Facts and Figures
Official Name Republic of Lebanon
Population 3,801,100
Capital City Beirut (1.1 million)
Languages Arabic (official), French, English
Official Currency Lebanese Pound
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Religions Islam, Christian
Latitude/Longitude 33º 88N, 35º 50E
Land Area 10,230 sq km (3,950 sq miles)
Landforms Lebanon is a mountainous country, east and west, separated by the fertile
Bekaa Valley.
The Lebanon Mountains are central and west, while the Anit-Lebanon Mountains stretch
across its eastern border with Syria. The highest point (mountain), Qurnat as Sawda, (in the north) rises to 10,128 ft. (3,087
m).
The Litani is the most significant river, and much of it runs through the heart
of the Bekaa Valley.
Land Divisions 6 governorates, including: Beyrouth, Beqaa, Liban-Nord, Liban-Sud,
Mont-Liban and Nabatiye
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Lebanese Government
Country name: Lebanese Republic
Government type: republic
Capital: Beirut
Administrative divisions: 6 governorates (mohafazat, singular - mohafazah); Beyrouth,
Beqaa, Liban-Nord, Liban-Sud, Mont-Liban, Nabatiye
Independence: 22 November 1943 (from League of Nations mandate under French administration)
National holiday: Independence Day, 22 November (1943)
Constitution: 23 May 1926, amended a number of times, most recently Charter of Lebanese
National Reconciliation (Ta'if Accord) of October 1989
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
Suffrage: 21 years of age; compulsory for all males; authorized for women at age 21
with elementary education
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Lebanese Geography
Location: Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Israel and Syria
Geographic coordinates: 33 50 N, 35 50 E
Map references: Middle East
Area: total: 10,400 sq km land: 10,230 sq km water: 170 sq km
Area - comparative: about 0.7 times the size of Connecticut
Land boundaries: total: 454 km border countries: Israel 79 km, Syria 375 km
Coastline: 225 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: Mediterranean; mild to cool, wet winters with hot, dry summers; Lebanon mountains
experience heavy winter snows
Terrain: narrow coastal plain; El Beqaa (Bekaa Valley) separates Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon
Mountains
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m highest point: Qurnat as Sawda'
3,088 m
Natural resources: limestone, iron ore, salt, water-surplus state in a water-deficit
region, arable land
Land use: arable land: 16.62% permanent crops: 13.98% other: 69.4% (2001)
Irrigated land: 1,200 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: dust storms, sandstorms
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
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Population: 3,777,218 (July 2004 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 26.9% (male 517,356; female 496,888) 15-64 years: 66.3% (male
1,197,430; female 1,305,339) 65 years and over: 6.9% (male 117,930; female 142,275) (2004 est.)
Median age: total: 26.9 years male: 25.9 years female: 27.9 years (2004 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.3% (2004 est.)
Death rate: 6.28 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years:
0.92 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.83 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2004 est.)
Infant mortality rate: total: 25.48 deaths/1,000 live births male: 28.21 deaths/1,000
live births female: 22.61 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 72.35 years male: 69.91 years female: 74.91
years (2004 est.)
Total fertility rate: 1.95 children born/woman (2004 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.09% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: NA
HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA
Nationality: noun: Lebanese (singular and plural) adjective: Lebanese
Ethnic groups: Arab 95%, Armenian 4%, other 1%
Religions: Muslim 59.7% (Shi'a, Sunni, Druze, Isma'ilite, Alawite or Nusayri), Christian
39% (Maronite Catholic, Melkite Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Syrian Catholic, Armenian Catholic, Roman Catholic, Protestant),
other 1.3% note: seventeen religious sects recognized
Languages: Arabic (official), French, English, Armenian
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 87.4% male:
93.1% female: 82.2% (2003 est.)
