Lebanon << LEHB uh nuhn >> is a small country at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea and the western end of Asia. It has been a center of transportation, trade, and finance for over 100 years. Sandy beaches lie along its coast, and rugged mountains rise in the interior. Beirut, on the coast, is Lebanon’s capital and largest city. About half of the country’s people live in the Beirut area. Most of Lebanon’s people are Arabs. Almost all the people are either Christians or Muslims.
Political differences between groups of Lebanese Christians and Lebanese Muslims erupted into civil war in the mid-1970’s. Other rival groups also engaged in fighting. The conflicts caused much death, destruction, and damage to the country’s economy. A peace plan ended most of the fighting in 1991.
Government
Lebanon is a republic. The National Assembly makes the country’s laws. The Assembly’s 128 members are elected by the people to four-year terms. The Assembly elects a president, who appoints a prime minister. The prime minister and the president head the executive branch of the government. A Council of Ministers carries out the operations of the government.
To maintain political balance between Christians and Muslims, the government has traditionally been made up of members of both groups according to predetermined quotas. Since 1991, seats in the Assembly have been divided equally between the two groups. Different Christian and Muslim religious subgroups are assigned fixed numbers of seats. A Maronite Christian serves as president, a Sunni Muslim as prime minister, and a Shī`ite Muslim as speaker of the Assembly.
Lebanon is divided into six provinces, each of which is headed by a governor. Most of the provinces are divided into districts, which are governed by district heads. Lebanon’s main courts are, from highest to lowest, the Courts of Cassation, the Courts of Appeal, and the Courts of First Instance.
People
Ethnic groups and religion.
About 95 percent of Lebanon’s people are Arabs. The Arab population includes more than 450,000 Palestinians, most of whom are refugees from the Arab-Israeli wars or the descendants of refugees. The Palestinian refugees had lived in what is now Israel, Lebanon’s neighbor to the south. Since 2011, Lebanon has also absorbed about 1.5 million people fleeing civil war in neighboring Syria. Other ethnic groups in Lebanon include Armenians, Assyrians, and Kurds. Almost all Lebanese speak Arabic, the country’s official language.
The Lebanese government has not conducted a census since 1932 because of tensions between the country’s religious and ethnic groups. Some groups fear that a new census would show a decline in their population, resulting in less representation for them in the government. The civil war also prevented the taking of a census during the 1970’s and 1980’s.
According to the Lebanese government, there are 18 officially recognized religious and ethnic groups in the country. An estimated 60 percent of the Lebanese people are Muslims. Almost all the rest are Christians. Among Arab countries, Lebanon has the highest percentage of Christians. Most of Lebanon’s Muslims belong to either the Sunni or Shī`ah division of the Muslim faith. A regional religious group called the Druse practices a religion related to Islam. The majority of Lebanese Christians are members of the Maronite Church, which is an Eastern Catholic Church.
Way of life.
Most wealthy and middle-class Lebanese live in cities, and most are either Christians or Sunni Muslims. The country’s poor people—many of whom are Shī`ite Muslims and refugees—live in rural areas or in rundown sections of cities. Large numbers of Palestinians and Syrians live in crowded refugee camps.
Traditional Lebanese houses have thick limestone walls and roofs made of orange tiles or earth. However, this type of house has largely been replaced in cities by modern concrete houses and high-rise apartment buildings.
Most Lebanese wear clothing similar to that worn in Europe and North America. But some rural people still wear traditional Lebanese clothes. Some peasant women, for example, wear colorful long dresses with ankle-length trousers underneath. Some elderly Druse religious men wear woven multicolored jackets, white headdresses, and baggy pants.
Bread, fruit, grains, meat, vegetables, and yogurt are the chief foods of most Lebanese. Popular beverages in Lebanon include soft drinks, Arabic coffee, wine, beer, and a strong liquor called arak.
Lebanese artists are noted for the beautiful silverware, brassware, jewelry, needlework, and colorful glassware they produce. Popular sports in Lebanon include basketball, soccer, skiing, table tennis, and volleyball. Beaches near the coastal cities are favorite recreation areas.
Education.
Lebanese law does not require children to attend school. But most parents send their children to both elementary and secondary school. More than half the schoolchildren go to private schools, and the rest attend free public schools. See Literacy (table: Literacy rates for selected countries).
Lebanon has a number of universities and colleges. They include the Lebanese University, a large publicly controlled university, and the American University of Beirut, a private school controlled by a board of trustees in the United States. The American University of Beirut, established in 1866, is the country’s oldest university.
