Facts about Lebanon
The border with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in Syria is disputed by Lebanon in a small area called Shebaa Farms, but the border has been demarcated by the United Nations.
Canaanites were the original inhabitants of the region approximating present-day Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, plus adjoining coastal lands and parts of Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan.
Many of Lebanon's best educational institutions have primary instruction in French or English, depending on whether the school, university, or college follows the French or American education systems.
Lebanon has a competitive and free market regime and a strong laissez-faire commercial tradition.
The Syrians in Lebanon are Arab, and are mainly Muslims of the Sunni sect.
The southern half of present-day Lebanon formed the northern march of the Kingdom of Jerusalem; the northern half was the heartland of the County of Tripoli.
On September 1, 1920, France formed the State of Greater Lebanon as one of several ethnic enclaves within Syria.
Lebanon was in the main path of the First Crusade's advance on Jerusalem.
To meet the needs of these international competitions, Lebanon maintains state-of-the-art athletic facilities, which in turn encourage local sporting activities.
Lebanon holds a large number of Syrian workers, most of whom are employed on a seasonal basis, and who do not hold citizenship.
Lebanon's official language is Arabic, but French, Armenian, and English are widely spoken.
The Beirut International Marathon is held every fall, drawing top runners from Lebanon and abroad.
In 1994, Lebanese authorities - then under Syrian domination - authorized a controversial granting of citizenship to Syrians (and a small number of Palestinians and others) in Lebanon.
Lebanon has military courts that have jurisdiction over civilians for crimes of espionage, treason, and other security-related crimes.
In ancient times, Lebanon had large forests of Lebanon cedar (the country's national emblem).
Lebanon's unwritten National Pact of 1943 required that its president be Christian and its prime minister be Muslim.
Lebanon is divided into six governorates that are further subdivided into 25 districts.
After the defeat of the Arab Liberation Army in Operation Hiram, Lebanon accepted an armistice with Israel on March 23, 1949.
The name Lebanon ("Lubn?n" in standard Arabic; "Lebnan" or "Lebnиn" in the local dialect) is derived from the Semitic root "LBN," which generally means "white" and "milk."
The mountainous territory of Mount Lebanon has long been a shelter for minority and persecuted groups, including its historic Maronite Christian majority along with Druze, and local Shi'a Muslims.
Lebanon is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the west, by Syria to the east and north, and by Israel to the south.
Under pressure from the international community, Syria began withdrawing its 15,000 troops from Lebanon.
At the competitive level, basketball and football are among Lebanon's most popular sports.
Lebanon is only slowly recovering from the destruction wrought by that war.
Israel maintained a naval and aerial blockade on Lebanon to prevent Hezbollah from smuggling arms.
On November 26, 1941, General Georges Catroux announced that Lebanon would become independent under the authority of the Free French government.
Lebanon was a largely Christian (mainly Maronite) enclave but also included areas containing many Muslims and Druze.
On March 14, 2005, one month after Hariri's assassination, one million people rallied in Martyrs' Square in Lebanon demanding the truth about Hariri's murder and independence from Syrian presence in Lebanon.
Several international festivals are held in Lebanon, featuring world-renowned artists and drawing crowds from Lebanon and abroad.
Not only is Lebanon a distinctive fusion of Christian and Muslim traditions, it serves as the European gateway to the Middle East as well as the Arab gateway to the Western World.
Some Christians claim descent from Crusader knights who ruled Lebanon for a couple of centuries during the Middle Ages.
The war ended in 1990 with the signing of the Taif Agreement with parts of Lebanon left in ruins.
Muslim control of Lebanon was re-established in the late thirteenth century under the Mamluk sultans of Egypt.
Lebanon was later contested between Muslim rulers until the Ottoman Empire solidified authority over the eastern Mediterranean.
On July 18, 2005, Lebanon elected a new parliament dominated by an anti-Syrian coalition.
The coastal plain of Lebanon is the historic home of a string of coastal trading cities of Semitic culture, which the Greeks termed Phoenicia, whose maritime culture flourished there from about 2700 B.C.E.
Five years after gaining independence, Lebanon joined its fellow Arab states and invaded Israel during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
A total of 394,532 Palestinian refugees have registered in Lebanon with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
Approximately 100,000 Palestinian refugees were living in Lebanon in 1949 as a result of the creation of Israel and the subsequent war.
Lebanon's lack of raw materials for industry and its dependence on Arab countries for oil have posed difficulties for industrial activity, which is limited to small businesses concerned with reassembling and packaging imported parts.
Lebanon boasts six ski resorts, with slopes suitable for skiers and snowboarders of all ages and levels of experience.
In 2004, industry involved 26 percent of the Lebanese working population, and accounted for 21 percent of Lebanon's GDP.
Lebanon sends athletes to both the winter and summer games of the Olympics and Special Olympics.
The French reacted by imprisoning the new government, but bowing to international pressure, released them on November 22, 1943, and accepted the independence of Lebanon.
