Environment - current issues:
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
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Hazardous
Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution,
Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Marine Life
Conservation
Geography - note:
Nahr el 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
People Lebanon
Population:
3,826,018 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 26.7% (male 520,270/female 499,609)
15-64 years: 66.4% (male 1,216,738/female 1,324,031)
65 years and over: 6.9% (male 120,176/female 145,194) (2005 est.)
Median age:
total: 27.34 years
male: 26.28 years
female: 28.43 years (2005 est.)
Population growth rate:
1.26% (2005 est.)
Birth rate:
18.88 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate:
6.24 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)