Introduction 

Background: Lebanon has made progress toward rebuilding its political institutions since 1991 and the end of the devastating 15-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, a radical Shia organization, retains its weapons. During Lebanon's civil war, the Arab League legitimized in the Ta'if Accord Syria's troop deployment, numbering about 16,000 based mainly east of Beirut and in the Bekaa Valley. 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 southern Lebanon in May 2000, however, encouraged some Lebanese groups to demand that Syria withdraw its forces as well. The passage of UNSCR 1559 in early October 2004 - a resolution calling for Syria to withdraw from Lebanon and end its interference in Lebanese affairs - further emboldened Lebanese groups opposed to Syria's presence in Lebanon.

 

Geography

 

Location: Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Israel and Syria

 

Geographic coordinates: 33 50 N, 35 50 E

 

Map references: Middle East

 

Area: total: 10,400 sq km; land: 10,230 sq km; water: 170 sq km

 

Area - comparative: about 0.7 times the size of Connecticut

 

Land boundaries: total: 454 km; border countries: Israel 79 km, Syria 375 km

 

Coastline: 225 km

 

Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nm

 

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

 

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m; highest point: Qurnat as Sawda' 3,088 m

 

Natural resources: limestone, iron ore, salt, water-surplus state in a water-deficit region, arable land

 

Land use: arable land: 16.62%; permanent crops: 13.98%; other: 69.4% (2001)

 

Irrigated land: 1,200 sq km (1998 est.)

 

Natural hazards: dust storms, sandstorms

 

Environment - current 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

 

Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Marine Life Conservation

Geography - note: Nahr el Litani only major river in Near East not crossing an international boundary; rugged terrain historically helped isolate, protect, and develop numerous factional groups based on religion, clan, and ethnicity

 

People

 

Population: 3,826,018 (July 2005 est.)

 

Age structure: 0-14 years: 26.7% (male 520,270/female 499,609); 15-64 years: 66.4% (male 1,216,738/female 1,324,031); 65 years and over: 6.9% (male 120,176/female 145,194) (2005 est.)

 

Median age: total: 27.34 years; male: 26.28 years; female: 28.43 years (2005 est.)

 

Population growth rate: 1.26% (2005 est.)

 

Birth rate: 18.88 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

 

Death rate: 6.24 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

 

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)

 

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female; under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female; 15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female; 65 years and over: 0.83 male(s)/female; total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

 

Infant mortality rate: total: 24.52 deaths/1,000 live births; male: 27.19 deaths/1,000 live births; female: 21.71 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

 

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 72.63 years; male: 70.17 years; female: 75.21 years (2005 est.)

 

Total fertility rate: 1.92 children born/woman (2005 est.)

 

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.1% (2001 est.)

 

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 2,800 (2003 est.)

 

HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 200 (2003 est.)

 

Nationality: noun: Lebanese (singular and plural); adjective: Lebanese

 

Ethnic groups: Arab 95%, Armenian 4%, other 1%

 

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 recognized

 

Languages: Arabic (official), French, English, Armenian

 

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write; total population: 87.4%; male: 93.1%; female: 82.2% (2003 est.)

 

Government

 

Country name: conventional long form: Lebanese Republic; conventional short form: Lebanon; local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Lubnaniyah; local short form: Lubnan

 

Government type: republic

 

Capital: Beirut

 

Administrative divisions: 6 governorates (mohafazat, singular - mohafazah); Beyrouth, Beqaa, Liban-Nord, Liban-Sud, Mont-Liban, Nabatiye

 

Independence 22 November 1943 (from League of Nations mandate under French administration):

 

National holiday: Independence Day, 22 November (1943)

 

Constitution: 23 May 1926, amended a number of times, most recently Charter of Lebanese National Reconciliation (Ta'if Accord) of October 1989

 

Legal system: mixture of Ottoman law, canon law, Napoleonic code, and civil law; no judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

 

Suffrage: 21 years of age; compulsory for all males; authorized for women at age 21 with elementary education

 

Executive branch: chief of state: President Emile LAHUD (since 24 November 1998); head of government: Prime Minister Fuad SINIORA (since 30 June 2005); Deputy Prime Minister Elias MURR (since April 2005); cabinet: Cabinet chosen by the prime minister in consultation with the president and members of the National Assembly; elections: president elected by the National Assembly for a six-year term; election last held 15 October 1998 (next election date NA); note - on 3 September 2004 the National Assembly voted 96 to 29 to extend Emile LAHUD's six-year term by three years; the prime minister and deputy prime minister appointed by the president in consultation with the National Assembly; by agreement, the president is a Maronite Christian, the prime minister is a Sunni Muslim, and the speaker of the legislature is a Shia Muslim; election results: for 15 October 1998 election: Emile LAHUD elected president; National Assembly vote - 118 votes in favor, 0 against, 10 abstentions

 

Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly or Majlis Alnuwab (Arabic) or Assemblee Nationale (French) (128 seats; members elected by popular vote on the basis of sectarian proportional representation to serve four-year terms); elections: last held in four rounds on 29 May, 5, 12, 19 June 2005 (next to be held 2009); election results: percent of vote by group - NA; seats by group - Future Movement Bloc 36; Democratic Gathering 15; Development and Resistance Bloc 15; Loyalty to the Resistance 14; Free Patriotic Movement 14; Lebanese Forces 6; Qornet Shewan 5; Popular Bloc 4; Tripoli Independent Bloc 3; Syrian National Socialist Party 2; Kataeb Reform Movement 2; Tachnaq Party 2; Democratic Renewal Movement 1; Democratic Left 1; Nasserite Popular Movement 1; Ba'th Party 1; Kataeb Party 1; independent 5