The United Kingdom, fearing that Nazi Germany would gain full control of Lebanon and Syria by pressure on the weak Vichy government, sent its army into Syria and Lebanon.
Lebanon attracted large numbers of tourists, to the point that the capital Beirut became widely referred to as the "Paris of the Middle East."
Lebanon was part of the Ottoman Empire for over 400 years, in a region known as Greater Syria, until 1916.
The United Nations Security Council and the Lebanese cabinet have approved a Special Tribunal for Lebanon that would prosecute those responsible for Hariri's death.
In 1975, civil war broke out in Lebanon, and lasted 15 years, devastating the country's economy.
Lebanon has a long history of poets and novelists, who write in Arabic as well as French and sometimes English.
Hezbollah, literally "party of God," is a Shi'a Islamic political and paramilitary organization based in Lebanon.
Due to its sectarian diversity, Lebanon follows a special political system, known as confessionalism, meant to distribute power as evenly as possible among different sects.
Per capita GDP was $6,681 in 2006, giving Lebanon a rank of 90 on a list of 181 countries.
Hezbollah has realized that the goal of transforming Lebanon into an Islamic state was not practical and has temporarily abandoned it.
Lebanon has a population of Kurds (also known as Mhallami or Mardinli), of whom are converted Syriacs estimated to be between 75,000 and 100,000 and considered to be part of the Sunni population.
Lebanon is suited for agriculture, as it has water, fertile soil, and has the highest proportion of cultivable land in the Arab world.
Later, Frankish nobles occupied present-day Lebanon as part of the southeastern Crusader States.
During the civil war, Lebanon was invaded and occupied by the Israel Defense Forces in 1978 and 1982.
Lebanon (Arabic: ????? Lubn?n), officially the Lebanese Republic (Arabic: ????????? ?????????), is a small, largely mountainous country in the Middle East, located at the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea.
Lebanon is a narrow strip of territory approximately 135 miles (215 kilometers) long from north to south and 20 to 55 miles wide from east to west.
Canoeing, cycling, rafting, climbing, swimming, sailing and spelunking are among the other common leisure sports in Lebanon.
Lebanese Armenians, Assyrians, Jews, Kurds and Persians form more distinct ethnic minorities, all of them having a national home territory outside of Lebanon.
Lebanon was shaped by trade, since the area linked the Mediterranean world, India, and East Asia.
A combination of climate, many historic landmarks and World Heritage Sites attracts large numbers of tourists to Lebanon, despite political instability.
Lebanon’s sovereignty has been compromised by civil war, foreign occupations, and the activity of terrorist groups.
After the fighting ended in Lebanon, General Charles de Gaulle decided to recognize the independence of Lebanon.
The number of people inhabiting Lebanon proper was estimated at 3,874,050 in July 2006.
The name of Mount Lebanon originates from the Phoenician root lbn (???) meaning "white", apparently from its snow-capped peaks. ... The name is recorded in Ancient Egyptian as Rmnn, where R stood for Canaanite L. The name occurs nearly 70 times in the Hebrew Bible, as לְבָנוֹן.
Tobacco and figs are grown in the south, citrus fruits and bananas along the coast, olives in the north and around the Shouf Mountains, and fruits and vegetables in the Beqaa Valley. More exotic crops include avocados, grown near Byblos, and hashish (a major crop in the Beqaa Valley).
Lebanon is also a home to various ethnic minorities found refuge in the country over the centuries. Prominent ethnic minorities in the country include the Armenians, the Kurds, the Turks, the Assyrians, the Iranians and many European ethnicities (Greeks, Italians, French).
The most recent study conducted by Statistics Lebanon, a Beirut-based research firm, found that approximately Lebanon's population is estimated to be 54% Muslim (27% Shia; 27% Sunni), 5.6% Druze, who do not consider themselves to be Muslims, 40.4% Christian (21% Maronite, 8% Greek Orthodox, 5% Melkite, 1% Protestant ...
The culture of Lebanon and the Lebanese people emerged from various civilizations over thousands of years. It was home to the Phoenicians and was subsequently conquered and occupied by the Assyrians, the Greeks, the Romans, The Persians, the Arabs, the Crusaders, the Ottoman Turks and the French.
The official language is Arabic and the dialect used is Lebanese Arabic. Most people are bilingual and can additionally speak French or English. Don't worry about not speaking Arabic. In fact, Lebanese people use the 3 languages interchangeably in their daily lives.
It was inhabited by the Canaanites, a Semitic people, whom the Greeks called "Phoenicians" because of the purple (phoinikies) dye they sold. These early inhabitants referred to themselves as "men of Sidon" or the like, according to their city of origin, and called the country "Lebanon."
In the early 1920s, British and French control of these territories became formalized by the League of Nations' mandate system, and on 29 September 1923 France was assigned the League of Nations mandate of Syria, which included the territory of present-day Lebanon and Alexandretta in addition to Syria proper.