Etymology
The name Lebanon comes from the
Semitic root lbn, meaning "white", likely a reference to the
snow-capped
Mount
Lebanon.[15]
Occurrences of the name have been found in texts from the library of
Ebla,[16]
which date to the third millennium BC, three of the twelve tablets of the
Epic of Gilgamesh (May be as early as 2100 BC), and almost 70 times in the
Bible,[17]
which is itself named after
Byblos, a city
in Lebanon.
The name is recorded in
Ancient Egyptian as Rmnn, where R stood for Canaanite L.[18]
Carthage and its dependencies in the 3rd century BC. It was one
of a number of
Phoenician settlements in the western Mediterranean.
History
Ancient
history
Evidence of the earliest known settlements in Lebanon was found in
Byblos, which
is considered to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the
world,[8]
and date back to earlier than 5000 BC. Archaeologists discovered remnants of
prehistoric huts with crushed limestone floors, primitive weapons, and burial
jars left by the
Neolithic
and
Chalcolithic fishing communities who lived on the shore of the Mediterranean
Sea over 7,000 years ago.[19]
Lebanon was the homeland of the
Phoenicians,
a seafaring people that spread across the Mediterranean before the rise of
Cyrus the Great.[20]
After two centuries of Persian rule,
Macedonian ruler
Alexander the Great attacked and burned
Tyre, the most prominent Phoenician city. Throughout the subsequent
centuries leading up to recent times, the country became part of numerous
succeeding empires, among them
Persian,
Armenian,
Assyrian,
Hellenistic,
Roman,
Eastern Roman,
Arab,
Seljuk,
Mamluk,
Crusader, and
Ottoman.
French
mandate and independence
Lebanon was part of the
Ottoman Empire for over 400 years, until 1918 when the area became a part of
the
French Mandate of Syria following World War I. By the end of the war, famine
had killed an estimated 100,000 people in Beirut and
Mount
Lebanon.[21]
On 1 September 1920, France formed the State of Greater Lebanon as one of
several ethnic enclaves within
Syria.[22]
Lebanon was a largely
Christian
(mainly
Maronite) enclave but also included areas containing many
Muslims (including
Druze). On 1
September 1926, France formed the Lebanese Republic. The Republic was afterward
a separate entity from Syria (related to the country
Syria) but still
administered under the French Mandate of Syria.
Lebanon gained independence in 1943, while France was occupied by Germany.[citation
needed] General
Henri
Dentz, the Vichy
High Commissioner for Syria and Lebanon, played a major role in the
independence of the nation. The Vichy authorities in 1941 allowed Germany to
move aircraft and supplies through
Syria to
Iraq where they
were used against British forces. The
United Kingdom, fearing that
Nazi
Germany would gain full control of Lebanon and
Syria by pressure
on the weak Vichy government, sent its army into Syria and Lebanon.
After the fighting ended in Lebanon, General
Charles de Gaulle visited the area. Under various political pressures from
both inside and outside Lebanon, de Gaulle decided to recognize the independence
of Lebanon. On 26 November 1941 General
Georges Catroux announced that Lebanon would become independent under the
authority of the
Free French government. Elections were held in 1943 and on 8 November 1943
the new Lebanese government unilaterally abolished the mandate. The French
reacted by throwing the new government into prison. In the face of international
pressure, the French released the government officials on 22 November 1943 and
accepted the independence of Lebanon.
The
allies kept the region under control until the end of
World
War II. The last French troops withdrew in 1946. Lebanon's unwritten
National Pact of 1943 required that its
president
be Maronite Christian, its
speaker of the parliament to be a Shiite Muslim, its
prime minister be Sunni Muslim, and the deputy speaker of Parliament be
Greek Orthodox.[23]
Lebanon's history since independence has been marked by alternating periods
of political stability and turmoil (including a
civil conflict in 1958) interspersed with prosperity built on
Beirut's
position as a regional center for finance and trade.
