Following World War I, France acquired a mandate over the northern portion of the former Ottoman Empire province of Syria. The French separated out the region of Lebanon in 1920, and granted this area independence in 1943. A lengthy civil war (1975-90) devastated the country, but Lebanon has since made progress toward rebuilding its political institutions. Under the Ta'if Accord - the blueprint for national reconciliation - the Lebanese established a more equitable political system, particularly by giving Muslims a greater voice in the political process while institutionalizing sectarian divisions in the government. Since the end of the war, Lebanon has conducted several successful elections. Most militias have been reduced or disbanded, with the exception of Hizballah, designated by the US State Department as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, and Palestinian militant groups. 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. Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in May 2000 and the passage in September 2004 of UNSCR 1559 - a resolution calling for Syria to withdraw from Lebanon and end its interference in Lebanese affairs - encouraged some Lebanese groups to demand that Syria withdraw its forces. The assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq HARIRI and 22 others in February 2005 led to massive demonstrations in Beirut against the Syrian presence ("the Cedar Revolution"), and Syria withdrew the remainder of its military forces in April 2005. In May-June 2005, Lebanon held its first legislative elections since the end of the civil war free of foreign interference, handing a majority to the bloc led by Sa'ad HARIRI, the slain prime minister's son. In July 2006, Hizballah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers leading to a 34-day conflict with Israel in which approximately 1,200 Lebanese civilians were killed. UNSCR 1701 ended the war in August 2006, and Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) deployed throughout the country for the first time in decades, charged with securing Lebanon's borders against weapons smuggling and maintaining a weapons-free zone in south Lebanon with the help of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). The LAF in May-September 2007 battled Sunni extremist group Fatah al-Islam in the Nahr al-Barid Palestinian refugee camp, winning a decisive victory, but destroying the camp and displacing 30,000 Palestinian residents. Lebanese politicians in November 2007 were unable to agree on a successor to Emile LAHUD when he stepped down as president, creating a political vacuum until the election of LAF Commander Gen. Michel SULAYMAN in May 2008 and the formation of a new unity government in July 2008. Legislative elections in June 2009 again produced victory for the bloc led by Sa'ad HARIRI, but a period of prolonged negotiation over the composition of the cabinet ensued. A national unity government was finally formed in November 2009 and approved by the National Assembly the following month. Inspired by the popular revolts that began in late 2010 against dictatorships across the Middle East and North Africa, marches and demonstrations in Lebanon were directed instead against sectarian politics. Although the protests gained some traction, they were limited in size and unsuccessful in changing the system. Opposition politicians collapsed the national unity government under Prime Minister Sa'ad HARIRI in February 2011. After several months in caretaker status, the government named Najib MIQATI Prime Minister.

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

33 50 N, 35 50 E

Middle East

about 0.7 times the size of Connecticut

225 km

Mediterranean; mild to cool, wet winters with hot, dry summers; Lebanon mountains experience heavy winter snows

narrow coastal plain; El Beqaa (Bekaa Valley) separates Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon Mountains

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

900 sq km (2003)

4.8 cu km (1997)

dust storms, sandstorms

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

Nahr el Litani is the 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

Arab 95%, Armenian 4%, other 1%

Arabic (official), French, English, Armenian

Muslim 59.7% (Shia, Sunni, Druze, Isma'ilite, Alawite or Nusayri), Christian 39% (Maronite Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Melkite Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Syrian Catholic, Armenian Catholic, Syrian Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Chaldean, Assyrian, Coptic, Protestant), other 1.3%

4,140,289 (July 2012 est.)

-0.38% (2012 est.)

14.92 births/1,000 population (2012 est.)

6.63 deaths/1,000 population (July 2012 est.)

-12.08 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.)

BEIRUT (capital) 1.909 million (2009)

25 deaths/100,000 live births (2010)

1.76 children born/woman (2012 est.)

