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Travel to Lebanon — Unbiased reviews and
great deals from TripAdvisorLebanon
| Republic of Lebanon National
name: Al-Joumhouriya al-Lubnaniya President: Michel Suleiman (2008) Prime Minister: Fouad Siniora (2005)
Current government officials
Land area: 3,950 sq mi (10,230 sq km);
total area: 4,015 sq mi (10,400 sq km) Population (2008 est.): 3,971,941 (growth
rate: 1.1%); birth rate: 17.6/1000; infant mortality rate: 22.5/1000;
life expectancy: 73.4; density per sq km: 388
Capital and largest city (2003 est.):
Beirut, 1,916,100 (metro. area), 1,171,000 (city
proper) Other large cities:
Tripoli, 212,900; Sidon, 149,000 Monetary
unit: Lebanese pound
Languages:
Arabic (official), French, English,
Armenian
Ethnicity/race:
Arab 95%, Armenian 4%, other 1%
Religions:
Islam 60% (Shi'a, Sunni, Druze, Isma'ilite,
Alawite/Nusayri), Christian 39% (Maronite, Melkite, Syrian, Armenian,
and Roman Catholic; Greek, Armenian, and Syrian Orthodox; Chaldean;
Assyrian; Copt; Protestant), other 1%
National Holiday:
Independence Day, November 22 Literacy rate: 87% (2003 est.) Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2007 est.):
$42.27 billion; per capita $11,300. Real growth rate: 4%.
Inflation: 4.1%. Unemployment: 20% (1997 est.).
Arable land: 17%. Agriculture: citrus, grapes, tomatoes,
apples, vegetables, potatoes, olives, tobacco; sheep, goats. Labor
force: 2.6 million; note: in addition, there are as many as 1
million foreign workers (2001 est.); services n.a., industry n.a.,
agriculture n.a. Industries: banking, tourism, food processing,
jewelry, cement, textiles, mineral and chemical products, wood and
furniture products, oil refining, metal fabricating. Natural
resources: limestone, iron ore, salt, water-surplus state in a
water-deficit region, arable land. Exports: $1.782 billion
f.o.b. (2005 est.): authentic jewelry, inorganic chemicals,
miscellaneous consumer goods, fruit, tobacco, construction minerals,
electric power machinery and switchgear, textile fibers, paper.
Imports: $8.855 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): petroleum products,
cars, medicinal products, clothing, meat and live animals, consumer
goods, paper, textile fabrics, tobacco. Major trading partners:
Syria, UAE, Turkey, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Italy, France, Germany,
China, U.S., UK (2004). Communications:
Telephones: main lines in use: 700,000 (1999); mobile cellular:
580,000 (1999). Radio broadcast stations: AM 20, FM 22,
shortwave 4 (1998). Radios: 2.85 million (1997). Television
broadcast stations: 15 (plus 5 repeaters) (1995).
Televisions: 1.18 million (1997). Internet Service Providers
(ISPs): 22 (2000). Internet users: 300,000 (2001). Transportation: Railways: total: 401 km
(unusable because of damage in civil war) (2002). Highways:
total: 7,300 km; paved: 6,198 km; unpaved: 1,102 km (1999 est.).
Ports and harbors: Antilyas, Batroun, Beirut, Chekka, El Mina,
Ez Zahrani, Jbail, Jounie, Naqoura, Sidon, Tripoli, Tyre.
Airports: 8 (2002).
Major sources and definitions
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Geography
Lebanon lies at the eastern end of the
Mediterranean Sea north of Israel and west of Syria. It is four-fifths the
size of Connecticut. The Lebanon Mountains, which parallel the coast on
the west, cover most of the country, while on the eastern border is the
Anti-Lebanon range. Between the two lies the Bekaa Valley, the principal
agricultural area.
Government
Republic.
History
After World War I, France was given a League of
Nations mandate over Lebanon and its neighbor Syria, which together had
previously been a single political unit in the Ottoman Empire. France
divided them in 1920 into separate colonial administrations, drawing a
border that separated mostly Muslim Syria from the kaleidoscope of
religious communities in Lebanon, where Maronite Christians were then
dominant. After 20 years of the French mandate regime, Lebanon's
independence was proclaimed on Nov. 26, 1941, but full independence came
in stages. Under an agreement between representatives of Lebanon and the
French National Committee of Liberation, most of the powers exercised by
France were transferred to the Lebanese government on Jan. 1, 1944. The
evacuation of French troops was completed in 1946.
