World Facts

conventional long form: Lebanese Republic
Capital: Beirut
Type of Government: republic-
Administrative Divisions: 6 governorates (mohafazat, singular - mohafazah); Beyrouth, Beqaa, Liban-Nord, Liban-Sud, Mont-Liban, Nabatiye
Age Structure: 0-14 years: 26.7% (male 520,270/female 499,609)
Agriculture: citrus, grapes, tomatoes, apples, vegetables, potatoes, olives, tobacco; sheep, goats
Airports: 8 (2004 est.)
With Paved Runways: total: 5
With Unpaved Runways:
Area: total: 10,400 sq km. about 0.7 times the size of Connecticut
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 justified 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. Syria finally withdrew the remainder of its forces from Lebanon in April of 2005. In May-June 2005, Lebanon held its first legislative elections since the end of the civil war that were free of the Syrian presence.
Birth rate: 18.88 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Budget: revenues: $4.953 billion
Coastline: 225 km-
Climate: Mediterranean; mild to cool, wet winters with hot, dry summers; Lebanon mountains experience heavy winter snows
Communications:
Constitution: 23 May 1926; amended a number of times, most recently Charter of Lebanese National Reconciliation (Ta'if Accord) of October 1989
Currency: Lebanese pound (LBP)
Current account balance: $-4.09 billion (2005 est.)
Death rate: 6.24 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Debt - external: $25.92 billion (2005 est.)-
Dependency status: -
Dependent areas:
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Jeffrey D. FELTMAN
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Dr. Farid ABBOUD
Disputes - international: intense international pressure prompts the removal of Syrian troops and intelligence personnel from Lebanon; Lebanese Government claims Shab'a Farms area of Israeli-occupied Golan Heights; the roughly 2,000-strong UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has been in place since 1978-
Distribution of family income: -
Economic aid - donor:
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
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 stands at nearly 200% of GDP. In 2004 the HARIRI government issued Eurobonds in an effort to manage maturing debt, and the KARAMI government has continued this practice. The downturn in economic activity that followed the assassination of Rafiq al-HARIRI has eased, but has yet to be reversed. Tourism remains below the level of 2004. The new Prime Minister, Fuad SINIORA, has pledged to push ahead with economic reform, including privatization and more efficient government.
Electricity - consumption:
Electricity - exports:
Electricity - imports:
Electricity - production:
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m
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
Ethnic groups: Arab 95%, Armenian 4%, other 1%
Exchange rates: Lebanese pounds per US dollar - 1,507.5 (2005), 1,507.5 (2004), 1,507.5 (2003), 1,507.5 (2002), 1,507.5 (2001)
Executive branch: chief of state: President Emile LAHUD (since 24 November 1998)
Exports: $1.782 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)
Exports - partners: Syria 24.9%, UAE 10%, Turkey 6.9%, Switzerland 6.7%, Saudi Arabia 5.3% (2004)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Flag description: three horizontal bands consisting of red (top), white (middle, double width), and red (bottom) with a green cedar tree centered in the white band
GDP (official exchange rate): $20.7 billion (2005 est.)
GDP (purchasing power parity): $19.49 billion (2005 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 12%
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $5,100 (2005 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 0.5% (2005 est.)
Geographic coordinates: 33 50 N, 35 50 E
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-
Government - note:
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.1% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 200 (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 2,800 (2003 est.)-
Heliports:
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA-
Illicit drugs:
Imports: $8.855 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)
Imports - partners: Italy 11.2%, France 10.3%, Syria 9.8%, Germany 8.6%, China 5.8%, US 5.5%, UK 4.6% (2004)
Independence: 22 November 1943 (from League of Nations mandate under French administration)
Industrial production growth rate: NA
Industries: banking, tourism, food processing, jewelry, cement, textiles, mineral and chemical products, wood and furniture products, oil refining, metal fabricating
Infant mortality rate: total: 24.52 deaths/1,000 live births
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.4% (2005 est.)