Land and climate
Lebanon’s coast extends about 130 miles (209 kilometers) along the Mediterranean Sea. A narrow plain runs along the coast. Farmers raise a variety of fruits on the plain, and most of Lebanon’s main cities are there. 
The rugged Lebanon Mountains rise east of the coastal plain. They extend, from north to south, down most of the length of the country—a distance of about 100 miles (160 kilometers). The country’s highest peak, Qurnat as Sawda, is in the Lebanon Mountains. It rises 10,115 feet (3,083 meters) above sea level. Farmers raise fruit on irrigated terraces built on the slopes of the mountains. The upper slopes of the Lebanon Mountains once were covered with the majestic cedars of Lebanon. Most of the trees were cut down in past centuries, but a grove of ancient and beautiful trees survives in the northern mountains. Another range, the Anti-Lebanon Mountains, runs along the country’s eastern border.
A fertile valley called the Bekaa lies between the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon mountains. The Bekaa ranges from 5 to 10 miles (8 to 16 kilometers) in width. It is the site of the ruins of several ancient cities. Much of the Bekaa is used for vegetable farming.
Lebanon’s main rivers are the Litani, Nahr Ibrahim, and Orontes. Temperatures in the country’s coastal area average about 55 °F (13 °C) in January and about 84 °F (29 °C) in June. Most of the area is very humid in the summer. Inland areas generally have lower average temperatures and less humidity than the coastal areas. About 35 inches (89 centimeters) of rain falls annually along the coast. The mountains receive from 50 to 60 inches (130 to 150 centimeters) of rain yearly and much snow in the winter. The Bekaa receives less rain than the mountains.
Economy
Service industries, including trade and finance, rank as Lebanon’s chief sources of income. Since the 1820’s, Lebanon has been a major import and export center of the Middle East. It has also been an important financial center, with numerous banks—including branches of foreign banks—in operation. Tourism increased significantly after the end of the civil war, which lasted from 1975 to 1990.
Manufacturing and agriculture are also important economic activities in Lebanon. The chief manufactured products include cement, chemicals, furniture, jewelry, processed foods, and textiles. Farmers raise beef and dairy cattle and chickens. Fruits—including apples, bananas, cherries, grapes, lemons, and oranges—are important farm products. Almonds, cucumbers, olives, potatoes, and tomatoes are also grown.
Lebanon imports much more than it exports. Chief imports include cars, chemicals, machinery, and petroleum products. Lebanon exports chemicals, food products, jewelry, machinery, and metals. Most of the country’s trade is with European countries, China, Saudi Arabia, and the United States.
Beirut has an international airport and is Lebanon’s chief port. Railway services in the country are limited.
History
Ancient times.
The area now known as Lebanon has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Phoenicians were the first well-known group of people to live there. They may have moved to the region from the south by about 2000 B.C. The Phoenicians were sailors, traders, and explorers. They established powerful city-states along the coast, independent regions that each consisted of a city and its surrounding villages and farmland.
Beginning about 1800 B.C., other foreign powers controlled the Phoenician city-states at different times. They included, in order of rule, Egyptians, Hittites, Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians. During 333 and 332 B.C., the famous Macedonian general Alexander the Great conquered Lebanon. The region came under the control of the Roman Empire in 64 B.C. Ruins of Roman structures still stand. They include huge temples at Baalbek, in the Bekaa, and the town at Bayt Miri, near Beirut. Christianity was introduced into Lebanon by about A.D. 325, and many people there became Christians. In 395, the Roman Empire split into two parts, and Lebanon came under the rule of the East Roman, or Byzantine, Empire.
Muslim rule.
In the early A.D. 600’s, Muslims from the Arabian Peninsula occupied Lebanon. Islam gradually replaced Christianity along Lebanon’s coast. However, Christianity remained strong in the mountains.
Crusaders
from Europe invaded Lebanon about 1100. The crusaders were Christians who hoped to regain the nearby Holy Land (Palestine) from the Muslims (see Crusades). Christians in the mountains of Lebanon developed friendly relations with the crusaders. In about 1300, the Mamluk dynasty of Egypt drove the last of the crusaders out of Lebanon.
Ottoman rule and independence.
The Ottomans conquered Lebanon in 1516 and made the region part of the Ottoman Empire, which had its capital at Istanbul, in what is now Turkey. But an area known as Mount Lebanon, in the central part of Lebanon, retained limited self-government. The Ottoman Empire ruled Lebanon until World War I (1914-1918), when the United Kingdom and France occupied the region.