Lebanese
Military
The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) has 72,100 active personnel,[24]
including 1,100 in the air force, and 1,000 in the navy.[25]
The Lebanese Armed Forces' primary missions include defending Lebanon and its
citizens against external aggression, maintaining internal stability and
security, confronting threats against the country's vital interests, engaging in
social development activities, and undertaking relief operations in coordination
with public and
humanitarian institutions.[26]
Lebanon is a major recipient of foreign military aid.[27]
With $400 million in American military aid since 2005, it is the second largest
per capita recipient of American military aid behind Israel.[28]
1948
Arab-Israeli war
In May 1948, Lebanon was among five Middle-Eastern states that planned to
invade Israel,
but it abandoned the invasion at the last moment. While some irregular forces
crossed the border and carried out minor skirmishes against Israel, it was
without the support of the Lebanese government.[29]
During the war, some 100,000 Palestinians fled to Lebanon, and Israel did not
permit their return at the end of hostilities.[30]
Due to the tense sectarian balance that exists in Lebanon,[31]
the Palestinians and their descendants are denied citizenship and suffer from
institutional discrimination in Lebanon.[30]
Today, some 400,000 refugees remain in limbo, approximately half of whom
dispersed in camps.[32]
Civil
war and beyond
In 1975, civil war broke out in Lebanon. The
Lebanese Civil War lasted fifteen years, devastating the country's economy,
and resulting in massive loss of human life and property. It is estimated that
150,000 people were killed and another 200,000 wounded.[33]
Some 900,000 people, representing one-fifth of the pre-war population, were
displaced from their homes.[34]
The war ended in 1990 with the signing of the
Taif Agreement and parts of Lebanon were left in ruins.[35]
During the civil war, the
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) used Lebanon to launch attacks
against Israel. Lebanon was twice invaded and occupied by the
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in 1978 and 1982,[36]
with the PLO expelled in the second invasion. Israel remained in control of
Southern Lebanon until 2000, when there was a general decision, led by Israeli
Prime Minister
Ehud Barak,
to withdraw due to continuous attacks executed by
Hezbollah,
and a belief that the violence would diminish and dissolve without the Israeli
presence in Lebanon.[37]
The UN determined that the withdrawal of Israeli troops beyond the
blue line was in accordance with
UN Security Council Resolution 425, although a border region called the
Shebaa Farms is still
disputed.
Hezbollah declared that it would not stop its operations against Israel
until this area was liberated.[38]
Cedar
Revolution
On 14 February 2005, former Prime Minister
Rafik
Hariri was assassinated in a
car bomb
explosion near the
Saint George Bay in Beirut.[39]
Leaders of the
March 14 Alliance, a pro-Western coalition, accused
Syria of the
attack[40]
due to its extensive military and intelligence presence in Lebanon, and the
public rift between Hariri and
Damascus
over the Syrian-backed constitutional amendment extending President
Lahoud's term in office. Others, namely the
March 8 Alliance and Syrian officials, claimed that the assassination may
have been executed by the Israeli
Mossad in an
attempt to destabilize the country.[41]
This incident triggered a series of demonstrations, dubbed the 'Cedar
Revolution' by the media, which demanded the withdrawal of Syrian troops from
Lebanon and the establishment of an international commission to investigate the
assassination. The
United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1595 on 7
April 2005, which called for an investigation into the assassination of Rafik
Hariri.[42]
Preliminary findings of the investigation were officially published on 20
October 2005 in the
Mehlis report, which cited indications that high-ranking members of the
Syrian and Lebanese governments were involved in the assassination.[43]
Eventually, and under pressure from the West, Syria began withdrawing its
15,000-strong army troops from Lebanon.[44]
By 26 April 2005, all uniformed Syrian soldiers had already crossed the border
back to Syria.[45]
The Hariri assassination marked the beginning of a series of assassination
attempts that resulted in the loss of many prominent Lebanese figures.[46]
2006
Israel-Lebanon conflict
On 12 July 2006,
Hezbollah
fired rockets at Israeli border towns as a diversion for an anti-tank missile
attack on two armored Humvees patrolling the Israeli side of the border fence.
Of the seven Israeli soldiers in the two jeeps, two were wounded, three were
killed, and two were kidnapped and taken to Lebanon. Five more were killed in a
failed Israeli rescue attempt. In Lebanon, air strikes caused serious damage to
Lebanon's civil infrastructure (including Beirut's airport), and were followed
by Israel's ground forces moving into areas of Lebanon militarily controlled by
Hezbollah fighters. Israel rained as many as 4.6 million cluster sub-munitions
across southern Lebanon in at least 962 separate strikes, the vast majority over
the final three days of the war when Israel knew a settlement was imminent.[47]
In Israel, over 3,000 Hezbollah rockets landed on northern Israel, many in urban
areas. The month-long conflict caused significant loss of life, both Israeli
(nearly 100) and Lebanese (over 1,000). The conflict officially ended on 14
August 2006, when the United Nations Security Council issued resolution 1701
ordering a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel.[48]
(Goldwasser and Regev were held for two years, without indication as to their
health, until their remains were returned by Hezbollah to Israel on July 16,
2008 in a trade for living prisoners.)
