Lebanon

republic

Lebanon as the 1994 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 118 fields, one of 36 editions from 1990 to 2025.

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CapitalBeirut
LocationMiddle East, in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, between Israel and
1994

Every edition of Lebanon

Populationas each edition published it
3.62 million July 1994 est. · 3.34m in 1990
Population growth% a year
1.98% 1994 est. · 1.81% in 1993
Median ageyears
Not in this edition 26.4 yrs in 2003
Life expectancyyears at birth
Not in this edition 69.01 yrs in 1993
Fertility ratechildren per woman
3.39 children per woman 1994 est. · 3.7 in 1990
Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births
39.5 deaths per 1,000 live births 1994 est. · 49 in 1990
GDP per capitaeach edition's own dollars
$1,720 1993 est. · $1,400 in 1993
GDP real growth% a year
4.2% 1992 · -0.8% in 2025

Geography

Middle East, in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, between Israel and | Syria

22 fields
Land boundaries
454km
total · Israel 79 km, Syria 375 km
Irrigated land
860sq km
(1989 est.)

Location

Middle East, in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, between Israel and Syria

Map references

Africa, Middle East, Standard Time Zones of the World

total area

10,400 sq km

land area

10,230 sq km

comparative area

about 0.8 times the size of Connecticut

territorial sea

12 nm

International disputes

  • separated from Israel by the 1949 Armistice Line;
  • Israeli troops in southern Lebanon since June 1982;
  • Syrian troops in northern, central, and eastern Lebanon since October 1976

Climate

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

Terrain

narrow coastal plain; Al Biqa' (Bekaa Valley) separates Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon Mountains

Natural resources

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

arable land

21%

permanent crops

9%

meadows and pastures

1%

forest and woodland

8%

other

61%

current issues

  • deforestation;
  • soil erosion;
  • desertification;
  • air and water pollution

natural hazards

NA

international agreements

  • party to - Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution;
  • signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation

Note

  • Nahr al 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

21 fields
Population
3,620,395
(July 1994 est.)growth rate: 1.98% (1994 est.)

Per 1,000 population(1994 est.)

Birth
27.89Death
6.55Net migration
-1.52

Ethnic divisions

Arab 95%Armenian 4%other 1%
Literacy
15and over can read and write
age · (1990 est.)

Infant mortality rate

39.5 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

total population

69.35 years

male

66.92 years

female

71.9 years (1994 est.)

Total fertility rate

3.39 children born/woman (1994 est.)

noun

Lebanese (singular and plural)

adjective

Lebanese

Religions

Islam 70% (5 legally recognized Islamic groups - Alawite or Nusayri, Druze, Isma'ilite, Shi'a, Sunni), Christian 30% (11 legally recognized Christian groups - 4 Orthodox Christian, 6 Catholic, 1 Protestant), Judaism NEGL%

Languages

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

total population

80%

male

88%

female

73%

by occupation

industry, commerce, and services 79%, agriculture 11%, government 10% (1985)

Government

Republic

32 fields

conventional long form

Republic of Lebanon

conventional short form

Lebanon

local long form

Al Jumhuriyah al Lubnaniyah

local short form

none

Type

republic

Capital

Beirut

Administrative divisions

5 governorates (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah); Al Biqa, 'Al Janub, Ash Shamal, Bayrut, Jabal Lubnan

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

Suffrage

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

chief of state

  • President Ilyas HARAWI (since 24 November 1989);
  • note - by custom, the president is a Maronite Christian, the prime minister is a Sunni Muslim, and the speaker of the legislature is a Shi'a Muslim

head of government

Prime Minister Rafiq HARIRI (since 22 October 1992)

cabinet

Cabinet; chosen by the president in consultation with the members of the National Assembly

National Assembly

  • (Arabic - Majlis Alnuwab, French - Assemblee Nationale) Lebanon's first legislative election in 20 years was held in the summer of 1992;
  • the National Assembly is composed of 128 deputies, one-half Christian and one-half Muslim;
  • its mandate expires in 1996

Judicial branch

four Courts of Cassation (three courts for civil and commercial cases and one court for criminal cases)

Political parties and leaders

  • political party activity is organized along largely sectarian lines;
  • numerous political groupings exist, consisting of individual political figures and followers motivated by religious, clan, and economic considerations

Member of

ABEDA, ACCT, AFESD, AL, AMF, CCC, ESCWA, FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OIC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNRWA, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

chief of mission

Ambassador Riad TABBARAH

chancery

2560 28th Street NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone

(202) 939-6300

FAX

(202) 939-6324

consulate(s) general

Detroit, New York, and Los Angeles

chief of mission

Ambassador Mark HAMBLEY

mailing embassy

Antelias, Beirut

address

P. O. Box 70-840, PSC 815, Box 2, Beirut; FPO AE 09836-0002

telephone

[961] 417774 or 415802 through 415803, 402200, 403300

FAX

[961] (1) 407-112

Flag

three horizontal bands of red (top), white (double width), and red with a green and brown cedar tree centered in the white band

Economy

26 fields
GDP per capita, PPP
$1,720
(1993 est.)
Real growth rate
4.2%
(1992)industrial production growth: growth rate 25% (1993 est.)
Unemployment rate
35%
(1993 est.)

