, the media, tourist and entertainment sites, and searchable Yellow and White pages.
Lebanon Virtual Library (http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/indiv/mideast/)
A Columbia University portal on various countries of the Middle East. Search under Lebanon for information on a number of historical and political topics.
Lebanon. Com (http://www.lebanon.com/)
Online daily news, business resources, and tourist information about Lebanon.
Lebanese Yellow Pages ( http://www.yellowpages.com.lb/)
Small but important portal on Lebanon that includes yellow pages, information on a large number of non-governmental associations, professional organizations, business, media and entertainment.
Library of Congresss. Virtual Reference Shelf (http://www.loc.gov/rr/askalib/virtualref.html)
The Library of Congress has mounted this useful site on its home page to give scholars and researchers access to common online sources which are excellent for initial stages of research. These online tools are organized by subject and format, e.g., "Almanacs and Fast Facts," "Directories," "Libraries," etc.
Lonely Planet - Destinations (http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/lebanon/)
Search by country to find information on travel, attractions, history, culture, and environment. of that location.
Middle
East – Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (http://www.carnegieendowment.org/programs/global/index.cfm?fa=proj&id=107&proj=zme)
The main feature of the Carnegie Arabic Web Portal is the Arabic-language version
of the Arab Reform Bulletin, an online monthly journal on the latest political
reform developments from Arab and Western perspectives. Also included are
Arabic translations of select Carnegie Papers, commentaries on the Middle
East and related subjects such as nuclear nonproliferation, as well as writings
originally published in Arabic.
OneWorld.net (http://us.oneworld.net/)
Searchable by country, regions and topics. Includes current headlines and special reports.
Princeton
University Library: Near Eastern Studies
Resources (http://www.princeton.edu/~nes/)
Princeton Library’s site dedicated to Near Eastern Studies provides not only invaluable information about Princeton’s programs and collections, but also extensive links to sites (libraries, universities, institutes, think tanks, directories, gateways, newspapers, etc.) around the world concerning all aspects of the discipline.
United Nations (http://www.un.org)
The official site of the United Nations provides articles, reports, etc. in several languages on all aspects of the initiatives and mission of that organization as well as on the contemporary life, culture, society, international relations, etc. of all the countries and peoples of the world.
United Nations ReliefWeb (http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/dbc.nsf/doc100?openForm)
“ReliefWeb is a project of the United Nations Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)... serving the information
needs of the humanitarian relief community” Offers news updates to crisis
situations around the world and includes information about refugee camps and
other relief efforts.
United States. Agency for International Development. Development Experience Clearinghouse (DEC) (http://dec.usaid.gov/)
“The purpose of the DEC is to strengthen USAID's development projects, activities, and programs by making ... development experience documents available to USAID offices and mission staff, PVO's, NGO's, universities and research institutions, developing countries, and the public worldwide.”
United States. Department of State (http://www.state.gov/)
Numerous documents concerning diplomatic and international relations, travel advice and warnings relating to the countries of the world are available on the State Department’s official site by searching under a particular country’s name.
United States. Library of Congress Country Studies (http://memory.loc.gov/frd/cs/lbtoc.html)
A series published by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress under the Country Studies/Area Studies Handbook Program sponsored by the Department of the Army.
University of Texas Middle East Website (http://www.utexas.edu/cola/depts/mes/)
Excellent website on the government, politics, news and media, education and the social sciences in the Middle East.
World Desk Reference (http://dev.prenhall.com/divisions/hss/worldreference/LB/introduction.html)
Searchable by country, this is the online version of the handbook with more than 5000 illustrations and maps.
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