Lebanon

Lebanon Background

Lebanon has made progress toward rebuilding its political institutions since 1991 and the end of the devastating 16-year civil war. Under the Ta'if Accord - the blueprint for national reconciliation - the Lebanese have established a more equitable political system, particularly by giving Muslims a greater say in the political process while institutionalizing sectarian divisions in the government. Since the end of the war, the Lebanese have conducted several successful elections, most of the militias have been weakened or disbanded, and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) have extended central government authority over about two-thirds of the country. Hizballah, the radical Shi'a party, retains its weapons. Syria maintains about 16,000 troops in Lebanon, based mainly east of Beirut and in the Bekaa Valley. Syria's troop deployment was legitimized by the Arab League during Lebanon's civil war and in the Ta'if Accord. Damascus justifies its continued military presence in Lebanon by citing Beirut's requests and the failure of the Lebanese Government to implement all of the constitutional reforms in the Ta'if Accord. Israel's withdrawal from its security zone in southern Lebanon in May 2000, however, has emboldened some Lebanese Christians and Druze to demand that Syria withdraw its forces as well.

Lebanon Information

• Population: 3,777,218 (July 2004 est.)
• Nationality: noun: Lebanese (singular and plural) adjective: Lebanese
• Location:: Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Israel and Syria
• Religions:: Muslim 59.7% (Shi'a, Sunni, Druze, Isma'ilite, Alawite or Nusayri), Christian 39% (Maronite Catholic, Melkite Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Syrian Catholic, Armenian Catholic, Roman Catholic, Protestant), other 1.3% note: seventeen religious sects recogniz
• Ethnic Groups:: Arab 95%, Armenian 4%, other 1%
• Land Boundaries:: total: 454 km border countries: Israel 79 km, Syria 375 km
• Area: total: 10,400 sq km water: 170 sq km land: 10,230 sq km
• Coast Line: 225 km
• Climate: Mediterranean; mild to cool, wet winters with hot, dry summers; Lebanon mountains experience heavy winter snows
• Terrain: narrow coastal plain; El Beqaa (Bekaa Valley) separates Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon Mountains
• Maritime Claims: territorial sea: 12 nm
• Land Use: arable land: 16.62% permanent crops: 13.98% other: 69.4% (2001)
• Environmental Issues: deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; air pollution in Beirut from vehicular traffic and the burning of industrial wastes; pollution of coastal waters from raw sewage and oil spills
• Natural Resources: limestone, iron ore, salt, water-surplus state in a water-deficit region, arable land
• Highways: total: 7,300 km paved: 6,198 km unpaved: 1,102 km (1999 est.)
• Railways: total: 401 km standard gauge: 319 km 1.435-m note: rail system was unusable because of damage during the civil war in the 1980s; short sections are operable (2003) narrow gauge: 82 km 1.050-m
• Ports & Harbours: Antilyas, Batroun, Beirut, Chekka, El Mina, Ez Zahrani, Jbail, Jounie, Naqoura, Sidon, Tripoli, Tyre
• Airports: 8 (2003 est.)