8.2% of GDP (2009)

3.54 physicians/1,000 population (2009)

3.5 beds/1,000 population (2009)

urban: 100% of population

rural: 87% of population

total: 98% of population

urban: 0% of population

rural: 13% of population

total: 2% of population

0.1% (2009 est.)

3,600 (2009 est.)

fewer than 500 (2009 est.)

13.5% (2004)

4.2% (2004)

1.8% of GDP (2009)

republic

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

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

Independence Day, 22 November (1943)

23 May 1926; amended a number of times, most recently in 1990 to include changes necessitated by the Charter of Lebanese National Reconciliation (Ta'if Accord) of October 1989

mixed legal system of civil law based on the French civil code, Ottoman legal tradition, and religious laws covering personal status, marriage, divorce, and other family relations of the Jewish, Islamic, and Christian communities

has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt

21 years of age; compulsory for all males; authorized for women at age 21 with elementary education; excludes military personnel

unicameral National Assembly or Majlis al-Nuwab (Arabic) or Assemblee Nationale (French) (128 seats; members elected by popular vote on the basis of sectarian proportional representation to serve four-year terms)

Constitutional Council (rules on the constitutionality of laws); Judicial Council (for politically sensitive and serious criminal cases); Supreme Council (for charges against the president and prime minister as needed); Courts of Cassation (3 for civil and commercial cases and 1 for criminal cases); judicial courts (for first instance civil, commercial, and criminal cases); administrative courts (for issues arising from decisions issued by the state or its branches); religious courts (for issues of personal status, family; Lebanon recognizes 18 religous denominations); military courts (for issues related to military and national security)

Maronite Church [Patriarch Bishara al-Ra'i]

ABEDA, AFESD, AMF, CAEU, FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, LAS, MIGA, NAM, OAS (observer), OIC, OIF, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNRWA, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer)

three horizontal bands consisting of red (top), white (middle, double width), and red (bottom) with a green cedar tree centered in the white band; the red bands symbolize blood shed for liberation, the white band denotes peace, the snow of the mountains, and purity; the green cedar tree is the symbol of Lebanon and represents eternity, steadiness, happiness, and prosperity

cedar tree

Lebanon has a free-market economy and a strong laissez-faire commercial tradition. The government does not restrict foreign investment; however, the investment climate suffers from red tape, corruption, arbitrary licensing decisions, complex customs procedures, high taxes, tariffs, and fees, archaic legislation, and weak intellectual property rights. The Lebanese economy is service-oriented; main growth sectors include banking and tourism. The 1975-90 civil war seriously damaged Lebanon's economic infrastructure, cut national output by half, and derailed Lebanon's position as a Middle Eastern entrepot and banking hub. Following the civil war Lebanon rebuilt much of its war-torn physical and financial infrastructure by borrowing heavily - mostly from domestic banks - saddling the government with a huge debt burden. Pledges of economic and financial reforms made at separate international donor conferences during the 2000s have mostly gone unfulfilled, including those made during the Paris III Donor Conference in 2007 following the July 2006 war. The collapse of the government in early 2011 over its backing of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and unrest in neighboring Syria slowed economic growth to the 1-2% range in 2011-12, after four years of 8% average growth. In September 2011 the Cabinet endorsed a bill that would provide $1.2 billion in funding to improve Lebanon's downtrodden electricity sector, but fiscal limitations will test the government's ability to invest in other areas, such as water.

$63.69 billion (2012 est.)

$62.44 billion (2011 est.)

$61.52 billion (2010 est.)

$41.77 billion (2012 est.)

2% (2012 est.)

1.5% (2011 est.)

7% (2010 est.)

$15,900 (2012 est.)

$15,800 (2011 est.)

$15,700 (2010 est.)

1.481 million

NA%

28% (1999 est.)

34% of GDP (2012 est.)

22.3% of GDP (2012 est.)

-7.8% of GDP (2012 est.)

