Brief History:
Lebanon is, historically, the home of the Phoenicians, who are essentially Semitic traders whose maritime culture has flourished in this region for more than 2,000 years (c. 2700-450 B.C.). In later centuries, Lebanon's mountains were a refuge for the Christians, and the Crusaders established several strongholds there. Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, the five Ottoman provinces that had comprised present-day Lebanon were mandated to France by the League of Nations. The country gained independence in 1943, and the French troops were withdrawn in 1946. Lebanon's history from independence onwards, has been marked by periods of political turmoil interspersed with periods of prosperity, built on Beirut's position as a regional center for finance and trade.
During the 1960s, Lebanon enjoyed a period of relative calm and 'Beirut-focused tourism' and 'banking sector-driven' prosperity. In the early 1970s, difficulties arose over the presence of Palestinian refugees, many of whom arrived after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and the "Black September" 1970 hostilities in Jordan. In 1981 heavily armed forces of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) occupied large areas of southern Lebanon. By early November 1992, a new parliament had been elected, and Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri had formed a cabinet, retaining for himself the finance portfolio. Rafiq Hariri returned to office as Prime Minister in November 2000.
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Geography:
Location:Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Israel and Syria
Area: Total: 10,400 sq km Land: 10,230 sq km Water: 170 sq km
Land Boundaries: Total: 454 km
Natural Resources: Limestone, iron ore, salt, water-surplus state in a water-deficit region, arable land
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
Demographics:
| Population | 3,826,018 (July 2005 est.) |
| Age Structure | 0-14 years: 26.7%
15-64 years: 66.4%
65 years and over: 6.9% |
| 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 | 25.52 deaths/1,000 live births |
| 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.) |
| Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 87.4%
male: 93.1% female: 82.2% (2003 est.) |
% of population with access to
safe water |
% of population with access to
adequate sanitation |
| Water - Total | 100 | Sanitation - Total | 87 |
| Water - Urban | 100 | Sanitation - Urban | 100 |
| Water - Rural | 100 | Sanitation - Rural | 87 |
Economy - Overview:
The Lebanese economy is service-oriented, with the main growth sectors including banking and tourism. Lebanon's liberal economy enjoys free trade based on competition and heavily dependent on the private sector. The public sector is constrained to the infrastructure and social policy. Lebanon is mostly dependent on the services industry and financial & banking industries, which constitutes 70% of national product, while the industrial sector occupies 20%, and the agricultural sector 10%. The Services sector is the dominant economic sector, and heavily depends on trade, imports, exports, tourism, hotels, restaurants, and the entertainment industry, but mostly on the financial industry. The Lebanese industry is mainly evolving according to the local and foreign demands of the market. Main industries are textile, china, leather, precious metals & food products. Since the end of the civil war in 1990, the economy of Lebanon has been on a recovery road, regaining fast its position in the Middle East due to several factors, most importantly the Lebanese dynamic spirit to rebuild and move on. Since 1991 & the beginning of political stability in Lebanon, the government has taken the task of rebuilding Lebanon to its former glory seriously. Since 1991, the construction industry has grown enormously, and Lebanon now resembles a large building site.
| 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 est.) |
| Inflation Rate (consumer prices) | 2% (2004) |
| Labor force | 2.6 million |
| Labor force - by occupation | Industry : NA, Agriculture : NA, Services : NA |
| Budget | revenues: $4.895 billion
expenditures: $6.642 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.) |
| Industries | Banking; food processing; jewelry; cement; textiles; mineral and chemical products; wood and furniture products; oil refining; metal fabricating |
| 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 11%, UAE 10.1%, Saudi Arabia 7.6%, US 7.4%, Turkey 5.5% (2003) |
| 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 | France 13.5%, Germany 11.8%, Italy 10.8%, Syria 5.4%, China 5.3%, UK 5%, US 4.5% (2003) |
| Currency | 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) |
| 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) |
| Highways | total: 7,300 km paved: 6,198 km unpaved: 1,102 km (1999 est.) |
| Waterways | none |
| Pipelines | oil 209 km (2004) |
| Ports and harbors | Antilyas, Batroun, Beirut, Chekka, El Mina, Ez Zahrani, Jbail, Jounie, Naqoura, Sidon, Tripoli, Tyre |
| Merchant marine | total: 44 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 198,602 GRT/248,313 DWT ships by type: bulk carrier 4, cargo 26, livestock carrier 8, refrigerated cargo 1, roll on/roll off 2, vehicle carrier 3
registered in other countries: 40 (2005 est.) foreign-owned: 6 (Austria 1, Greece 5) |
| Airports | 8 (2004 est.) |
| Airports - with paved runways | total: 5 |
| Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 3 |
| Railways | total: 401 km standard gauge:319 km 1.435-m narrow gauge:82 km 1.050-m note: rail system was unusable because of damage during the civil war in the 1980s; short sections are operable (2003) |