Nahr
al-Bared conflict
Nahr al-Bared (Arabic: نهر البارد, literally: Cold River) is a
Palestinian
refugee
camp in northern Lebanon, 16 km from the city of
Tripoli. Some 30,000 displaced Palestinians and their descendants live in
and around the camp, which was named after the river that runs south of the
camp. The camp was established in December 1949 by the League of Red Cross
Societies in order to accommodate the Palestinian refugees suffering from the
difficult winter conditions in the
Beqaa
Valley and the suburbs of Tripoli. The The
Lebanese Army is banned from entering all Palestinian camps under the 1969
Cairo Agreement.
Late in the night of Saturday May 19, 2007, a building was surrounded by
Lebanese
Internal Security Forces (ISF) in which a group of
Fatah al-Islam militants accused of taking part in a bank robbery earlier
that day were hiding. The ISF attacked the building early on Sunday May 20,
2007, unleashing a day long battle between the ISF and Fatah al-Islam militants.
As a response, members of Fatah al-Islam in Nahr al-Bared Camp attacked an army
checkpoint, killing several soldiers in their sleep. The army immediately
responded by shelling the camp.
The camp became the center of the fighting between the Lebanese Army and
Fatah al-Islam. It sustained heavy shelling while under siege.
UNRWA estimates the battle between the army and Islamic militant group Fatah
al-Islam destroyed or rendered uninhabitable as much as 85 percent of homes in
the camp and ruined infrastructure. The camp’s up to 40,000 residents were
forced to flee, many of them sheltering in the already overcrowded Beddawi camp,
10 km south.
At least 169 soldiers, 287 insurgents and 47 civilians were killed in the
army’s battle with the al-Qaeda-inspired militants. Funds for the reconstruction
of the area have been slow to materialize, and life for the displaced refugees
is difficult.[49]
2008
internal strife
In October 2007,
Émile
Lahoud finished his term as president. The opposition conditioned its vote
for a successor on a power-sharing deal, thus leaving the country without a
president for over 6 months. On 9 May 2008,
Hezbollah
and
Amal forces,
in an armed attack triggered by a government decision on
Hezbollah's
communications network, temporarily took over Western
Beirut. The
situation was described by the government as an attempted coup and led many to
fear the country was on the brink of another
civil war.[50]
On 21 May 2008, all major Lebanese parties signed an accord to elect
Michel Suleiman president and establish a government of national unity with
a veto share for opposition parties, including one Hezbollah minister. The deal
was brokered by an
Arab
League delegation, headed by the Emir and Foreign Minister of
Qatar and the
Secretary General of the Arab League, after five days of intense negotiations in
Doha. Suleiman was
officially elected president on 25 May 2008.
Geography
and climate
Lebanon from space. Snow cover can be seen on the
western and
eastern mountain ranges
Lebanon is located in
Western
Asia. It is bordered by the
Mediterranean Sea to the west along a 225-kilometre (140 mi) coastline, by
Syria to the east
and north, and by Israel to the south. The Lebanon-Syria border stretches for
375 kilometres (233 mi) and the Lebanon-Israel border for 79 kilometres (49 mi).
The border with the Israeli-occupied
Golan
Heights in Syria is disputed by Lebanon in a small area called Shebaa Farms,
but the
border has been demarcated by the
United Nations.[51]
Most of Lebanon's area is mountainous terrain,[6]
except for the narrow coastline and the
Beqaa
Valley, which plays an integral role in Lebanon's agriculture. However,
climate change and political differences threaten conflict over water resources
in Valley.[52]
Lebanon has a moderate
Mediterranean climate. In coastal areas, winters are generally cool and
rainy whilst summers are hot and humid. In more elevated areas, temperatures
usually drop below freezing during the winter with frequent, sometimes heavy
snow; summers are warm and dry.[53]
Although most of Lebanon receives a relatively large amount of rainfall annually
(compared to its arid surroundings), certain areas in north-eastern Lebanon
receive little due to the high peaks of the western mountain front blocking much
of the rain clouds that originate over the Mediterranean Sea.[54]
In ancient times, Lebanon housed large forests of the
Cedars of Lebanon, which now serve as the country's national emblem.[55]
However, centuries of trading cedar trees, used by mariners for boats, and the
absence of any efforts to replant them have depleted the country's
once-flourishing cedar forests.[55]
Lebanon has astonishing beaches as well as high mountains and skiing.
Lebanon's geography makes it easy to go from the city to the slopes in a matter
of just 1–2 hours.
Government and
politics
The Lebanese
parliament building at the Place de l'Étoile
Lebanon is a
parliamentary democracy, which implements a special system known as
confessionalism.[57]
This system is intended to deter sectarian conflict and attempts to fairly
represent the demographic distribution of the 18 recognized religious groups in
government.[58][59]
High-ranking offices are reserved for members of specific religious groups. The
President, for example, has to be a
Maronite Christian, the
Prime Minister a
Sunni Muslim and the
Speaker of the Parliament a
Shi’a Muslim.[60][61]
Lebanon's national legislature is the
unicameral
Parliament of Lebanon. Its 128 seats are
divided equally between Muslims and Christians, proportionately between the
18 different denominations and proportionately between its 26 regions.[62]
Prior to 1990, the ratio stood at 6:5 in favor of Christians; however, the
Taif Accord, which put an end to the 1975–1990 civil war, adjusted the ratio
to grant equal representation to followers of the two religions.[60]
The Parliament is elected for a four-year term by universal suffrage[1]
although the civil war precluded the exercise of this right.
The
Grand Serail, the government headquarters in downtown Beirut
The executive branch consists of the President, the
head
of state, and the Prime Minister, the
head of government. The parliament elects the president for a non-renewable
six-year term by a two-third majority. The president appoints the Prime
Minister.[63]
Following consultations with the parliament and the President, the Prime
Minister forms the
Cabinet, which must also adhere to the sectarian distribution set out by
confessionalism.
On June 27, 2009, Lebanon's president appointed parliamentary majority leader
Saad
Hariri as prime minister after his pro-Western coalition, the
March 14 Alliance, defeated a
Hezbollah-led alliance in a
June 2009 election.[64]
Lebanon's judicial system is a mixture of
Ottoman law,
Napoleonic code,
canon law
and
civil law. The Lebanese court system consists of three levels: courts of
first instance, courts of appeal, and the
court of cassation. The
Constitutional Council rules on constitutionality of laws and electoral
frauds. There also is a system of religious courts having jurisdiction over
personal status matters within their own communities, with rules on matters such
as marriage and inheritance.[65]
Foreign
relations
Lebanon concluded negotiations on an association agreement with the
European Union in late 2001, and both sides initialed the accord in January
2002. Lebanon also has bilateral trade agreements with several Arab states and
is working toward accession to the
World Trade Organization. Lebanon enjoys good relations with virtually all
of the other Arab countries (despite historic tensions with Libya, the
Palestinians, and Iraq), and hosted an
Arab
League Summit in March 2002 for the first time in more than 35 years.
Lebanon is a member of the
Francophone countries and hosted the Francophone Summit in October 2002.[10]
Economy
The urban population in Lebanon is noted for its commercial enterprise.[67]
Over the course of time, emigration has yielded Lebanese "commercial networks"
throughout the world.[68]
As a result, remittances from Lebanese abroad to family members within the
country total $5.6 billion[69]
and account for one fifth of the country's economy.[70]
Lebanon has a high proportion of skilled labor comparable to most European
nations and the highest among Arabic speaking countries.[71]
Although Lebanon is ideally suited for
agricultural activities in terms of water availability and
soil fertility, as it possesses the highest proportion of cultivable land in
the Arabic speaking world,[72]
it does not have a large agricultural sector. Attracting a mere 12% of the total
workforce,[73]
agriculture is the least popular economic sector in Lebanon. It contributes
approximately 11.7% of the country's
GDP,
also placing it in the lowest rank compared to other economic sectors. Major
produce includes apples, peaches, oranges, and lemons.[10]
Industry in Lebanon is mainly limited to small businesses concerned with
reassembling and packaging imported parts. In 2004, industry ranked second in
workforce, with 26% of the Lebanese working population,[73]
and second in GDP contribution, with 21% of Lebanon's GDP.[10]
A combination of beautiful climate, many historic landmarks and
World Heritage Sites continues to attract large numbers of tourists to
Lebanon annually. In addition, Lebanon's strict
financial secrecy and
capitalist
economy have given it significant, though no longer dominant, economic status
among Arab countries. The thriving tourism and banking activities have naturally
made the services sector the most important pillar of the Lebanese economy. The
majority of the Lebanese workforce (nearly 65%)[73]
attains employment in the services sector as a result of the abundant job
opportunities. The GDP contribution, accordingly, amounts to roughly 67.3% of
the annual Lebanese GDP.[10]
However, dependence on the tourism and banking sectors leaves the economy
vulnerable to political instability.[74]
The 1975–1990 civil war seriously damaged Lebanon's economic
infrastructure, cut national output by half, and all but ended Lebanon's
position as a
West Asian
entrepôt and
banking hub.[1]
The subsequent period of relative peace enabled the central government to
restore control in
Beirut, begin collecting taxes (though not always successfully), 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.[75]
Until the
2006 Lebanon War, Lebanon's economy witnessed excellent growth, with bank
assets reaching over 75 billion US dollars,[76]
By the end of the first half of 2006, the influx of tourists to Lebanon had
already registered a 49.3% increase over 2005 figures (which was a low figure,
making the 49.3% increase seem more spectacular than it was).[76]
Market capitalization was also at an all time high, estimated at $10.9
billion at the end of the second quarter of 2006, just weeks before the fighting
started.[76]
The war severely damaged Lebanon's fragile economy, especially the tourism
sector. According to a preliminary report published by the Lebanese
Ministry of Finance on 30 August 2006, a major economic decline was expected
as a result of the fighting.[77]
Rafiq Hariri International Airport re-opened in September 2006, and the
efforts to revive the Lebanese economy have since been proceeding at a slow
pace. Major contributors to the reconstruction of Lebanon include
Saudi
Arabia (with US$ 1.5 billion pledged),[78]
the
European Union (with about $1 billion)[79]
and a few other Persian Gulf countries with contributions of up to $800 million.[80]
Education
Schools
All Lebanese schools are required to follow a prescribed curriculum designed
by the Ministry of Education. Private schools, approximately 1,400 in all,[81]
may also add more courses to their curriculum with approval from the Ministry of
Education. The main subjects taught are mathematics, sciences, Arabic, and at
least one secondary language (either French or English). The subjects gradually
increase in difficulty and in number. Students in Grade 11, for example, study
up to eighteen different subjects.
The government introduces a mild form of selectivity into the curriculum by
giving 11th graders choice between two "concentrations": sciences,
humanities, and 12th graders choose between four concentrations: life
sciences, general sciences, sociology and economics, and humanities and
literature. The choices in concentration do not include major changes in the
number of subjects taken (if at all). However, subjects that fall out of the
concentration are given less weight in grading and are less rigorous, while
subjects that fall within the concentration are more challenging and contribute
significantly to the final grade.
Higher education
Following secondary school, Lebanese students may choose to study at a
university, a college, or a vocational training institute. The number of years
to complete each program varies. While the Lebanese educational system offer a
very high quality and international class of education, the local employment
market lacks sufficient opportunities, thus encouraging many of the young
educated to travel abroad.
Lebanon has forty-one nationally accredited universities, several of which
are internationally recognized.[82][83]
The
American University of Beirut (AUB) and the
Université Saint-Joseph (USJ) were the first Anglophone and the first
Francophone universities to open in Lebanon, respectively.[84][85]
The universities, both public and private, largely operate in French or English.[86]
At the English universities, students who have graduated from an
American-style high school program enter at the
freshman
level to earn their baccalaureate equivalence from the Lebanese Ministry of
Higher Education. This qualifies them to continue studying at the higher levels.
Such students are required to have already taken the
SAT I and the
SAT II upon applying to college, in lieu of the official exams. On the other
hand, students who have graduated from a school that follows the Lebanese
educational system are directly admitted to the
sophomore year. These students are still required to take the SAT I, but not
the SAT II. The university
academic degrees for the first stage are the
Bachelor or the
Licence,
for the second stage are the
Master or the
DEA and the third stage is the
doctorate.
The
United Nations assigned Lebanon an education index of 0.871 in 2008. The
index, which is determined by the adult literacy rate and the combined primary,
secondary, and tertiary gross enrollment ratio, ranked the country 88th out of
the 177 countries participating.[87]
Demographics
The population of Lebanon was estimated to be 4,017,095 in July 2009.[1]
As of 2007, Lebanon was host to over 375,000
refugees and
asylum seekers: 270,800 from
Palestine,
50,000 from Iraq,[88]
and 4,500 from Sudan.