Overview

Since 1975 civil war has 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. Following October 1990, however, a tentative peace has enabled the central government to begin restoring control in Beirut, collect taxes, and regain access to key port and government facilities.

The battered economy has also been propped up by a financially sound banking system and resilient small- and medium-scale manufacturers. Family remittances, banking transactions, manufactured and farm exports, the narcotics trade, and international emergency aid are the main sources of foreign exchange.

In the relatively settled year of 1991, industrial production, agricultural output, and exports showed substantial gains. The further rebuilding of the war-ravaged country was delayed in 1992 because of an upturn in political wrangling. In October 1992, Rafiq HARIRI was appointed Prime Minister.

HARIRI, a wealthy entrepreneur, has announced ambitious plans for Lebanon's reconstruction which involve a substantial influx of foreign aid and investment. Progress on restoring basic services is limited. Since Prime Minister HARIRI's appointment, the most significant improvement lies in the stabilization of the Lebanese pound, which had gained over 30% in value by yearend 1993.

The year 1993 was marked by efforts of the new administration to encourage domestic and foreign investment and to obtain additional international assistance.

National product

GDP - exchange rate conversion - $6.1 billion (1993 est.)

revenues

$990 million

expenditures

$1.98 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1993 est.)

Exports

$925 million (f.o.b., 1993 est.)

commodities

agricultural products, chemicals, textiles, precious and semiprecious metals and jewelry, metals and metal products

partners

Saudi Arabia 21%, Switzerland 9.5%, Jordan 6%, Kuwait 12%, US 5%

Imports

$4.1 billion (c.i.f., 1993 est.)

commodities

Consumer goods, machinery and transport equipment, petroleum products

partners

Italy 14%, France 12%, US 6%, Turkey 5%, Saudi Arabia 3%

External debt

$700 million (1993 est.)

capacity

1,300,000 kW

production

3.413 billion kWh

consumption per capita

990 kWh (1992)

Industries

banking, food processing, textiles, cement, oil refining, chemicals, jewelry, some metal fabricating

Agriculture

  • accounts for about one-third of GDP;
  • principal products - citrus fruits, vegetables, potatoes, olives, tobacco, hemp (hashish), sheep, goats;
  • not self-sufficient in grain

Illicit drugs

  • illicit producer of hashish and heroin for the international drug trade;
  • hashish production is shipped to Western Europe, the Middle East, and North and South America;
  • increasingly a key locus of cocaine processing and trafficking

Economic aid

aid for Lebanon's reconstruction programs currently totals $1.3 billion since October 1992, including a $175 million loan from the World Bank

Currency

1 Lebanese pound (#L) = 100 piasters

Exchange rates

Lebanese pounds (#L) per US$1 - 1,713.00 (December 1993), 2,200.00 (1992), 928.23 (1991), 695.09 (1990), 496.69 (1989)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Communications

14 fields

Railroads

system in disrepair, considered inoperable

total

7,300 km

paved

6,200 km

unpaved

gravel 450 km; improved earth 650 km

Pipelines

crude oil 72 km (none in operation)

Ports

Beirut, Tripoli, Ra'Sil'ata, Juniyah, Sidon, Az Zahrani, Tyre, Jubayl, Shikka Jadidah

Merchant marine

63 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 268,268 GRT/399,054 DWT, bulk 4, cargo 39, chemical tanker 1, combination bulk 1, container 2, livestock carrier 9, refrigerated cargo 1, roll-on/roll-off cargo 2, specialized tanker 1, vehicle carrier 2, combination ore/oil 1

total

9

usable

7

with permanent-surface runways

5

with runways over 3,659 m

0

with runways 2,440-3,659 m

3

with runways 1,220-2,439 m

1

Telecommunications

  • telecommunications system severely damaged by civil war;
  • rebuilding still underway;
  • 325,000 telephones (95 telephones per 1,000 persons);
  • domestic traffic carried primarily by microwave radio relay and a small amount of cable;
  • international traffic by satellite - 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth station and 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station (erratic operations), coaxial cable to Syria;
  • microwave radio relay to Syria but inoperable beyond Syria to Jordan, 3 submarine coaxial cables;
  • broadcast stations - 5 AM, 3 FM, 13 TV (numerous AM and FM stations are operated sporadically by various factions)

Defense Forces

Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF; including Army, Navy, and Air Force)

3 fields

Branches

Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF; including Army, Navy, and Air Force)

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 827,267; fit for military service 514,291

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $271 million, 8.2% of GDP (1992 budget)

Central Intelligence Agency. “Lebanon.” The World Factbook 1994. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/lebanon/1994.

How to cite ← 1993 edition 1995 edition →