Lebanon

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

agricultural land:

63.3%;

• arable land 11.9%;
• permanent crops 12.3%;
• permanent pasture 39.1%

forest:

13.4%

other:

23.3% (2011 est.)

total:

1.31 cu km/yr (29%/11%/60%)

per capita:

316.8 cu m/yr (2005)

• 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

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified:

Environmental Modification, Marine Life Conservation

• smallest country in continental Asia;
• 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

noun:

Lebanese (singular and plural)

adjective:

Lebanese

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

1.02 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.87 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.79 male(s)/female

total population:

1 male(s)/female (2015 est.)

total number:

54,387

percentage:

7% (2000 est.)

conventional long form:

Lebanese Republic

conventional short form:

Lebanon

local long form:

Al Jumhuriyah al Lubnaniyah

local short form:

Lubnan

former:

Greater Lebanon

etymology:

derives from the Semitic root "lbn" meaning "white" and refers to snow-capped Mount Lebanon

name:

Beirut

geographic coordinates:

33 52 N, 35 30 E

time difference:

UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

daylight saving time:

+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

• 6 governorates (mohafazat, singular - mohafazah);
• Beqaa, Beyrouth (Beirut), Liban-Nord (North Lebanon), Liban-Sud (South Lebanon), Mont-Liban (Mount Lebanon), Nabatiye

note: two new governorates - Aakkar and Baalbek-Hermel - have been legislated but not yet implemented

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

the father must be a citizen of Lebanon

dual citizenship recognized:

yes

residency requirement for naturalization:

unknown

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

chief of state:

• President (vacant);
• note - President Michel SULAYMAN's term expired on 25 May 2014;
• the prime minister and his cabinet are temporarily assuming the duties of the president;
• as of December 2015, the National Assembly had failed to elect a president

head of government:

Prime Minister Tamam SALAM (since 6 April 2013); Deputy Prime Minister Samir MOQBIL (since 7 July 2011)

cabinet:

Cabinet chosen by the prime minister in consultation with the president and National Assembly

elections/appointments:

• president indirectly elected by the National Assembly for a 6-year term (eligible for non-consecutive terms);
• first round of election held on 23 April 2014 (next to be held in 2020);
• prime minister and deputy prime minister appointed by the president in consultation with the National Assembly

election results:

• NA;
• note - the April 2014 parliamentary vote failed to meet the required two-thirds majority vote threshold;
• subsequent voting from April 2014 through January 2016 also failed to meet a quorum or was postponed

description:

• unicameral National Assembly or Majlis al-Nuwab in Arabic or Assemblee Nationale in French (128 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by majority vote; members serve 4-year terms);
• note - seats are apportioned among the Christian and Muslim denominations

note: Lebanon’s Constitution states the National Assembly cannot conduct regular business until it elects a president when the position is vacant

elections:

last held on 7 June 2009 (next delayed due to a failure to elect a new president)

election results:

• percent of vote by coalition - March 8 Coalition 54.7%, March 14 Coalition 45.3%;
• seats by coalition - March 14 Coalition 71;
• March 8 Coalition 57;
• seats by coalition following 16 July 2012 byelection held to fill one seat - March 14 Coalition 72, March 8 Coalition 56

highest court(s):

• Court of Cassation or Supreme Court (organized into 4 divisions, each with a presiding judge and 2 associate judges);
• Constitutional Council (consists of 10 members)

judge selection and term of office:

• Court of Cassation judges appointed by Supreme Judicial Council, headed by the chief justice, and includes other judicial officials;
• judge tenure NA;
• Constitutional Council members appointed - 5 by the Council of Ministers and 5 by parliament;
• members serve 5-year terms

subordinate courts:

• Courts of Appeal;
• Courts of First Instance;
• specialized tribunals, religious courts;
• military courts

chief of mission:

Ambassador Antoine CHEDID (since 4 June 2008)

chancery:

2560 28th Street NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 939-6300

FAX:

[1] (202) 939-6324

consulate(s) general:

Detroit, New York, Los Angeles

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Richard Henry JONES (since 6 November 2015)

embassy:

Awkar, Lebanon (Awkar facing the Municipality)

mailing address:

P. O. Box 70-840, Antelias, Lebanon; from US: US Embassy Beirut, 6070 Beirut Place, Washington, DC 20521-6070

telephone:

[961] (4) 542600, 543600

FAX:

[961] (4) 544136

• 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

name:

"Kulluna lil-watan" (All Of Us, For Our Country!)

lyrics/music:

Rachid NAKHLE/Wadih SABRA

note: adopted 1927; chosen following a nationwide competition

agriculture:

NA%

industry:

NA%

services:

NA%

lowest 10%:

NA%

highest 10%:

NA%

general assessment:

repair of the telecommunications system, severely damaged during the civil war, now complete

domestic:

two mobile-cellular networks provide good service; combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular subscribership roughly 100 per 100 persons

international:

• country code - 961;
• submarine cable links to Cyprus, Egypt, and Syria;
• satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 1 Atlantic Ocean);
• coaxial cable to Syria (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)

total:

401 km

standard gauge:

319 km 1.435-m gauge

narrow gauge:

82 km 1.050-m gauge

note: rail system unusable due to damage sustained from fighting in the 1980s and in 2006 (2008)

country comparison to the world: 117

major seaport(s):

Beirut, Tripoli

container port(s) (TEUs):

Beirut (1,034,249)

• 17-30 years of age for voluntary military service;
• 18-24 years of age for officer candidates;
• no conscription (2013)

males age 16-49:

1,081,016

females age 16-49:

1,115,349 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49:

920,825

females age 16-49:

941,806 (2010 est.)

male:

36,856

female:

35,121 (2010 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

refugees (country of origin):

• 449,957 (Palestinian refugees);
• 5,986 (Iraq) (2014);
• 1,070,189 (Syria) (2015)

IDPs:

19,719 (2007 Lebanese security forces' destruction of Palestinian refugee camp) (2014)

stateless persons:

• undetermined (2014);
• note - tens of thousands of persons are stateless in Lebanon, including many Palestinian refugees and their descendants, Syrian Kurds denaturalized in Syria in 1962, children born to Lebanese women married to foreign or stateless men;
• most babies born to Syrian refugees, and Lebanese children whose births are unregistered

current situation:

• Lebanon is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
• Eastern European women and children are transported through Lebanon for sexual exploitation in other Middle Eastern countries;
• women from Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Ethiopia, Kenya, Bangladesh, Nepal, Madagascar, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Togo, Cameroon, and Nigeria are recruited by agencies to work in domestic service but are often subject to conditions indicative of forced labor, including the withholding of passports, nonpayment of wages, restricted movement, threats, and abuse;
• Lebanon’s artiste visa program enabling women to work as dancers for three months in the adult entertainment industry sustains a significant sex trade;
• anecdotal information indicates some Lebanese children are victims of forced labor, such as street begging and commercial sexual exploitation;
• Syrian refugee women and children in Lebanon are at increased risked of sex trafficking

tier rating:

• Tier 2 Watch List – Lebanon does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
• however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
• the government has a written plan that, if implemented, would constitute a significant effort toward meeting the minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking;
• in 2013, authorities conducted an increased number of investigations of human trafficking and prosecuted and convicted some trafficking offenders;
• the government identified and referred some trafficking victims to NGO-run safe houses but did not directly fund protective services;
• Lebanon’s sponsorship system and the withholding of passports continued to put domestic workers at risk of exploitation (2014)

• 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