Lebanon (country) (Arabic Lubnan), republic on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea in Southwest Asia. Lebanon’s coastal location, high mountain backbone, and climate have greatly influenced the country’s history, peoples, and economy. The coastal area of present-day Lebanon was settled more than 7,000 years ago and later evolved as the heart of seafaring Phoenicia. To help conduct their sea trade, the Phoenicians developed the first alphabet and colonized the western Mediterranean. In the early centuries ad, a largely Christian population and culture arose, which later blended with—though was not overwhelmed by—Islamic influences. Following centuries of Ottoman control, France ruled Lebanon under a League of Nations mandate after the Ottoman Empire was defeated in World War I (1914-1918). During World War II (1939-1945) Lebanon became an independent republic and for three decades prospered under a free-market economy. However, the country experienced increasing hostility among rival religious groups, especially between Christians and Muslims. These and other domestic tensions, intensified by foreign influences, erupted into the devastating Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990). Beirut is Lebanon’s capital, principal port, and largest city.

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Lebanon is a small country of only 10,452 sq km (4,036 sq mi); from north to south it extends 217 km (135 mi) and from east to west it spans 80 km (50 mi) at its widest point. The country is bounded by Syria on both the north and east and by Israel on the south. Lebanon’s landforms fall into four parallel belts that run from northeast to southwest: a narrow coastal plain along the Mediterranean shore; the massive Lebanon Mountains (often referred to locally as Mount Lebanon) that rise steeply from the plain to dominate the entire country before dropping eastward; a fertile intermontane (between-mountain) basin called the Bekáa Valley (Al Biqā’);and the ridges of the Anti-Lebanon Mountains, shared with Syria. Lebanon’s highest peaks are Qurnat as Sawdā’ (3,088 m/10,131 ft) in the country’s north, and volcanic Mount Hermon (2,814 m/9,232 ft) at the southern end of the Anti-Lebanons. The country’s name comes from the old Semitic word laban, meaning “white,” which refers to the heavy snow in the mountains.

A Climate

Most of Lebanon has a Mediterranean climate, with warm, dry summers, and cool, wet winters, although the climate varies somewhat across the landform belts. The coastal plain is subtropical, with 900 mm (35 in) of annual rainfall and a mean temperature in Beirut of 27°C (80°F) in summer and 14°C (57°F) in winter. In the Lebanon Mountains, temperatures decrease and precipitation increases with elevation: Heavy winter snows linger well into summer, making the Lebanon Mountains more pleasant in the summer than the humid coast; higher altitudes receive as much as 1,300 mm (50 in) of annual precipitation. The Bekáa Valley and the Anti-Lebanon Mountains are situated in the rain shadow of the Lebanon Mountains and as a result have hot, dry summers and cold winters with occasional rain.

B Rivers and Lakes

Although Lebanon has no navigable rivers or major natural lakes, springs in the Bekáa feed two small noteworthy rivers: the Līţānī flows south, where it is used for irrigation and hydroelectric-power generation, and then west through a gorge into the Mediterranean; the Orontes flows north and across Syria into Turkey. Many major springs can be found along the western slopes of the Lebanon Mountains. Throughout the country, many streams flow only during the winter rainy season. Combined with runoff from melting snow, these sources provide Lebanon with a plentiful supply of water, unique in the dry Middle East.

C Plant and Animal Life

Lebanon’s forests of cedar trees were famed in antiquity, but intensive logging over the centuries has reduced the forests to a fraction of their former size. Hailed in the Bible and other works of ancient literature, the cedars of Lebanon remain a point of national pride—a cedar appears prominently on the national flag. The slopes of the Lebanon Mountains now carry widespread Mediterranean brush vegetation, as well as scattered patches of stone pine, Aleppo pine, and ornamental cypress. Colorful spring wildflowers are abundant. During migration season, thousands of birds pass through the Bekáa. Few other wild animals are left in Lebanon.