International organization participation: ABEDA, ACCT, AFESD, AMF, FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, LAS, MIGA, NAM, OAS (observer), OIC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNRWA, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO (observer)
Internet country code: .lb
Internet hosts: 6,998 (2004)
Internet users: 400,000 (2002)-
Investment (gross fixed):
Irrigated land: 1,200 sq km (1998 est.)
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)
Labor force: 2.6 million
Labor force - by occupation:
Land boundaries: total: 454 km
Land use: arable land: 16.62%
Languages: Arabic (official), French, English, Armenian
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
Legislative branch:
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 72.63 years
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Location: Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Israel and Syria-
Major infectious diseases:
Manpower available for military service: males age 18-49: 974,363 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 821,762 (2005 est.)-
Manpower reaching military service age annually:
Map references: Middle East
Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nm
Median age: total: 27.34 years-
Merchant marine: -
Military - note:
Military branches: Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF): Army, Navy, and Air Force
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $540.6 million (2002) (2004)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 3.1% (FY99) (2004)
Military service age and obligation: 18-30 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service; conscript service obligation - 12 months (2004)
National holiday: Independence Day, 22 November (1943)
Nationality: noun: Lebanese (singular and plural)-
Natural gas - consumption: -
Natural gas - exports: -
Natural gas - imports:
Natural gas - production: -
Natural gas - proved reserves:
Natural hazards: dust storms, sandstorms
Natural resources: limestone, iron ore, salt, water-surplus state in a water-deficit region, arable land
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Oil - consumption: 102,000 bbl/day (2003 est.)
Oil - exports: NA (2001)
Oil - imports: NA (2001)
Oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2003 est.)-
Oil - proved reserves: -
People - note:
Political parties and leaders: Ba'th Party [leader NA]; Democratic Gathering [Walid JUNBLATT]; Democratic Left [Ilyas ATALLAH]; Democratic Renewal Movement [Nassib LAHUD]; Development and Resistance Bloc [Nabih BERRI, Amal Movement leader/Speaker of the National Assembly]; Free Patriotic Movement [Michel AWN]; Future Movement Bloc [Sa'ad HARIRI]; Kataeb Party [Karim PAKRADONI]; Kataeb Reform Movement [Amine GEMAYAL]; Lebanese Forces [Samir JA'JA]; Loyalty to the Resistance [Mohammad RA'AD]; Metn Bloc [Michel MURR]; Nasserite Popular Movement [Ussama SAAD]; National Bloc [Carlos EDDE]; Popular Bloc [Elias SKAFF]; Qornet Shewan Gathering [a grouping with no individual leader]; Syrian National Socialist Party [Ali QANSU]; Tripoli Independent Bloc [a grouping with no individual leader]
Political pressure groups and leaders: 05-Al-Mujtama' Al-Madani or 05-AMAM [leader NA]
Population: 3,826,018 (July 2005 est.)
Population below poverty line: 28% (1999 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.26% (2005 est.)-
Ports and terminals:
Public debt: 200.7% of GDP (2005 est.)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 20, FM 22, shortwave 4 (1998)
Railways: total: 401 km
Refugees and internally displaced persons: refugees (country of origin): 394,532 (Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA))
Religions: Muslim 59.7% (Shi'a, 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, Copt, Protestant), other 1.3%
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $15.34 billion (2005 est.)
Roadways: total: 7,300 km
Sex ratio:
Suffrage: 21 years of age; compulsory for all males; authorized for women at age 21 with elementary education
Telephone system: general assessment: telecommunications system severely damaged by civil war; rebuilding well underway
Telephones - main lines in use: 678,800 (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 775,100 (2002)
Television broadcast stations: 15 (plus 5 repeaters) (1995)
Terrain: narrow coastal plain; El Beqaa (Bekaa Valley) separates Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon Mountains
Total fertility rate: 1.92 children born/woman (2005 est.)-
Transportation - note:
Unemployment rate: 18% (1997 est.)-
Waterways: