Lebanon

AM 5, FM 3, shortwave 1 note: government is licensing a limited number of the more than 100 AM and FM stations operated sporadically by various factions that sprang up during the civil war

2.37 million (1992 est.)

telecommunications system severely damaged by civil war; rebuilding well underway domestic: primarily microwave radio relay and cable international: satellite earth stations--2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 1 Atlantic Ocean) (erratic operations); coaxial cable to Syria; microwave radio relay to Syria but inoperable beyond Syria to Jordan; 3 submarine coaxial cables

150,000 (1990 est.)

28 (1997)

1.1 million (1993 est.)

citrus, grapes, tomatoes, apples, vegetables, potatoes, olives, tobacco, hemp (hashish); sheep, goats

revenues: $4.9 billion expenditures: $7.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1998 est.)

1 Lebanese pound (LL) = 100 piasters

$3 billion (1998 est.)

$3.5 billion (pledges 1997-2001)

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. Peace has enabled the central government to restore control in Beirut, begin collecting taxes, and regain access to key port and government facilities. Economic recovery has been helped by a financially sound banking system and resilient small- and medium-scale manufacturers, with family remittances, banking services, manufactured and farm exports, and international aid as the main sources of foreign exchange. Lebanon's economy has made impressive gains since the launch of "Horizon 2000," the government's $20 billion reconstruction program in 1993. Real GDP grew 8% in 1994 and 7% in 1995 before Israel's Operation Grapes of Wrath in April 1996 stunted economic activity. During 1992-98, annual inflation fell from more than 100% to 5%, and foreign exchange reserves jumped to more than $6 billion from $1.4 billion. Burgeoning capital inflows have generated foreign payments surpluses, and the Lebanese pound has remained relatively stable. Progress also has been made in rebuilding Lebanon's war-torn physical and financial infrastructure. Solidere, a $2-billion firm, is managing the reconstruction of Beirut's central business district; the stock market reopened in January 1996; and international banks and insurance companies are returning. The government nonetheless faces serious challenges in the economic arena. It has had to fund reconstruction by tapping foreign exchange reserves and boosting borrowing. Reducing the government budget deficit is a major goal of the LAHUD government. The stalled peace process and ongoing violence in southern Lebanon could lead to wider hostilities that would disrupt vital capital inflows. Furthermore, the gap between rich and poor has widened in the 1990's, resulting in grassroots dissatisfaction over the skewed distribution of the reconstruction's benefits and leading the government to shift its focus from rebuilding infrastructure to improving living conditions.

6.01 billion kWh (1996)

0 kWh (1996)

310 million kWh (1996)

8.4 billion kWh (1997 est.)

fossil fuel: 87.72% hydro: 12.28% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1996)

Lebanese pounds (LL) per US$1--1,508.0 (January 1999), 1,516.1 (1998), 1,539.5 (1997), 1,571.4 (1996), 1,621.4 (1995), 1,680.1 (1994)

$711 million (f.o.b., 1997)

foodstuffs and tobacco 20%, textiles 12%, chemicals 11%, metal and metal products 11%, electrical equipment and products 10%, jewelry 10%, paper and paper products 8% (1997)

Saudi Arabia 14%, UAE 9%, France 7%, Syria 6%, US 6%, Kuwait 4%, Jordan 4%, Turkey 4%

calendar year

purchasing power parity--$15.8 billion (1998 est.)

agriculture: 4% industry: 23% services: 73% (1997 est.)

purchasing power parity?$4,500 (1998 est.)

3% (1998 est.)

lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%

$7.5 billion (c.i.f., 1997)

foodstuffs 29%, machinery and transport equipment 28%, consumer goods 18%, chemicals 9%, textiles 5%, metals 5%, fuels 3%, agricultural foods 3% (1997)

Italy 13%, US 9%, France 9%, Germany 8%, Switzerland 7%, Japan 4%, UK 4%, Syria 4% (1997)

25% (1993 est.)

banking; food processing; jewelry; cement; textiles; mineral and chemical products; wood and furniture products; oil refining; metal fabricating

5% (1998 est.)

1 million note: in addition, there are as many as 1 million foreign workers (1996 est.)

services 62%, industry 31%, agriculture 7% (1997 est.)

NA%

18% (1997 est.)

total: 10,400 sq km land: 10,230 sq km water: 170 sq km

about 0.7 times the size of Connecticut

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

225 km

lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m highest point: Jabal al Makmal 3,087 m

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, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation

33 50 N, 35 50 E

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

860 sq km (1993 est.)

total: 454 km border countries: Israel 79 km, Syria 375 km

arable land: 21% permanent crops: 9% permanent pastures: 1% forests and woodland: 8% other: 61% (1993 est.)

Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Israel and Syria

Middle East

territorial sea: 12 nm

dust storms, sandstorms

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

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

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

Beirut

23 May 1926, amended a number of times

conventional long form: Lebanese Republic conventional short form: Lebanon local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Lubnaniyah local short form: Lubnan

LE

chief of mission: Ambassador David SATTERFIELD embassy: Antelias, Beirut mailing address: P. O. Box 70-840, Beirut; PSC 815, Box 2, FPO AE 09836-0002

chief of mission: Ambassador-designate Farid ABBOUD chancery: 2560 28th Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 consulate(s) general: Detroit, New York, and Los Angeles

chief of state: President Emile LAHUD (since 24 November 1998) head of government: Prime Minister Salim al-HUSS (since 4 December 1998) cabinet: Cabinet chosen by the prime minister in consultation with the president and members of the National Assembly; the current Cabinet was formed in 1998 elections: president elected by the National Assembly for a six-year term; election last held 15 October 1998 (next to be held NA 2004); prime minister and deputy prime minister appointed by the president in consultation with the National Assembly; 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 election results: Emile LAHUD elected president; National Assembly vote--118 votes in favor, 0 against, 10 abstentions

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

republic

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

ABEDA, ACCT, AFESD, AL, AMF, CCC, ESCWA, FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OAS (observer), OIC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNRWA, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO

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)

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 or Majlis Alnuwab (Arabic) or Assemblee Nationale (French) (128 seats; members elected by popular vote on the basis of sectarian proportional representation to serve four-year terms) elections: last held in the summer of 1996 (next to be held NA 2000) election results: percent of vote by party--NA; seats by party--NA (one-half Christian and one-half Muslim)

Independence Day, 22 November (1943)

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

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

Lebanon has made progress toward rebuilding its political institutions and regaining its national sovereignty since the end of the devastating 16-year civil war, which ended in 1991. 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 civil war, the Lebanese have formed six cabinets, conducted two legislative elections, and held their first municipal elections in 35 years. Most of the militias have been weakened or disbanded. The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) has seized vast quantities of weapons used by the militias during the war and extended central government authority over about one-half of the country. Hizballah, the radical Shi'a party, retains its weapons. Foreign forces still occupy areas of Lebanon. Israel maintains troops in southern Lebanon and continues to support a proxy militia, the Army of South Lebanon (ASL), along a narrow stretch of territory contiguous to its border. The ASL's enclave encompasses this self-declared security zone and about 20 kilometers north to the strategic town of Jazzin. Syria maintains about 25,000 troops in Lebanon based mainly in Beirut, North Lebanon, and the Bekaa Valley. Syria's deployment was legitimized by the Arab League during Lebanon's civil war and in the Ta'if Accord. Citing the continued weakness of the LAF, Beirut's requests, and failure of the Lebanese Government to implement all of the constitutional reforms in the Ta'if Accord, Damascus has so far refused to withdraw its troops from Lebanon.

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

$445 million (1997)

5% (1997)

males age 15-49: 925,834 (1999 est.)

males age 15-49: 573,093 (1999 est.)

0-14 years: 30% (male 535,596; female 515,776) 15-64 years: 64% (male 1,084,121; female 1,196,678) 65 years and over: 6% (male 105,133; female 125,395) (1999 est.)

22.5 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)

6.45 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Arab 95%, Armenian 4%, other 1%

30.53 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)

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

total population: 70.93 years male: 68.34 years female: 73.66 years (1999 est.)

definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 86.4% male: 90.8% female: 82.2% (1997 est.)

noun: Lebanese (singular and plural) adjective: Lebanese

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)

3,562,699 (July 1999 est.)

1.61% (1999 est.)

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%

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.91 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.84 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (1999 est.)

2.25 children born/woman (1999 est.)

Israeli troops in southern Lebanon since June 1982; Syrian troops in northern, central, and eastern Lebanon since October 1976

inconsequential producer of hashish and heroin; some heroine and cocaine processing mostly in the Bekaa valley; a Lebanese/Syrian eradication campaign started in the early 1990s has practically eliminated the opium and cannabis crops

9 (1998 est.)

total: 7 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (1998 est.)

total: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (1998 est.)

total: 6,270 km paved: 6,270 km unpaved: 0 km (1998 est.)

total: 64 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 267,562 GRT/403,252 DWT ships by type: bulk 6, cargo 41, chemical tanker 1, combination bulk 1, combination ore/oil 1, container 3, livestock carrier 6, roll-on/roll-off cargo 2, vehicle carrier 3 (1998 est.)

crude oil 72 km (none in operation)

Al Batrun, Al Mina', An Naqurah, Antilyas, Az Zahrani, Beirut, Jubayl, Juniyah, Shikka, Sidon, Tripoli, Tyre

total: 222 km standard gauge: 222 km 1.435-m (from Beirut to the Syrian border)