127.9% of GDP (2012 est.)

134% of GDP (2011 est.)

5.5% (2012 est.)

5.1% (2011 est.)

3.5% (31 December 2010 est.)

10% (31 December 2009 est.)

7.3% (31 December 2012 est.)

7.53% (31 December 2011 est.)

$4.397 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$4.072 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$97.04 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$92 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$73.83 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$69.65 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$10.16 billion (31 December 2011)

$12.59 billion (31 December 2010)

$12.89 billion (31 December 2009)

citrus, grapes, tomatoes, apples, vegetables, potatoes, olives, tobacco; sheep, goats

2.1% (2010 est.)

-$7.85 billion (2012 est.)

-$4.163 billion (2011 est.)

$5.655 billion (2012 est.)

$5.386 billion (2011 est.)

jewelry, base metals, chemicals, miscellaneous consumer goods, fruit and vegetables, tobacco, construction minerals, electric power machinery and switchgear, textile fibers, paper

UAE 13.1%, Iraq 8.4%, Saudi Arabia 7.7%, Turkey 7%, Syria 6.7%, Switzerland 5.5% (2011)

$20.73 billion (2012 est.)

$19.3 billion (2011 est.)

petroleum products, cars, medicinal products, clothing, meat and live animals, consumer goods, paper, textile fabrics, tobacco, electrical machinery and equipment, chemicals

US 10.2%, Italy 9.3%, France 8.8%, China 8.2%, Egypt 5.3%, Germany 5.1%, Turkey 4% (2011)

$51.2 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$48.14 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$32.64 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$29.47 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$NA

$NA

Lebanese pounds (LBP) per US dollar -

1,507.5 (2012 est.)

1,507.5 (2011 est.)

1,507.5 (2010 est.)

1,507.5 (2009)

1,507.5 (2008)

calendar year

12.98 billion kWh (2009 est.)

12.34 billion kWh (2009 est.)

0 kWh (2010 est.)

1.155 billion kWh (2009 est.)

2.314 million kW (2009 est.)

87.9% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

12.1% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0 bbl/day (2011 est.)

0 bbl/day (2009 est.)

0 bbl/day (2009 est.)

0 bbl (1 January 2012 est.)

0 bbl/day (2008 est.)

106,700 bbl/day (2011 est.)

0 bbl/day (2008 est.)

102,300 bbl/day (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2010 est.)

0 cu m (2010 est.)

0 cu m (2010 est.)

0 cu m (2010 est.)

0 cu m (1 January 2012 est.)

15.24 million Mt (2010 est.)

900,000 (2011)

3.35 million (2011)

7 TV stations, 1 of which is state-owned; more than 30 radio stations, 1 of which is state-owned; satellite and cable TV services available; transmissions of at least 2 international broadcasters are accessible through partner stations (2007)

.lb

64,926 (2012)

1 million (2009)

7 (2012)

gas 102 km (2010)

Beirut, Tripoli

Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF): Army ((Al Jaysh al Lubnaniya) includes Navy (Al Quwwat al Bahiriyya al Lubnaniya), Air Force (Al Quwwat al Jawwiya al Lubnaniya)) (2010)

18-30 years of age for voluntary military service; 18-24 years of age for officer candidates; no conscription (2012)

3.1% of GDP (2005 est.)

lacking a treaty or other documentation describing the boundary, portions of the Lebanon-Syria boundary are unclear with several sections in dispute; since 2000, Lebanon has claimed Shab'a Farms area in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights; the roughly 2,000-strong UN Interim Force in Lebanon has been in place since 1978

cannabis cultivation dramatically reduced to 2,500 hectares in 2002 despite continued significant cannabis consumption; opium poppy cultivation minimal; small amounts of Latin American cocaine and Southwest Asian heroin transit country on way to European markets and for Middle Eastern consumption; money laundering of drug proceeds fuels concern that extremists are benefiting from drug trafficking