Lebanon

9 total, 8 usable; 6 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 3 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 2 with runways 1,220-2,439 m; none under the direct control of the Lebanese Government

15 major transport aircraft

7,370 km total; 6,270 km paved, 450 km gravel and crushed stone, 650 km improved earth

60 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 257,220 GRT/379,691 DWT; includes 39 cargo, 1 refrigerated cargo, 2 vehicle carrier, 2 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 1 container, 8 livestock carrier, 1 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 1 chemical tanker, 1 specialized tanker, 3 bulk, 1 combination bulk

crude oil, 72 km (none in operation)

Beirut, Tripoli, Ras Silata, Juniyah, Sidon, Az Zahrani, Tyre, Shikka; northern ports are occupied by Syrian forces and southern ports are occupied or partially quarantined by Israeli forces

378 km total; 296 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 82 km 1.050-meter gauge; all single track; system almost entirely inoperable

rebuilding program disrupted; had fair system of radio relay, cable; 325,000 telephones; stations--5 AM, 3 FM, 15 TV; 1 inactive Indian Ocean INTELSAT satellite earth station; 3 submarine coaxial cables; radio relay to Jordan and Syria, inoperable

Army (includes Navy and Air Force)

$168 million, 7.3% of GDP (1991)

males 15-49, 725,974; 449,912 fit for military service

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

revenues $120 million; expenditures $1.0 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1990 est.)

Lebanese pound (plural--pounds); 1 Lebanese pound (5L) = 100 piasters

US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $356 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-88), $608 million; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $962 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $9 million

1,381,000 kW capacity; 3,870 million kWh produced, 1,170 kWh per capita (1989)

Lebanese pounds (5L) per US$1--974.22 (January 1991), 695.09 (1990), 496.69 (1989), 409.23 (1988), 224.60 (1987), 38.37 (1986), 16.42 (1985)

$1.0 billion (f.o.b., 1989 est.); commodities--agricultural products, chemicals, textiles, precious and semiprecious metals and jewelry, metals and metal products; partners--Saudi Arabia 16%, Switzerland 8%, Jordan 6%, Kuwait 6%, US 5%

$900 million (1990 est.)

calendar year

$3.3 billion, per capita $1,000; real growth rate - 15% (1990 est.)

illicit producer of opium poppy and cannabis for the international drug trade; opium poppy production in Al Biqa is increasing; hashish production is shipped to Western Europe, Israel, and the Middle East

$1.9 billion (c.i.f., 1989 est.); commodities--NA; partners--Italy 14%, France 12%, US 6%, Turkey 5%, Saudi Arabia 3%

growth rate NA%

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

100% (1990 est.)

Since 1975 civil war has seriously damaged Lebanon's economic infrastructure, disrupted economic activity, 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, foreign financial support to political factions, the narcotics trade, and international emergency aid are main sources of foreign exchange. Economic prospects for 1991 have brightened, particularly if the Syrian-backed government is able to maintain law and order and reestablish business confidence. Rebuilding war-ravaged Beirut is likely to provide a major stimulus to the Lebanese economy in 1991.

35% (1990 est.)

Mediterranean; mild to cool, wet winters with hot, dry summers

225 km Territorial sea: 12 nm

about 0.8 times the size of Connecticut

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

rugged terrain historically helped isolate, protect, and develop numerous factional groups based on religion, clan, ethnicity; deforestation; soil erosion; air and water pollution; desertification

454 km total; Israel 79 km, Syria 375 km

arable land 21%; permanent crops 9%; meadows and pastures 1%; forest and woodland 8%; other 61%; includes irrigated 7%

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

Nahr al Litani only major river in Near East not crossing an international boundary

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

10,400 km2; land area: 10,230 km2

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

Beirut

the Lebanese Communist Party was legalized in 1970; members and sympathizers estimated at 2,000-3,000

26 May 1926 (amended)

Ambassador Nassib S. LAHOUD; Chancery at 2560 28th Street NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 939-6300; there are Lebanese Consulates General in Detroit, New York, and Los Angeles; US--Ambassador Ryan C. CROCKER; Embassy at Antelias, Beirut (mailing address is P. O. Box 70-840, Beirut, and FPO New York 09530); telephone [961] 417774 or 415802, 415803, 402200, 403300

president, prime minister, Cabinet; note--by custom, the president is a Maronite Christian, the prime minister is a Sunni Muslim, and the speaker of the legislature is a Shia Muslim

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

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

four Courts of Cassation (three courts for civil and commercial cases and one court for criminal cases) Chief of State--Ilyas HARAWI (since 24 November 1989); Head of Government--Prime Minister Umar KARAMI (since 20 December 1990)

mixture of Ottoman law, canon law, Napoleonic code, and civil law; no judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

unicameral National Assembly (Arabic--Majlis Alnuwab, French--Assemblee Nationale)

