65 Facts About Lebanon

Lebanon is home to roughly six million people and covers an area of 10, 452 square kilometres, making it the second smallest country in continental Asia.

The Mount Lebanon range saw the emergence of a monastic tradition known as the Maronite Church.

Lebanon was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century and remained under its rule for the next 400 years.

Lebanon is a developing country, ranking 112nd on the Human Development Index.

Lebanon is a founding member of the United Nations and is a member of the Arab League, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie.

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The crusader state of the County of Tripoli, founded by Raymond IV of Toulouse in 1102, encompassed most of present-day Lebanon, falling to the Mamluk Sultanate in 1289 and finally to the Ottoman Empire in 1516.

Evidence dating back to an early settlement in Lebanon was found in Byblos, considered among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.

Lebanon was part of northern Canaan, and consequently became the homeland of Canaanite descendants, the Phoenicians, a seafaring people who spread across the Mediterranean in the first millennium BC.

The southern portion of Mount Lebanon was ruled by Druze feudal families to the early 14th century.

Lebanon soon established his authority as paramount prince of the Druze in the Shouf area of Mount Lebanon.

Lebanon extended his control over a substantial part of Mount Lebanon and its coastal area, even building a fort as far inland as Palmyra.

The relationship between the Druze and Christians in Lebanon has been characterized by harmony and peaceful coexistence, with amicable relations between the two groups prevailing throughout history, with the exception of some periods, including 1860 Mount Lebanon civil war; Approximately 10, 000 Christians were killed by the Druzes during inter-communal violence in 1860.

Shortly afterwards, the Emirate of Mount Lebanon, which lasted about 400 years, was replaced by the Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate, as a result of a European-Ottoman treaty called the Reglement Organique.

The Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate was one of the Ottoman Empire's subdivisions following the Tanzimat reform.

Lebanon was a largely Christian country but it included areas containing many Muslims and Druze.

Lebanon gained a measure of independence while France was occupied by Germany.

General Henri Dentz, the Vichy High Commissioner for Syria and Lebanon, played a major role in the independence of the nation.

On 26 November 1941, General Georges Catroux announced that Lebanon would become independent under the authority of the Free French government.

In May 1948, Lebanon supported neighboring Arab countries in a war against Israel.

Lebanon agreed to support the forces with covering artillery fire, armored cars, volunteers and logistical support.

In early January 2011, the national unity government collapsed due to growing tensions stemming from the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which was expected to indict Hezbollah members for the Hariri assassination.

In 2012, the Syrian civil war threatened to spill over in Lebanon, causing more incidents of sectarian violence and armed clashes between Sunnis and Alawites in Tripoli.

In February 2016, the Lebanese government signed the Lebanon Compact, granting a minimum of €400 million of support for refugees and vulnerable Lebanese citizens.

On 11 March 2021 the caretaker minister of energy Raymond Ghajar warned that Lebanon was threatened with "total darkness" at the end of March if no money was secured to buy fuel for power stations.

Lebanon's crisis has been so severe that more than 80 percent of the population is considered poor by the United Nations.

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Lebanon is located in Western Asia between latitudes 33° and 35° N and longitudes 35° and 37° E Its land straddles the "northwest of the Arabian plate".

Lebanon's mountains rise steeply parallel to the Mediterranean coast and form a ridge of limestone and sandstone that runs for most of the country's length.

Mountains of Lebanon are drained by seasonal torrents and rivers foremost of which is the 145 kilometres long Leontes that rises in the Beqaa Valley to the west of Baalbek and empties into the Mediterranean Sea north of Tyre.

Lebanon has 16 rivers all of which are non navigable; 13 rivers originate from Mount Lebanon and run through the steep gorges and into the Mediterranean Sea, the other three arise in the Beqaa Valley.

Lebanon had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 3.

Lebanon contains two terrestrial ecoregions: Eastern Mediterranean conifer-sclerophyllous-broadleaf forests and Southern Anatolian montane conifer and deciduous forests.