D Natural Resources

Abundant water, productive soils, and extensively terraced slopes contribute to Lebanon’s varied agriculture. The fertile soils of the coastal plain are alluvial, while the soils at higher elevations are a more typical example of the Mediterranean terra rossa, or red earth. Terra rossa is also prominent in the Bekáa. Only 30.6 percent of Lebanon is agricultural land, and 3.5 percent is forested. Limestone is widespread and quarried extensively, but there are few other mineral resources.

E Environmental Issues

Lebanon’s natural habitats were seriously damaged during the Lebanese Civil War. Following the war, most of the Lebanese government’s efforts were directed at restoring the country’s basic infrastructure, and conservation efforts were minimal. Untreated sewage and industrial wastes were discharged into waterways or pumped into deep holes, sometimes contaminating underground aquifers. Toxic solid wastes were deposited in municipal dumps without prior decontamination. By the start of the 21st century, however, Lebanon had increased its commitment to environmentally sound waste-disposal methods, environmental conservation, and cleanup.

The country’s electricity-generating plants pollute the atmosphere by burning fuel oil. In 1998 Lebanon announced a plan to eventually use cleaner-burning natural gas rather than fuel oil to generate electricity. In the early 21st century, Lebanon undertook measures to phase out the use of leaded gasoline, which also contributed to air pollution, especially in urban centers.

Urban development and agricultural practices contribute to the destruction of about 7.8 percent (1990-1996) of Lebanon’s forests each year—the highest rate of deforestation in Southwest Asia. Consequently, soil erosion and desertification have increased. In 1997 Lebanon established the Al-Shouf Cedar Reserve to protect some of the last stands of Lebanon’s famed cedar trees. The reserve occupies 5 percent of the total land area of the country. Although cedar trees cover only a small percentage of the reserve, conservation groups are attempting to increase the cedar population in other areas of the park.

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Lebanon has not taken a census since 1932. The 1997 estimated population was 3,111,828, but this figure, provided by the Lebanese government, does not include Palestinian refugees and foreign workers, mainly Syrian. An independent 2004 estimate placed the population at 3,777,218, yielding a population density of 369 persons per sq km (956 per sq mi). Densities are highest along the coast and on the lower western slopes of the Lebanon Mountains. Some 90 percent of the population is urban. Emigration from Lebanon to other countries, especially among Christians, has been steady since the mid-19th century, and it increased sharply during the civil war. Within the country, thousands of Shia Muslim refugees fled fighting in southern Lebanon in the 1990s and moved into shantytowns in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Lebanon’s major cities were greatly affected by the civil war. Beirut has gradually regained most of its prewar population and remains the country’s largest city. Tripoli, the northern port, is the second largest city. Jūniyah, north of Beirut, was developed as a wartime port and subsequently had a population boom. Zaḩlah, overlooking the Bekáa, and the southern coastal towns of Şaydā (Sidon) and Şūr (ancient Tyre) all suffered from attacks in the 1980s and 1990s.

A Ethnic Groups and Languages

About 93 percent of the population is Arab (although many Christian Arabs disclaim Arab ethnicity), 5 percent is Armenian, and the remaining 2 percent of the population belongs to Kurdish, Assyrian, or other ethnicities. Among the Arab population are more than 350,000 Palestinian refugees. Palestinian refugees are considered stateless, and they face an uncertain future. Arabic is the official language, but French is commonly used, especially in government and among the upper class. English is also widely used, particularly as the language of business and education. Most Armenians speak Armenian.

B Religion

The government policy of confessionalism, or the grouping of people by religion, plays a critical role in Lebanon’s political and social life and has given rise to Lebanon’s most persistent and bitter conflicts. At the time of Lebanon’s independence in the 1940s, there were more Christians than Muslims. In the following years, many Muslims immigrated to Lebanon and had a higher birthrate than the Christians; as a result, Muslims became the majority group in Lebanon. Today, an estimated 70 percent of Lebanese are Muslim, while most of the remaining 30 percent are Christian. Every person’s religion is encoded on a required, government-issued identification card. The government recognizes 17 distinct religious sects: 5 Muslim (Shia, Sunni, Druze, Ismailite, and Alawite), 11 Christian (4 Orthodox, 6 Catholic, and 1 Protestant), and Judaism.