Republic of Lebanon; note--may be changed to Lebanese Republic

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

Independence Day, 22 November (1943)

Between early 1975 and late 1976 Lebanon was torn by civil war between its Christians--then aided by Syrian troops--and its Muslims and their Palestinian allies. The cease-fire established in October 1976 between the domestic political groups generally held for about six years, despite occasional fighting. Syrian troops constituted as the Arab Deterrent Force by the Arab League have remained in Lebanon. Syria's move toward supporting the Lebanese Muslims and the Palestinians and Israel's growing support for Lebanese Christians brought the two sides into rough equilibrium, but no progress was made toward national reconciliation or political reforms--the original cause of the war. Continuing Israeli concern about the Palestinian presence in Lebanon led to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in June 1982. Israeli forces occupied all of the southern portion of the country and mounted a summer-long siege of Beirut, which resulted in the evacuation of the PLO from Beirut in September under the supervision of a multinational force (MNF) made up of US, French, and Italian troops. Within days of the departure of the MNF, Lebanon's newly elected president, Bashir Gemayel, was assassinated. In the wake of his death, Christian militiamen massacred hundreds of Palestinian refugees in two Beirut camps. This prompted the return of the MNF to ease the security burden on Lebanon's weak Army and security forces. In late March 1984 the last MNF units withdrew. Lebanese Parliamentarians met in Taif, Saudi Arabia in late 1989 and concluded a national reconciliation pact that codified a new power-sharing formula, specifiying a Christian president but giving Muslims more authority. Rene Muawad was subsequently elected president on 4 November 1989, ending a 13-month period during which Lebanon had no president and rival Muslim and Christian governments. Muawad was assassinated 17 days later, on 22 November; on 24 November Ilyas Harawi was elected to succeed Muawad. In October 1990, the chances for ending the 16 year old civil war and implementing Ta'if were markedly improved when Syrian and Lebanese forces ousted renegade Christian General Awn from his stronghold in East Beirut. Awn had defied the legitimate government and established a separate mini-state within East Beirut after being appointed acting Prime Minister by outgoing President Gemayel in 1988. Awn and his supporters feared Ta'if would diminish Christian power in Lebanon and increase the influence of Syria. Since the removal of Awn, the Lebanese Government has reunited the capital city and implemented a phased plan to disarm the militias and gradually reestablish authority throughout Lebanon. The army has deployed from Beirut north along the coast road to Tripoli, southeast into the Shuf mountains, and south to the vicinity of Sidon. Many militiamen from Christian and Muslim groups have evacuated Beirut for their strongholds in the north, south, and east of the country. Some heavy weapons possessed by the militias have been turned over to the government, which has begun a plan to integrate some militiamen into the military and the internal security forces. Lebanon and Syria signed a treaty of friendship and cooperation in May 1991. Lebanon continues to be partially occupied by Syrian troops, which are deployed in East and West Beirut, its southern suburbs, the Bekaa Valley, and throughout northern Lebanon. Iran also maintains a small contingent of revolutionary guards in the Bekaa Valley and South Lebanon to support Lebanese Islamic fundamentalist groups. Israel withdrew the bulk of its forces from the south in 1985, although it still retains troops in a 10-km-deep security zone north of its border with Lebanon. Israel arms and trains the Army of South Lebanon (ASL), which also occupies the security zone and is Israel's first line of defense against attacks on its northern border. The following description is based on the present constitutional and customary practices of the Lebanese system.

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; most parties have well-armed militias, which are still involved in occasional clashes

compulsory for all males at age 21; authorized for women at age 21 with elementary education National Assembly--elections should be held every four years but security conditions have prevented elections since May 1972

republic

28 births/1,000 population (1991)

7 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

Arab 95%, Armenian 4%, other 1%

48 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

650,000; industry, commerce, and services 79%, agriculture 11%, goverment 10% (1985)

Arabic and French (both official); Armenian, English

66 years male, 71 years female (1991)

80% (male 88%, female 73%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)

noun--Lebanese (sing., pl.); adjective--Lebanese

- 7 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

250,000 members (est.)

3,384,626 (July 1991), growth rate 1.4% (1991)

Islam 75%, Christian 25%, Judaism NEGL%; 17 legally recognized sects--4 Orthodox Christian (Armenian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Nestorean, Syriac Orthodox), 7 Uniate Christian (Armenian Catholic, Caldean, Greek Catholic, Maronite, Protestant, Roman Catholic, Syrian Catholic), 5 Islam (Alawite or Nusayri, Druze, Ismailite, Shia, Sunni), and 1 Jewish

3.6 children born/woman (1991)