The inefficiency of the government, as well as the corruption inside of the waste management company Sukleen in charge of managing the garbage in Lebanon, have resulted in piles of garbage blocking streets in Mount Lebanon and Beirut.

In September 2018, Lebanon's parliament passed a law that banned open dumping and burning of waste.

Lebanon is a parliamentary democracy that includes confessionalism, in which high-ranking offices are reserved for members of specific religious groups.

Until 1975, Freedom House considered Lebanon to be among only two politically free countries in the Middle East and North Africa region.

Lebanon was without a President between May 2014 and October 2016.

Lebanon concluded negotiations on an association agreement with the European Union in late 2001, and both sides initialed the accord in January 2002.

Lebanon has bilateral trade agreements with several Arab states and is working toward accession to the World Trade Organization.

Lebanon enjoys good relations with virtually all of the other Arab countries, and hosted an Arab League Summit in March 2002 for the first time in over 35 years.

Lebanon is a member of the Francophonie countries and hosted the Francophonie Summit in October 2002 as well as the Jeux de la Francophonie in 2009.

Lebanon is divided into nine governorates which are further subdivided into twenty-five districts (, Arabic: ; singular: qada? Arabic: ).

Lebanon has a very high level of public debt and large external financing needs.

Lebanon has the largest proportion of skilled labor among Arab States.

Investment Development Authority of Lebanon was established with the aim of promoting investment in Lebanon.

Commodities market in Lebanon includes substantial gold coin production, however according to International Air Transport Association standards, they must be declared upon exportation to any foreign country.

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Industry in Lebanon is mainly limited to small businesses that reassemble and package imported parts.

Lebanon was among only seven countries in the world where the value of the stock markets increased in 2008.

Until July 2006, Lebanon enjoyed considerable stability, Beirut's reconstruction was almost complete, and increasing numbers of tourists poured into the nation's resorts.

Lebanon attracted around 1, 333, 000 tourists in 2008, thus placing it as 79th out of 191 countries.

In 2009, Lebanon hosted the largest number of tourists to date, eclipsing the previous record set before the Lebanese Civil War.

Lebanon has forty-one nationally accredited universities, several of which are internationally recognized.

Lebanon is the most religiously diverse country in the Middle East.

The use of Arabic by Lebanon's educated youth is declining, as they usually prefer to speak in French and, to a lesser extent, English, which are seen as more fashionable.

Culture of Lebanon reflects the legacy of various civilizations spanning thousands of years.

Lebanon is particularly known for his book The Prophet, which has been translated into over twenty different languages and is the second best selling book in the 20th century behind the Bible.

Cinema of Lebanon, according to film critic and historian, Roy Armes, was the only cinema in the Arabic-speaking region, besides the dominant Egyptian cinema, that could amount to a national cinema.

Cinema in Lebanon has been in existence since the 1920s, and the country has produced over 500 films with many films including Egyptian filmmakers and film stars.

The media of Lebanon is not only a regional center of production but the most liberal and free in the Arab world.

Lebanon took part in the 2009 European Cup where, after narrowly failing to qualify for the final, the team defeated Ireland to finish 3rd in the tournament.

Lebanon became the greatest point-scorer in National Rugby League history in 2009 by scoring himself 2418 points while playing for Australian club, Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs where he holds the record for most first grade appearances for the club with 317 games and most tries for the club with 159 tries.

Dominant basketball teams in Lebanon are Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut, who are the Arab and Asian champions, Club Sagesse who were able to earn the Asian and Arab championships before.

In recent years, Lebanon has hosted the AFC Asian Cup and the Pan Arab Games.

Lebanon hosted the 2009 Jeux de la Francophonie, and have participated in every Olympic Games since its independence, winning a total of four medals.

Lebanon was ranked 92nd in the Global Innovation Index in 2021, down from 88th in 2019.

Notable scientists from Lebanon include Hassan Kamel Al-Sabbah, Rammal Rammal, and Edgar Choueiri.

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