Lebanon forcibly repatriated more than 300 refugees and asylum seekers in 2007.[89]
Religions in Lebanon by sect (2008 estimate)
[90]
No official census has been taken since 1932, reflecting the political
sensitivity in Lebanon over confessional balance between different religious
groups.[91]
The 1932 census stated that Christians made up 55% of the population.[92]
Over the past 60 years, there has been a steady decline in the number of
Christians as compared to Muslims, due to higher emigration rates among
Christians, and higher birth rates among Muslims. There are various numbers of
statistics on the religious composition of Lebanon. The
CIA World Factbook estimates that 59.7% of the population is Muslim, 39%
Christian, and 1.3% other religions.[1]
According to Statistics Lebanon in 2008, 28% of the population is
Sunni
Muslim, 28%
Shi'a
Muslim, 22%
Maronite Christian, 8%
Greek Orthodox, 5%
Druze, 4%
Greek Catholic and 5% other religions.[90]
There are 18 state-recognized religious sects.[93]
Article 11 of Lebanon's Constitution states that "Arabic
is the official national language. A law determines the cases in which the
French language may be used".[94]
The majority of Lebanese people speak
Lebanese Arabic, and sometimes French and/or English. The Arabic language is
mostly used in magazines and newspapers. Use of the French language is a
lingering influence from colonial times; as of 2004, some 20% of the population
used French on a daily basis.[6]
Lebanese people of
Armenian or
Greek descent often speak
Armenian or
Greek fluently.
Kurdish Lebanese are estimated between 100,000 and 150,000, most of whom
live around Beirut. There are currently around 150,000
Armenians in Lebanon, or around 4% of the population.[95]
Between 11 and 13 million people of
Lebanese descent are spread all over the world,[96]
especially in
Latin
America.[97]
The country with the largest expatriate population is
Brazil, with 7
million
Lebanese Brazilians inhabiting the country.[98]
Large numbers of Lebanese migrated to
West
Africa, particularly in the
Ivory Coast (home to over 100,000 Lebanese)[99]
and Senegal
(roughly 30,000 Lebanese).[100]
Australia
is home to over 270,000 Lebanese (1999 est.).[101]
Lebanon has suffered from years of war. In the last three decades,
long-lasting and destructive armed conflicts have shaken the country. The
majority of people in Lebanon have been affected by the armed conflict there.
Those with direct personal experience make up 75% of the population, and most
others also report suffering a range of serious hardships. In total, almost
everyone (96%) has been affected in some way – either personally or due to the
wider consequences of armed conflict.[102]
Culture
Overview
The area including modern Lebanon has been home to various civilizations and
cultures for thousands of years. Originally home to the
Phoenicians,
and then subsequently conquered and occupied by the
Assyrians,
the
Persians, the
Greeks, the
Romans,
the
Arabs, the Crusaders, the
Ottoman Turks and most recently the French, Lebanese culture has over the
millennia evolved by borrowing from all of these groups. Lebanon's diverse
population, composed of different ethnic and religious groups, has further
contributed to the country's festivals, musical styles and literature as well as
cuisine, and numerous violent clashes amongst different religious and ethnic
groups. When compared to the rest of the
Southwest Asia, Lebanese society as a whole is well educated, and as of 2003
87.4% of the population was literate.[1]
Lebanese society is very modern and similar to certain cultures of
Mediterranean Europe. It is often considered to serve as Europe's gateway to
Western Asia as well as the Asian gateway to the Western World.[103]
National
flag
The national flag of Lebanon, created shortly after independence in 1943,[104]
consists of three horizontal bands; the top and bottom bands are red and of
equivalent size, each consisting of 1/4 of the flag's surface, while the larger,
middle band is white with a green cedar tree fixed at its center and consists of
1/2 of the flag's surface.[1]
The
cedar tree, an emblem of Lebanon, symbolizes survival,[105]
and red symbolizes the blood shed for independence. The top and bottom of the
cedar touch the edge of both red bands.[106]
Sports
Both summer and winter sports thrive in Lebanon because of the unique
geography. In autumn and spring, for example, it is possible to go skiing in the
morning and swimming in the
Mediterranean Sea in the afternoon. At the competitive level,
basketball
and
football are among Lebanon’s most popular sports. In recent years, Lebanon
has hosted the
AFC
Asian Cup and the
Pan
Arab Games.