C Education

Lebanon has one of the most educated and technically prepared populations in the Middle East. In 2004, 88 percent of Lebanese aged 15 and older were literate. Primary education in Lebanon is free and compulsory for five years; school attendance is near universal for primary school-aged children. Beirut is home to six universities: the well-known American University of Beirut; the Jesuit-sponsored Saint Joseph University; the government-supported Lebanese University; the Egyptian-sponsored Beirut Arab University; the Lebanese American University; and the Armenian Hagazian College. Lebanon also has more than 100 technical, vocational, and other specialized schools.

D Way of Life

The Lebanese value individualism, which contributes to their creativity and inventiveness. Close family relations, loyalty to family and friends, and honor are also important. People strive to gain influence and to accumulate and display wealth, which are signs of success that win respect. Men and women mix freely and attend schools in equal numbers. Christian women are similar to Western women in dress, attitude, and activities. Most Muslim women are more conservative in attitude and dress than their Christian counterparts. Men generally wear Western clothes, although some older Muslim men wear the Arab headdress, or kufiyah. In their leisure time, Lebanese people enjoy lively conversations over Turkish coffee, participating in outdoor activities, and eating good food. Traditional foods include kebbe, a dish of lamb and crushed wheat, and tabbouleh, a salad made of parsley, mint, tomatoes, and crushed wheat. People enjoy a variety of foods, however, and restaurants serve everything from French, Arabic, Turkish, Persian, and Greek specialties to hamburgers and pizza.

E Social Issues

Economic disparities, made worse by the civil war, have long created friction between Lebanon’s rich and poor. Better-educated Christians and elite Sunni Muslims tend to dominate the upper and middle classes. One-third of the population is considered poor; most of these are Shia Muslims, who resent the disparity in income, living conditions, and political power, and are increasingly determined to gain greater power. The stateless Palestinian refugees are also resentful; displaced from their homes by Arab-Israeli conflict in 1948-1949 and 1967, they remain confined to unsanitary camps and many are frustrated by their lack of citizenship. Two more beleaguered groups, clustered mostly in the overcrowded suburbs of southern Beirut, are poor families who migrated from other parts of the country and people who were displaced by fighting in southern Lebanon. In general, the government has focused less attention on solving Lebanon’s social problems than on postwar reconstruction.

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Lebanon’s rich history has been shaped by many cultural traditions, including Phoenician, Greek, Roman, Islamic (including Mamluk), Crusader, Ottoman Turkish, French, and recently American. The resulting culture is distinctively Lebanese, a combination of East and West, past and present. Folk music and dancing have a long tradition and are very popular. Influential Lebanese writers emerged in the early 20th century and greatly influenced the Arabic language. Painters, sculptors, and performers and producers in theater, film, and television have recently distinguished themselves.

A Literature

In the mid-1800s Lebanese writer Nasif al-Yaziji pioneered the simplification of written Arabic. Jurji Zaydan, also a writer of the mid-1800s, is celebrated for historical novels that romanticized the Arab past. The most distinguished Lebanese or Lebanese-American writer is Jubrān Khalīl Jubrān (Kahlil Gibran), who in 1923 published The Prophet, in English. Jubrān became known for his style of mystical poetry. Other prominent Lebanese writers include political writers Antun Saadeh, Michel Chiha, and Clovis Maksoud; novelists Layla Ba’labakki and Khalil Taki ed-Din; and poets Charles Corm, Hector Klat, Georges Shehadeh, and Adonis (Ali Ahmad Sa’id). These authors write variously in Arabic, French, and English.