In 1922, France took over Lebanon’s political affairs. The French united the Christians in Mount Lebanon and the Muslims along the coast under one government. They also helped write Lebanon’s Constitution. Lebanon gained independence from France in 1943. Christian and Muslim leaders agreed to share power in the government. Following independence, Lebanon prospered more than ever as a center of trade and finance.
Internal conflicts.
Lebanon retained strong ties with the West after it became independent. The country remained peaceful until 1958, when some Lebanese, largely Muslims, rebelled against the government. The rebels opposed government plans for political and military alliances with the West. In July 1958, the United States sent thousands of U.S. Marines to Lebanon at the request of the Lebanese president. This U.S. intervention helped restore peace, and the Marines left in October.
In 1969, the activities of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) led to fighting in Lebanon. The PLO—seeking to establish an independent state in Palestine for the Palestinian people—raided targets in Israel from bases in southern Lebanon. The Israelis, in turn, attacked PLO forces in Lebanon.
In the 1970’s, conflict between Lebanese Christian and Muslim groups flared up. In general, Christian groups opposed the presence of armed PLO members in Lebanon, but Muslim groups supported it. Also, the country’s Muslim population had grown, and the Muslims demanded more power in the government. The PLO supported the Muslims. The Christians opposed Muslim demands for increased power in the government and resented the alliance between the Muslims and the PLO.
War and terrorism.
In 1975, a civil war broke out between Christians and the Muslim-PLO alliance. The fighting killed tens of thousands of people and caused widespread property damage. In the spring of 1976, Syria—which borders Lebanon on the north and east—sent thousands of troops to the country in an attempt to restore order.
The first round of fighting in Lebanon ended in late 1976. However, fighting continued from time to time between Christians and the Muslim-PLO alliance. Also, both Christian groups and Muslim groups began fighting among themselves. Battles broke out between competing Christian factions and between Christians and Syrian troops in Lebanon. Conflicts between Israel and the PLO also continued. The United Nations (UN) sent a peacekeeping force to Lebanon in 1978.
In June 1982, a large Israeli force invaded Lebanon and drove the PLO forces out of the southern part of the country. The Israelis laid siege to western Beirut, an area where many PLO leaders and troops were stationed. The Israelis demanded that the PLO leave the city and the rest of Lebanon. The invasion resulted in many deaths—both military and civilian—and much damage. In late August and early September, the PLO forces left Beirut. Some PLO troops remained in northern Lebanon.
In mid-September, Bashir Gemayel, president-elect of Lebanon and leader of the Lebanese Christian militia (private military group), was assassinated. Two days later, members of the Lebanese Christian militia killed hundreds of unarmed Palestinian and Lebanese civilians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in the Israeli-occupied part of western Beirut. Israeli forces were aware of what was going on but chose not to intervene.
The United States, France, and Italy had sent troops to Lebanon to help ensure that the PLO forces could leave the country safely. The troops left Lebanon after the PLO withdrawal. But about two weeks later—following the massacre—the Lebanese government requested that the foreign troops return to help keep order. The United States, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom then sent troops to Lebanon. Also, the UN peacekeeping force and the Israeli and Syrian troops, who had entered the country earlier, remained in Lebanon.
In late 1983, foreign troops in Lebanon became victims of deadly bombings. On October 23, a suicide bomber crashed a truck loaded with explosives into the U.S. Marine headquarters at the Beirut airport. The resulting explosion killed 241 U.S. Marines. At about the same time, a similar attack killed 58 French soldiers in a nearby building. On November 4, an attack at the Israeli military headquarters in Tyre killed 28 Israelis.
In early 1984, Druse forces and Shī`ite Muslims took control of part of Beirut from the Lebanese government. The United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy removed their troops from Lebanon following the take-over. In 1985, Israel partially withdrew its forces but kept some troops in southern Lebanon.
Terrorism continued in Lebanon. In 1987, unknown terrorists placed a bomb aboard a military helicopter in which Lebanon’s prime minister, Rashid Karami, was traveling. Karami was killed in the explosion. Various groups in Lebanon took foreigners—mostly Americans and Western Europeans—as hostages.
In 1989, large-scale fighting broke out between Christians and Syrians in Beirut. The fighting caused extensive damage to the city.
Political struggle.
In 1988, the National Assembly failed to elect a successor to President Amin Gemayel. Before he left office, Gemayel appointed another Christian, General Michel Aoun, to replace the Muslim prime minister, Salim al-Huss, and serve until the Assembly chose a new president. Gemayel also appointed a new cabinet. Muslims in Lebanon refused to recognize the interim government because it violated the 1943 agreement, which held that the prime minister must be a Muslim. Huss claimed he and his cabinet had the right to remain in office. Thus, Lebanon had two governments.