Lebanon has six
ski resorts, with opportunities also available for
cross-country skiing,
snowshoeing,
and
snowmobiling. In the summer, skilifts can be used to access
hiking trails,
with views stretching as far as
Cyprus to the
west and Syria to
the east on clear days.
Canoeing,
cycling,
rafting,
climbing,
swimming,
sailing and
caving are among the other common leisure sports in Lebanon. Adventure and
extreme sports are also possible throughout the country. The
Beirut Marathon is held every fall, drawing top runners from Lebanon and
abroad. Race day is promoted as a fun, family event, and it has become a
tradition for many to participate in costumes or outlandish clothing. Dance is
also one of the most popular sports in Lebanon.
Prominent Lebanese bodybuilders include
Samir
Bannout,
Mohammad Bannout, and
Ahmad
Haidar.
Cod Watson is the most famous Rugby Union player of Lebanese decent. He
currently plays for the Gympie Hammers in Australia's Sunshine Coast division.
Rugby league has enjoyed growth in Lebanon with a 5 team domestic
competition. An international team made up of domestic players recently played a
two match tour in Dubai. The Lebanese international team will take part in the
European cup in 2009 against teams such as Scotland and Russia.
Hazem El Masri who is
Australian rugby league's all time points scorer moved from Lebanon to
Australia as a child and has represented Lebanon at international level,
including playing at the 2000
Rugby league world cup
Arts
and literature
By the turn of the 20th century, Beirut was vying with Cairo as the major
center for modern Arab thought, with many newspapers, magazines, and literary
societies.
In literature,
Khalil Gibran, who was born in
Bsharri, is
particularly known for his book
The Prophet, which has been translated into more than twenty different
languages.[107]
Several contemporary Lebanese writers have also achieved international success;
including
Elias
Khoury,
Amin
Maalouf and
Hanan al-Shaykh.
In art,
Moustafa Farroukh was one of Lebanon's most prominent painters of the 20th
century. Formally trained in Rome and Paris, he exhibited in venues from Paris
to New York to Beirut over his career. His work was applauded for its
representation of real life in Lebanon in pictures of the country, its people
and its customs. Farroukh became highly regarded as a Lebanese nationalist
painter at a time when Lebanon was asserting its political independence. His art
captured the spirit and character of the Lebanese people and he became
recognized as the outstanding Lebanese painter of his generation. He also wrote
five books and taught art at the American University of Beirut.
Music
Music is pervasive in Lebanese society.[108]
According to the
World Intellectual Property Organization, Lebanon's music industry is
growing and could potentially attain leading status in the region.[109]
Traditional folk music remains popular in Lebanon. However, modern music
reconciling Western and traditional Arabic styles,
pop, and
fusion are rapidly advancing in popularity.[110]
Radio stations feature a variety of music, including traditional Lebanese,
classical Arabic, and modern French, English, American, and
Latin
tunes.[111]
Prominent traditional musicians include
Fairuz, an icon
during the
civil war, and
Najwa
Karam, who built an international audience for the genre.[108]
Marcel Khalife, a musician who blends classical Arab music with modern
sounds,[108]
boasts immense[112]
popularity for his politically charged lyrics.[108][110]
Distinguished pop artists include
Nancy
Ajram, whose albums sell into the millions,[108]
the vocalist Haifa,
The 4 Cats,
an all female group, and
Fadl
Shaker.r.[108]
Lebanese performers are celebrated throughout the Arab World,[113]
and with the notable exception of
Egypt enjoy
increasing regional popularity.[109]
Rising demand for Arabic music outside the Middle East has provided Lebanese
artists with a small but significant global audience.[109]
However, widespread piracy continues to inhibit the music industry's growth.[109]
Festivals
Several national and international music festivals are held in Lebanon,
featuring world-renowned artists and drawing crowds from Lebanon and abroad.
Among the most famous are
Baalbeck International Festival,
Beiteddine Festival,
Deir el Qamar Festival,
Byblos International Festival,
Batroun Festival,
Tyr Festival and the Al-Bustan Festival, along with the Zouk Festival.
Beirut (Beirut
Nights) in particular has a vibrant arts scene, with numerous performances,
exhibits, fashion shows, and concerts held throughout the year in its galleries,
museums, theatres, and public spaces.
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