LEBANON

Republic of Lebanon

Al-Jumhuriyah al-Lubnaniyah

CAPITAL: Beirut (Bayrut)

FLAG: The national flag, introduced in 1943, consists of two horizontal red stripes separated by a white stripe which is twice as wide; at the center, in green, is a cedar tree.

ANTHEM: Kulluna lil watan lil'ula lil'alam (All of Us for the Country, Glory, Flag).

MONETARY UNIT: The Lebanese pound, or livre libanaise (ll), is a paper currency of 100 piasters. there are coins of 1, 2½, 5, 10, 25, and 50 piasters and 1 Lebanese pound, and notes of 1, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 250, 1,000 and 10,000 Lebanese pounds. ll1 = $0.00066 (or $1 = ll1,507.5) as of 2005.

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES: The metric system is the legal standard, but traditional weights and measures are still used.

HOLIDAYS: New Year's Day, 1 January; Arab League Day, 22 March; Independence Day, 22 November; Evacuation Day, 31 December. Christian religious holidays include Feast of St. Maron, 9 February; Good Friday; Easter Monday; Ascension; Assumption, 15 August; All Saints' Day, 1 November; and Christmas, 25 December. Muslim religious holidays include 'Id al-Fitr, 'Id al-'Adha', and Milad an-Nabi.

TIME: 2 pm = noon GMT.

LOCATION, SIZE, AND EXTENT

Situated on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, Lebanon has an area of 10,400 sq km (4,015 sq mi), extending 217 km (135 mi) ne–sw and 56 km (35 mi) se–nw. It is bordered on the n and e by Syria, on the s by Israel, and on the w by the Mediterranean Sea, with a total boundary length of 679 km (422 mi), of which 225 km (140 mi) is coastline. Comparatively, the area occupied by Lebanon is about three-fourths the size of the state of Connecticut.

The Lebanon of today is the Greater Lebanon (Grand Liban) created by France in September 1920, which includes the traditional area of Mount Lebanon—the hinterland of the coastal strip from Şaydā (Sidon) to Tarābulus (Tripoli)—some coastal cities and districts such as Beirut and Tarābulus (Tripoli), and the Bekaa (Biqā') Valley in the east. Since January 1988, more than two-thirds of the territory was under foreign military occupation. In May 2000, Israeli troops withdrew from a 1,000 sq km (400 sq mi) strip along the Israeli border. Syrian forces, which had held northern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley since 1976 and West Beirut and the Beirut-Şaydā coastal strip since February 1987, withdrew in April 2005.

Lebanon's capital city, Beirut, is located on the Mediterranean coast.

TOPOGRAPHY

The name of the country comes from the name Djebel Libnan, which is the Arabic name for the Mount Lebanon range stretching from northeast to southwest through the center of the country. This area is rugged; there is a rise from sea level to a parallel mountain range of about 2,000–3,000 m (6,600–9,800 ft) in less than 40 km (25 mi), and heavy downpour of winter rains has formed many deep clefts and valleys in the soft rock. the terrain has profoundly affected the country's history, in that virtually the whole landscape is a series of superb natural fortresses from which guerrilla activities can render the maintenance of control by a centralized government an intermittent and costly affair.

East of the Mount Lebanon Range is the Bekaa Valley, an extremely fertile flatland about 16 km (10 mi) wide and 129 km (80 mi) long from north to south. At the eastern flank of the Bekaa rise the Anti-Lebanon Range and the Hermon extension, in which stands Mount Hermon straddling the border with Syria. Lebanon contains few rivers, and its harbors are mostly shallow and small. Abundant springs, found to a height of 1,500 m (4,900 ft) on the western slopes of the Lebanon Mountains, provide water for cultivation up to this height.