According to the unwritten National Pact,
different religious communities were represented in the government by
having a Maronite Christian president, a Sunni Muslim prime minister, and
a Shiite national assembly speaker. The arrangement worked for two
decades.
Civil war broke out in 1958, with Muslim
factions led by Kamal Jumblat and Saeb Salam rising in insurrection
against the Lebanese government headed by President Camille Chamoun, a
Maronite Christian favoring close ties to the West. At Chamoun's request,
President Eisenhower, on July 15, sent U.S. troops to reestablish the
government's authority.
Clan warfare between various religious factions
in Lebanon goes back centuries. The hodgepodge includes Maronite
Christians, who, since independence, have dominated the government; Sunni
Muslims, who have prospered in business and shared political power; the
Druze, who hold a faith incorporating aspects of Islam and Gnosticism; and
Shiite Muslims.
A new—and bloodier—Lebanese civil
war that broke out in 1975 resulted in the addition of still another
ingredient in the brew—the Syrians. In the fighting between Lebanese
factions, 40,000 Lebanese were estimated to have been killed and 100,000
wounded between March 1975 and Nov. 1976. At that point, Syrian troops
intervened at the request of the Lebanese and brought large-scale fighting
to a halt. In 1977 the civil war again flared up and continued until 1990,
decimating the country.
Palestinian guerrillas staging raids on Israel
from Lebanese territory drew punitive Israeli raids on Lebanon and two
large-scale Israeli invasions, in 1978 and again in 1982. In the first
invasion, the Israelis entered the country in March 1978 and withdrew that
June, after the UN Security Council created a 6,000-man peacekeeping force
for the area called UNIFIL. As the UN departed, the Israelis turned their
strongholds over to a Christian militia that they had organized, instead
of to the UN force.
The second Israeli invasion came on June 6,
1982, after an assassination attempt by Palestinian terrorists on the
Israeli ambassador in London. As a base of the PLO, Lebanon became the
Israelis' target. Nearly 7,000 Palestinians were dispersed to other Arab
nations. The violence seemed to have come to an end when, on Sept. 14,
Bashir Gemayel, the 34-year-old president-elect, was killed by a bomb that
destroyed the headquarters of his Christian Phalangist Party. Following
his assassination, Christian militiamen massacred about 1,000 Palestinians
in the Israeli-controlled Sabra and Shatila refugee camps, but Israel
denied responsibility.
The massacre in the refugee camps prompted the
return of a multinational peacekeeping force. Its mandate was to support
the central Lebanese government, but it soon found itself drawn into the
struggle for power between different Lebanese factions. The country was
engulfed in chaos and instability. During their stay in Lebanon, 241 U.S.
Marines and about 60 French soldiers were killed, most of them in suicide
bombings of the U.S. Marine and French army compounds on Oct. 23, 1983.
The multinational force withdrew in the spring of 1984. In 1985, the
majority of Israeli troops withdrew from the country, but Israel left some
troops along a buffer zone on the southern Lebanese border, where they
engaged in ongoing skirmishes with Palestinian groups. The Palestinian
terrorist group Hezbollah, or “Party of God,” was formed in
the 1980s during Israel's second invasion of Lebanon. With financial
backing from Iran, it has launched attacks against Israel for more than 20
years.
In July 1986, Syrian observers took up a
position in Beirut to monitor a peacekeeping agreement. The agreement
broke down and fighting between Shiite and Druze militia in West Beirut
became so intense that Syrian troops mobilized in Feb. 1987, suppressing
militia resistance. In 1991 a treaty of friendship was signed with Syria,
which in effect gave Syria control over Lebanon's foreign relations. In
early 1991, the Lebanese government, backed by Syria, regained control
over the south and disbanded various militias, thereby ending the 16-year
civil war, which had destroyed much of the infrastructure and industry of
Lebanon.
In June 1999, just before Israeli prime minister
Benjamin Netanyahu left office, Israel bombed southern Lebanon, its most
severe attack on the country since 1996. In May 2000, Israel's new prime
minister, Ehud Barak, withdrew Israeli troops after 18 consecutive years
of occupation.