On Nov. 5, 1989, members of the Assembly elected a new Christian president, René Mouawad. However, he was assassinated on November 22. The Assembly then elected Elias Hrawi, also a Christian, to be president. It also approved a deal giving Muslims more power. However, Aoun refused to recognize the agreement or Hrawi’s government. In October 1990, Syrian forces backed by Hrawi defeated Aoun’s forces.
Through the years, much of the fighting in Lebanon involved private militias. In 1990—as part of a peace plan—Lebanon’s government ordered all private militias to withdraw from the Beirut area. The groups did so by the end of the year. In 1991, the government ordered all private militias to disband and turn in their weapons. By mid-1991, most of the militias had done so.
Although the PLO military forces had been driven out of southern Lebanon in 1982, some PLO forces later reestablished military bases in the area. In 1991, the PLO and other Palestinians refused to obey an order by the Lebanese government to leave their bases. The Lebanese Army then defeated the Palestinians in a series of battles and disarmed them. These developments brought an end to most of the fighting in Lebanon.
After the civil war.
After 1990, Syrian forces remained in parts of the country, and Syria continued to exercise a strong influence over Lebanese political affairs. In addition, the Israelis continued to occupy part of southern Lebanon as a security zone. Many opponents of the Israeli occupation joined a movement known as Hezbollah, also spelled Hizbollah. Fighters from the group often clashed with the Israelis and the Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army.
In 1991 and 1992, all known living American and Western European hostages were released. Some other hostages had been killed or had died of natural causes.
In 1998, Lebanon held its first presidential election since the end of the civil war. Emile Lahoud, the commander of the Lebanese Army, won the election. In 2004, the National Assembly, under pressure from Syria, revised Lebanon’s Constitution to extend Lahoud’s term until 2007.
In May 2000, Israeli troops withdrew from southern Lebanon. Hezbollah fighters immediately took control of the area. By September, UN peacekeepers and Lebanese security forces had moved into most of southern Lebanon. But Hezbollah remained in control of the area closest to the Israel-Lebanon border.
After Israel’s withdrawal, many Lebanese citizens and foreign nations urged Syria to also withdraw its troops. In February 2005, Rafik Hariri, a former Lebanese prime minister who had called for Syrian withdrawal, was killed in Beirut. Many people accused Syria of playing a role in his death, but Syria denied the charge. The assassination sparked large anti-Syrian protests and led to more demands for Syrian withdrawal. At the same time, Hezbollah and its allies organized large pro-Syrian demonstrations. Syria withdrew all its forces from Lebanon by April.
In July 2006, Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers. Israel responded by extensively bombing Lebanon, and Hezbollah fired thousands of missiles into Israel. In August, the two sides accepted a cease-fire agreement drafted by the United Nations Security Council. More than 1,200 people, most of them Lebanese civilians, died in the conflict.
In 2007, President Lahoud resigned. The National Assembly postponed the election to choose his successor several times. Michel Suleiman, the army commander, was elected president in 2008. Suleiman served until 2014, the end of his term. However, political disagreement prevented his replacement until 2016 by a former army chief, Michel Aoun.
In October 2019, economic issues, including proposed new taxes, sparked protests in Beirut and other cities. Demonstrators charged Lebanon’s ruling elite with corruption and incompetence. Prime Minister Saad Hariri (a son of former prime minister Rafik Hariri) resigned, but protesters continued to demand economic improvements and changes in government. In December, Aoun named Hassan Diab, a candidate favored by Hezbollah, prime minister. Diab formed a new government. However, the protests continued in 2020 as inflation, unemployment, and poverty soared.
In August 2020, two explosions at the port in Beirut killed more than 200 people and wounded more than 5,000 others. Thousands of homes and other buildings throughout Beirut were destroyed. An investigation indicated that the blasts were caused by ammonium nitrate, a substance used to make fertilizer and explosives and stored at the port. Diab resigned following protests over the blasts, corruption, and poor government leadership.
Several attempts to form a functional government failed. Najib Mikati, who had served as prime minister in 2005 and from 2011 to 2013, again became prime minister and formed a cabinet in September 2021.
The value of Lebanon’s currency fell sharply from 2019 to 2022. Beginning in 2021, the country experienced a worsening economic crisis. Citizens protested against ineffective government and deepening, widespread poverty. After President Aoun’s term expired in October 2022, the office of president remained vacant owing to disagreement over who should fill it. In April 2023, Lebanon’s National Assembly postponed local elections by a year to avoid further destabilizing the country.