 

Judicial branch: four Courts of Cassation (three courts for civil and commercial cases and one court for criminal cases); Constitutional Council (called for in Ta'if Accord - rules on constitutionality of laws); Supreme Council (hears charges against the president and prime minister as needed)

 

Economy

 

Economy - overview: The 1975-91 civil war seriously damaged Lebanon's economic infrastructure, cut national output by half, and all but ended Lebanon's position as a Middle Eastern entrepot and banking hub. In the years since, Lebanon has rebuilt much of its war-torn physical and financial infrastructure by borrowing heavily - mostly from domestic banks. In an attempt to reduce the ballooning national debt, the HARIRI government began an austerity program, reining in government expenditures, increasing revenue collection, and privatizing state enterprises. In November 2002, the government met with international donors at the Paris II conference to seek bilateral assistance in restructuring its massive domestic debt at lower rates of interest. Substantial receipts from donor nations stabilized government finances in 2003, but did little to reduce the debt, which stood at nearly 180% of GDP. In 2004 the HARIRI government issued Eurobonds in an effort to manage maturing debt, and the KARAMI government has continued this practice. However, privatization of state-owned enterprises had not occurred by the end of 2004, as promised during the Paris II conference.

 

GDP: purchasing power parity - $18.83 billion (2004 est.)

 

GDP - real growth rate: 4% (2004 est.)

 

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $5,000 (2004 est.)

 

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 12%; industry: 21%; services: 67% (2000)

 

Labor force: 2.6 million; note: in addition, there are as many as 1 million foreign workers (2001 est.)

 

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture NA, industry NA, services NA

 

Unemployment rate: 18% (1997 est.)

 

Population below poverty line: 28% (1999 est.)

 

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA; highest 10%: NA

 

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2% (2004 est.)

 

Investment (gross fixed): 26% of GDP (2004 est.)

 

Budget: revenues: $4.895 billion; expenditures: $6.642 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.)

 

Public debt: 177.9% of GDP (2004 est.)

 

Agriculture - products: citrus, grapes, tomatoes, apples, vegetables, potatoes, olives, tobacco; sheep, goats

 

Industries: banking, food processing, jewelry, cement, textiles, mineral and chemical products, wood and furniture products, oil refining, metal fabricating

 

Industrial production growth rate: NA

 

Electricity - production: 8.066 billion kWh (2002)

 

Electricity - consumption: 8.591 billion kWh (2002)

 

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2002)

 

Electricity - imports: 1.09 billion kWh (2002)

 

Oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2001 est.)

 

Oil - consumption: 107,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)

 

Oil - exports: NA

 

Oil - imports: NA

 

Current account balance: $-2.389 billion (2004 est.)

 

Exports: $1.783 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

 

Exports - commodities: authentic jewelry, inorganic chemicals, miscellaneous consumer goods, fruit, tobacco, construction minerals, electric power machinery and switchgear, textile fibers, paper

 

Exports - partners: Switzerland 10%, UAE 9.5%, Turkey 9.3%, Saudi Arabia 7.1%, France 5.1%, US 5.1% (2004)

 

Imports: $8.162 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

 

Imports - commodities: petroleum products, cars, medicinal products, clothing, meat and live animals, consumer goods, paper, textile fabrics, tobacco

 

Imports - partners: Italy 12.2%, France 11.2%, Germany 8.9%, China 6.3%, US 6%, Syria 5.1%, UK 5% (2004)

 

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $16.3 billion (2004 est.)

 

Debt - external: $15.84 billion (2004 est.)

 

Economic aid - recipient: $2.2 billion received (2003), out of the $4.2 billion in soft loans pledged at the November 2002 Paris II Aid Conference

 

Currency (code): Lebanese pound (LBP)

 

Exchange rates: Lebanese pounds per US dollar - 1,507.5 (2004), 1,507.5 (2003), 1,507.5 (2002), 1,507.5 (2001), 1,507.5 (2000)

 

Fiscal year: calendar year

 

Communications

 

Telephones - main lines in use: 678,800 (2002)

 

Telephones - mobile cellular: 775,100 (2002)

 

Telephone system: general assessment: telecommunications system severely damaged by civil war; rebuilding well underway; domestic: primarily microwave radio relay and cable; international: country code - 961; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 1 Atlantic Ocean) (erratic operations); coaxial cable to Syria; microwave radio relay to Syria but inoperable beyond Syria to Jordan; 3 submarine coaxial cables

 

Radio broadcast stations: AM 20, FM 22, shortwave 4 (1998)

 

Television broadcast stations: 15 (plus 5 repeaters) (1995)

 

Internet country code: .lb

 

Internet hosts: 6,998 (2004)

 

Internet users: 400,000 (2002)

 

Transportation

 

Railways: total: 401 km; standard gauge: 319 km 1.435-m; narrow gauge: 82 km 1.050-m

note: rail system became unusable because of damage during the civil war in the 1980s; short sections are operable (2004)

 

Highways: total: 7,300 km; paved: 6,198 km; unpaved: 1,102 km (1999 est.)

 

Pipelines: oil 209 km (2004)

 

Ports and harbors: Beirut, Chekka, Jounie, Tripoli

 

Merchant marine: total: 44 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 198,602 GRT/248,313 DWT

by type: bulk carrier 4, cargo 26, livestock carrier 8, refrigerated cargo 1, roll on/roll off 2, vehicle carrier 3; foreign-owned: 6 (Austria 1, Greece 5); registered in other countries: 40 (2005)

 

Airports: 8 (2004 est.)

 

Airports - with paved runways: total: 5; over 3,047 m: 1; 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2

1,524 to 2,437 m: 1; under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.)