In the summer of 2001, Syria withdrew nearly all
of its 25,000 troops from Beirut and surrounding areas. About 14,000
troops, however, remained in the countryside. With the continuation of
Israeli-Palestinian violence in 2002, Hezbollah again began building up
forces along the Lebanese-Israeli border.
In Aug. 2004, in a stark reminder of its
continuing iron grip on Lebanon, Syria insisted that Lebanon's pro-Syrian
president, Émile Lahoud, remain in office beyond the constitutional
limit of one six-year term. Despite outrage in the country, the Lebanese
parliament did Syria's bidding, permitting Lahoud to serve for three more
years.
A UN Security Council resolution in Sept. 2004
demanded that Syria remove the troops it had stationed in Lebanon for the
past 28 years. Syria responded by moving about 3,000 troops from the
vicinity of Beirut to eastern Lebanon, a gesture that was viewed by many
as merely cosmetic. As a result of the crisis, Prime Minister Rafik Hariri
(1992–1998, 2000–2004), largely responsible for Lebanon's
economic rebirth in the past decade, resigned. On Feb. 14, 2005, he was
killed by a car bomb. Many suspected Syria of involvement and large
protests ensued, calling for Syria's withdrawal from the country. After
two weeks of protests by Sunni Muslim, Christian, and Druze parties,
pro-Syrian prime minister Omar Karami resigned on Feb. 28. Several days
later, Syria made a vague pledge to withdraw its troops but failed to
announce a timetable. On March 8, the militant group Hezbollah sponsored a
massive pro-Syrian rally, primarily made up of Shiites, that greatly
outnumbered previous anti-Syrian protests. Hundreds of thousands gathered
to thank Syria for its involvement in Lebanon. The pro-Syrian
demonstrations led to President Lahoud's reappointment of Karami as prime
minister on March 9. But thereafter an anti-Syrian protest—twice the
size of the Hezbollah protest—followed. In mid-March, Syria withdrew
4,000 troops and redeployed the remaining 10,000 to Lebanon's Bekaa
Valley, which borders Syria. In April, Omar Karami resigned a second time
after failing to form a government. Lebanon's new prime minister, Najib
Mikati—a compromise candidate between the pro-Syrian and anti-Syrian
groups—announced that new elections would be held in May. On April
26, after 29 years of occupation, Syria withdrew all of its troops.
In May and June 2005, Syria held four rounds of
parliamentary elections. An anti-Syrian alliance led by Saad al-Hariri,
the 35-year-old son of assassinated former prime minister leader Rafik
Hariri, won 72 out of 128 seats. Former finance minister Fouad Siniora,
who was closely associated with Hariri, became prime minister.
On Sept. 1, four were charged in the murder of
Rafik Hariri. The commander of Lebanon's Republican Guard, the former head
of general security, the former chief of Lebanon's police, and the former
military intelligence officer were indicted for the February
assassination. On Oct. 20, the UN released a report concluding that the
assassination was carefully organized by Syrian and Lebanese intelligence
officials, including Syria's military intelligence chief, Asef Shawkat,
who is the brother-in-law of Syrian president Bashar Assad.
On July 12, 2006, Hezbollah fighters entered
Israel and captured two Israeli soldiers. In response, Israel launched a
major military attack, bombing the Lebanese airport and other major
infrastructures, as well as parts of southern Lebanon. Hezbollah, led by
Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, retaliated by launching hundreds of rockets and
missiles into Israel (Iran supplies Hezbollah with weapons, which are
transported through Syria). After a week of fighting, Israel made it clear
that its offensive in Lebanon would continue until Hezbollah was routed.
Although much of the international community demanded a cease-fire, the
United States supported Israel's plan to continue the fighting until
Hezbollah was drained of its military power (Hezbollah is thought to have
at least 12,000 rockets and missiles and had proved a much more formidable
foe than anticipated). On Aug. 14, a UN-negotiated cease-fire went into
effect. The UN planned to send a 15,000-member peacekeeping force. About
1,150 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and 150 Israelis, mostly soldiers, died
in the 34 days of fighting. More than 400,000 Lebanese were forced from
their homes by the fighting. Almost immediately, Hezbollah began
organizing reconstruction efforts, and handed out financial aid to
families who had lost their homes, shoring up loyalty from Shiite
civilians.
