The 1992 CIA World Factbook

by United States. Central Intelligence Agency

:Lebanon Geography

Total area:
10,400 km2
Land area:
10,230 km2
Comparative area:
about 0.8 times the size of Connecticut
Land boundaries:
454 km; Israel 79 km, Syria 375 km
Coastline:
225 km
Maritime claims:
Territorial sea:
12 nm
Disputes:
separated from Israel by the 1949 Armistice Line; Israeli troops in southern
Lebanon since June 1982; Syrian troops in northern Lebanon since October
1976
Climate:
Mediterranean; mild to cool, wet winters with hot, dry summers
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
Land use:
arable land 21%; permanent crops 9%; meadows and pastures 1%; forest and
woodland 8%; other 61%; includes irrigated 7%
Environment:
rugged terrain historically helped isolate, protect, and develop numerous
factional groups based on religion, clan, ethnicity; deforestation; soil
erosion; air and water pollution; desertification
Note:
Nahr al Litani only major river in Near East not crossing an international
boundary

:Lebanon People

Population:
3,439,115 (July 1992), growth rate 1.6% (1992)
Birth rate:
28 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
7 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
-5 migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
43 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
66 years male, 71 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
3.6 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
noun - Lebanese (singular and plural); adjective - Lebanese
Ethnic divisions:
Arab 95%, Armenian 4%, other 1%
Religions:
Islam 75%, Christian 25%, Judaism NEGL%; 17 legally recognized groups - 5
Islam (Alawite or Nusayri, Druze, Isma`ilite, Shi`a, Sunni); 11 Christian,
consisting of 4 Orthodox Christian (Armenian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox,
Nestorean, Syriac Orthodox), 6 Catholic (Armenian Catholic, Caldean, Greek
Catholic, Maronite, Roman Catholic, and Syrian Catholic) and the
Protestants; 1 Jewish
Languages:
Arabic and French (both official); Armenian, English
Literacy:
80% (male 88%, female 73%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force:
650,000; industry, commerce, and services 79%, agriculture 11%, government
10% (1985)
Organized labor:
250,000 members (est.)

:Lebanon Government

Long-form name:
Republic of Lebanon; note - may be changed to Lebanese Republic
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)
Constitution:
26 May 1926 (amended)
Legal system:
mixture of Ottoman law, canon law, Napoleonic code, and civil law; no
judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ
jurisdiction
National holiday:
Independence Day, 22 November (1943)
Executive branch:
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 Shi`a Muslim
Legislative branch:
unicameral National Assembly (Arabic - Majlis Alnuwab, French - Assemblee
Nationale)
Judicial branch:
four Courts of Cassation (three courts for civil and commercial cases and
one court for criminal cases)
Leaders:
Chief of State:
President Ilyas HARAWI (since 24 November 1989)
Head of Government:
Prime Minister Rashid SULH (since 13 May 1992)
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; most parties have well-armed militias, which are still
involved in occasional clashes
Suffrage:
compulsory for all males at age 21; authorized for women at age 21 with
elementary education
Elections:
National Assembly:
elections should be held every four years, but security conditions have
prevented elections since May 1972; in June 1991, the Cabinet appointed 40
new deputies to fill vacancies and balance Christian and Muslim
representation; the legislature's mandate expires in 1994
Communists:
the Lebanese Communist Party was legalized in 1970; members and sympathizers
estimated at 2,000-3,000
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

:Lebanon Government

Diplomatic representation:
Ambassador - no ambassador at present; Mission is headed by Charge; 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, or Box B, FPO AE 09836); telephone [961] 417774 or
415802, 415803, 402200, 403300
Flag:
three horizontal bands of red (top), white (double width), and red with a
green and brown cedar tree centered in the white band

:Lebanon Government

Note: 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; his elder brother Amin was elected to succeed him. In the immediate wake of Bashir's death, however, 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. In 1988, President Gemayel completed his term of office. Because parliamentarians failed to elect a presidential successor, Gemayel appointed then Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) Commander Gen. Michel Awn acting president. Lebanese parliamentarians met in Ta'if, Saudi Arabia, in late 1989 and concluded a national reconciliation pact that codified a new power-sharing formula, specifying reduced powers for the Christian president and 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 civil war was apparently brought to a conclusion 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 ministate 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. Awn was granted amnesty and allowed to travel in France in August 199l. Since the removal of Awn, the Lebanese Government has made substantial progress in strengthening the central government, rebuilding government institutions, and extending its authority throughout the nation. The LAF has deployed from Beirut north along the coast road to Tripoli, southeast into the Shuf mountains, and south to Sidon and Tyre. 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, or sold outside the country, 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 Beirut, its southern suburbs, the Bekaa Valley, and northern Lebanon. Iran also maintains a small contingent of revolutionary guards in the Bekaa Valley 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.