B Art and Architecture

Painting became significant in Lebanon in the late 20th century. Most Lebanese painting is experimental and vibrant. Among contemporary painters, Wajih Nahle uses sweeping Arab calligraphy; Samir Abi Rashed paints photographic surrealism; and Soulema Zod creates abstract landscapes. Other artists often exhibited are Hrair, George Akl, and Hassan Jouni. Alfred Basbous is among the country’s most outstanding sculptors. Traditional architecture is a blend of Mediterranean, Turkish, and Islamic styles. New high-rise apartment and office buildings are typically modeled after Western designs.

C Music and Dance

Lebanese vocal and instrumental music is varied and extremely popular. It characteristically blends traditional Arabic classical and folk modes with European styles. French and American influences are especially strong in radio and popular music. Lebanese female vocalist Fairouz is a popular singer throughout the Arab world and is well known elsewhere. Folk dancing is widely practiced and is emphasized at an annual folk dance festival and the professionally performed Baalbek International Festival. The debkeh, a rural group dance from Lebanon, has influenced many European and American folk dances.

D Theater and Film

E Libraries and Museums

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Before the civil war, Lebanon developed as a free-market economy with minimal government regulations. Because the country had a stable and open economy and strict laws regarding secrecy in banking, Beirut became the banking and investment center of the Middle East. From 1975 to 1990, however, warfare severely dislocated most economic sectors and destroyed structures and infrastructures totaling an estimated $25 billion to $30 billion. As the war damaged Lebanon’s economy, most of the rest of the Middle East experienced an economic boom, and businesses moved from Beirut to other Middle East economic centers. Lebanon’s economy did not collapse completely during the war, however, largely because foreign aid to competing militias fueled the wartime economy.

Since 1991 Lebanon’s economy has revived. Annual inflation, about 500 percent in 1987, was manageable by the mid-1990s and low by the start of the 21st century. Gross domestic product (GDP) totaled $17.3 billion in 2002, with the GDP expanding by an average of 4.9 percent annually in the period 1990–2002. Horizon 2000, a multibillion-dollar reconstruction program to rebuild Beirut’s central district, is the main focus of the government’s energies. In general, the government is low on funds and has increasingly privatized public functions, including some official monopolies, such as the postal service and the lucrative mobile phone service.

A Labor

In 1997 Lebanon’s annual unemployment rate was 8.6 percent. Lebanese workers, who number about 1.6 million, must compete for jobs with an estimated 1 million foreign workers, mostly Syrian. An estimated 62 percent of the employment is in services, including tourism, trade, government, and finance. Approximately 31 percent of the labor force work in industry, including manufacturing, construction, and mining; and 7 percent in agriculture. Wages and buying power are low, and unions are encouraged. Periodically the unions strike, sometimes in a general action, often eliciting changes from the government.

B Services

Services contribute 67 percent of Lebanon’s GDP. Domestic, foreign, and transit trade (the re-export of products manufactured outside Lebanon but distributed through it) stimulated prosperity before the civil war and has begun to recover since 1990. Similarly, financial services such as banking, investment, and insurance—significant before the war—have also revived. Tourists, who support an industry of hotels, restaurants, casinos, and nightclubs, are attracted to Lebanon’s scenery, climate, historical sites, and cultural activities. In 2002 about 956,000 tourists—most from Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas—visited Lebanon. Superior educational and medical facilities attract thousands of clients and also add an important service element.

C Industry

Industry makes up 21 percent of the country’s GDP and is a major employer. Light industry is especially prominent and includes the production of cement, processed foods, printed material, textiles, clothing, chemicals (typically paints), and jewelry. Two cement plants near Tripoli are major installations. Oil refining was a major industry before the civil war, but the country’s main refineries, near Tripoli and Şaydā, were badly damaged during the civil war and have yet to be rebuilt. Most of the rest of Lebanon’s industry is in or near Beirut. Since the end of the war, construction has been a major source of income and employment. Commercial mining is limited to large-scale quarrying of Lebanon’s plentiful limestone and smaller-scale production of gypsum.