In November, Pierre Gemayel, minister of
industry and member of a well-known Maronite Christian political dynasty,
was assassinated, the fifth anti-Syrian leader to be killed since the
death of Rafik Hariri in Feb. 2005. Pro-government protesters blamed Syria
and its Lebanese allies, and staged large demonstrations following the
assassination. These protests were then followed by even larger and more
sustained demonstrations by Hezbollah supporters. Beginning Dec. 1, tens
of thousands of demonstrators, led by the Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan
Nasrallah, occupied the center of Beirut and called for the resignation of
the pro-Western coalition government.
A commission that investigated 2006's war
between Israel and Lebanon released a scathing report in April 2007,
saying Israeli prime minister Olmert was responsible for "a severe failure
in exercising judgment, responsibility, and prudence." It also said that
Olmert rushed to war without an adequate plan.
About 60 people were killed in May 2007 in
battles between government troops and members of Islamic militant group
Fatah al-Islam, which is based in a Palestinian refugee camp near Tripoli.
The group is similar in philosophy to al-Qaeda.
In June 2007, anti-Syrian member of Parliament
Walid Eido was killed in a bombing in Beirut. In September 2007, another
anti-Syrian lawmaker, Antoine Ghanem of the Christian Phalange Party,
which is part of the governing coalition, was assassinated. Those
assassinations were followed in December with the killing of Gen.
François al-Hajj, a top general who was poised to succeed army
chief Gen. Michel Suleiman.
In September 2007, Hezbollah legislators
boycotted the session of Parliament at which lawmakers were to vote on a
new president. The Hezbollah faction had wanted the governing coalition to
put forward a compromise candidate. Parliament adjourned the session and
rescheduled elections. A caretaker government, led by Prime Minister Fouad
Siniroa, took over on November 24 after President Émile Lahoud's
term expired and Parliament for the fourth time postponed a vote on his
successor.
In January 2008, the Winograd Commission
released its final report on Israel's 2006 war against Hezbollah in
Lebanon. It called the operation a "large and serious" failure and
criticized the country's leadership for failing to have an exit strategy
in place before the invasion began. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was spared
somewhat, as the commission said that in ordering the invasion, he was
acting in "the interest of the state of Israel."
Tension in Lebanon peaked in February, after the
assassination of top Hezbollah military commander, Imad Mugniyah. He was
killed in a car bombing in Damascus, Syria. Mugniyah is thought to have
orchestrated a series of bombings and kidnappings in the 1980s and 1990s,
and he was one of America's most wanted men with a price tag of $25
million on his head. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who accused Israel
for arranging the assassination, called for an "open war" against
Israel.
Sectarian violence between Hezbollah, a Shiite
militia, and Sunnis broke out in May, after the government said it was
shutting down a telecommunications network run by Hezbollah, calling it
illegal, and attempting to dismiss a Hezbollah-backed head of airport
security. Members of Hezbollah took control of large swaths of western
Beirut, forced a government-supported television station off the air, and
burned the offices of a newspaper loyal to the government. The government
accused Hezbollah of staging an "armed coup." After a week of violence, in
which 65 people died, the government rescinded its plans concerning both
the telecommunications network and the head of airport security. In
return, Hezbollah agreed to dismantle roadblocks that have paralyzed
Beirut's airport. The government concessions were seen as a major victory
for Hezbollah.
After several days of negotiations, Hezbollah
and the government reached a deal that had Hezbollah withdrawing from
Beirut. In return, the government agreed that Parliament would vote to
elect as president Gen. Michel Suleiman, the commander of Lebanon’s
army; form a new cabinet, which gives Hezbollah and other members of the
opposition veto power; and pursue passage of a new electoral law.
Parliament went ahead and elected Suleiman as president. He's considered a
neutral figure, and his election ended 18 months of political gridlock.
Prime Miniser Siniora formed a 30-member cabinet in July, with the
opposition holding 11 positions.
Lebanon and Israel took part in a prisoner
exchange in July. Israel released five Lebanese prisoners, including Samir
Kuntar, who killed an Israeli policeman, a man, and his young daughter in
1979. Lebanon, in turn, returned to Israel the bodies of two soldiers who
were captured in the 2006 cross-border raid into Israel.
See also Encyclopedia: Lebanon.
U.S. State Dept. Country Notes:
Lebanon
Central Administration for Statistics www.cas.gov.lb/ .
See also Lebanon Timeline.
Information Please® Database, © 2008 Pearson
Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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