D Agriculture

Historically, agriculture was a key element in Lebanon’s economy. In the 19th century, mountain clans built thousands of stone terraces to facilitate their farming of steep slopes. Agriculture, including forestry and fishing, employs only 7 percent of workers and contributes only 12 percent of GDP. Cultivated fields cover 17 percent of Lebanon, and 14 percent is in permanent crops (orchards and vineyards). Premium produce, especially oranges and peaches, are a valuable export. The intensively farmed coastal plain produces citrus, bananas, vegetables, melons, and strawberries, while the lower slopes of the mountainsides support vineyards and fruit orchards of olives, figs, peaches, cherries, and plums. Apples are grown at higher elevations. The Bekáa produces wheat, barley, sugar beets, tobacco, grapes, and fruits. Farm-raised animals include goats, sheep, cattle, pigs, and chickens.

E Forestry and Fishing

The famous cedars of the Lebanon Mountains were depleted centuries ago and only a few protected stands remain. While commercial forestry is now limited, pines and other trees are logged for local production. Commercial fishing is also minor, but it is locally important as a major source of food.

F Energy

A major goal of postwar reconstruction was to modernize and expand electric power facilities damaged during the war. Israeli air raids in the 1990s further disrupted the country’s electricity infrastructure. The Līţānī River hydroelectric project in the Bekáa is Lebanon’s largest power facility.

G Transportation and Communications

Since the end of the war, Lebanon has sought to restore its essential transportation facilities. For a mountain country, Lebanon has a dense network of roads, and 85 percent of the roads are paved. In 1975 three rail lines served Lebanon, but these deteriorated and became inoperable during the war. Beirut International Airport underwent a major expansion, completed in 2001, that greatly increased its handling capacity. Lebanon’s Middle East Airlines (MEA), once a large and efficient private company, deteriorated during the 1980s and was turned over to the government.

The formerly bustling seaport of Beirut was isolated during the war and lost its role as the transit port for nearby Syria and Jordan. In the late 1990s the Lebanese government undertook two major port construction projects: the rehabilitation and expansion of Beirut’s port, and the construction of a new port at Şaydā. Tripoli is Lebanon’s second most important port. Jūniyah’s port expanded greatly during the 1980s.

In the mid-1990s the government closed down the many unregulated wartime radio and television stations that had emerged during the civil war, and then relicensed a smaller, more manageable, number. Lebanese press is comparatively free of government interference. Some 15 daily newspapers are published in Arabic, French, Armenian, and English, with a similar number of weeklies and monthlies.

H Foreign Trade

In addition to the very important domestic and transit trade, foreign trade plays a major role in the Lebanese economy. Traditionally, Lebanon’s balance of trade has been overwhelmingly unfavorable; in 2001 exports totaled $889 million, while imports totaled $7.3 billion. Nonetheless, in the 1990s Lebanon maintained a total balance-of-payments surplus because it received large inflows of money in the form of remittances from family members who lived abroad, investments in postwar reconstruction, and deposits in savings accounts that took advantage of high interest rates. However, after 1999 the trade deficit grew faster than these various cash inflows, and Lebanon reported a balance-of-payments deficit of $1.15 billion in 2001. Exports go mainly to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Switzerland, the United States, and France. Imports come from Italy, France, Germany, the United States, and Switzerland. Lebanon’s chief exports are food and food products, paper products, chemicals, textiles, jewelry, and metal products. Imports include automobiles, trucks, heavy equipment, communications equipment, electronic goods, appliances, machinery, and petroleum and petroleum products.

I Currency and Banking

The unit of currency is the Lebanese pound or lira, consisting of 100 piastres (1,508 Lebanese pounds equal U.S.$1; 2002 average). The Banque du Liban is the central bank and the sole bank of issue. All other banks are private. Lebanon’s financial laws require secrecy in banking, and there are few restrictions on the free flow of funds. These qualities attracted many foreign banks between 1956 and 1975, making Beirut the banking center of the Middle East. Beirut’s financial services industry collapsed during the civil war but has begun a gradual recovery. A stock exchange, closed in 1983 but reopened in 1996, is located in Beirut.

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