CLIMATE

Lebanon's extraordinarily varied climate is due mainly to the wide range of elevation and the westerly winds that make the Mediterranean coast much wetter than the eastern hills, mountainsides, and valleys. Within a 16-km (10-mi) radius of many villages, apples, olives, and bananas are grown; within 45 minutes' drive in winter, spring, and fall, both skiing and swimming are possible. Rainfall is abundant by Middle Eastern standards, with about 89 cm (35 in) yearly along the coast, about 127 cm (50 in) on the western slopes of the mountains, and less than 38 cm (15 in) in the Bekaa. About 80% of the rain falls from November to March, mostly in December, January, and February. Summer is a dry season, but it is humid along the coast. The average annual temperature in Beirut is 21°c (70°f), with a range from 13°c (55°f) in winter to 28°c (82°f) in summer.

FLORA AND FAUNA

Lebanon is rich in flora, with over 3,000 species. Olive and fig trees and grapevines are abundant on lower ground, while cedar, maple, juniper, fir, cypress, valonia oak, and Aleppo pine trees occupy higher altitudes. Vegetation types range from subtropical and desert to alpine. Although hunting has killed off most wild mammals, jackals are still found in the wilder rural regions, and gazelles and rabbits are numerous in the south. Many varieties of rodents, including mice, squirrels, and gerbils, and many types of reptiles, including lizards and snakes (some of them poisonous), may be found. Thrushes, nightingales, and other songbirds are native to Lebanon; there are also partridges, pigeons, vultures, and eagles. As of 2002, there were at least 57 species of mammals and 116 species of birds.

ENVIRONMENT

Lebanon's forests and water supplies suffered significant damage in the 1975–76 war and subsequent fighting. Rapid urbanization has also left its mark on the environment. Coastal waters show the effects of untreated sewage disposal, particularly near Beirut, and of tanker oil discharges and oil spills. The water pollution problem in Lebanon is in part due to the lack of an internal system to consistently regulate water purification. The nation has about 5 cu km of renewable water resources.

Air pollution is a serious problem in Beirut because of vehicular exhaust and the burning of industrial wastes. In 2000, the total of carbon dioxide emissions was at 15.2 million metric tons. Control efforts have been nonexistent or ineffective because of political fragmentation and recurrent warfare since 1975.

The effects of war and the growth of the nation's cities have combined to threaten animal and plant life in Lebanon. In 1986, the National Preservation Park of Bte'nayel was created in the region of Byblos to preserve wooded areas and wildlife. In 2003, less than 1% of the total land area was protected, including four Ramsar wetland sites. According to a 2006 report issued by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), threatened species included five types of mammals, ten species of birds, one type of reptile, nine species of fish, and one species of invertebrate. The Mediterranean monk seal, African softshell turtle, and dogfish shark are on the endangered list. the Arabian gazelle and Anatolian leopard are extinct.

POPULATION

The population of Lebanon in 2005 was estimated by the United Nations (UN) at 3,779,000, which placed it at number 126 in population among the 193 nations of the world. In 2005, approximately 6% of the population was over 65 years of age, with another 28% of the population under 15 years of age. There were 96 males for every 100 females in the country. According to the UN, the annual population rate of change for 2005–10 was expected to be 1.6%, a rate the government viewed as satisfactory. The projected population for the year 2025 was 4,581,000. The population density was 363 per sq km (941 per sq mi), with most of the population living on the coastal plains where the major cities are located.

The UN estimated that 87% of the population lived in urban areas in 2005, and that urban areas were growing at an annual rate of 1.49%. The capital city, Beirut (Bayrut), had a population of 1,792,000 in that year, and Tarābulus (Tripoli), the largest city, had an estimated population of 2,093,000.

MIGRATION

The economic roots of emigration may be traced to the increase of crop specialization during the 19th century and to the subsequent setbacks of the silk market toward the end of the century. Political incentives also existed, and many Lebanese left their country for Egypt (then under British rule) or the Americas at the turn of the century. After the mid-1960s, skilled Lebanese were attracted by economic opportunities in the Persian Gulf countries. Large numbers fled abroad, many of them to France, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, and the Gulf countries, during the civil war in 1975–76. In 1986, the Lebanese World Cultural Union estimated that some 13,300,000 persons of Lebanese extraction were living abroad, the largest numbers in Brazil, the United States, and Argentina. In 2003 remittances were $977 million.

Since the outbreak of war in 1975, internal migration has largely followed the pattern of hostilities, peaking in 1975/76 and again after the Israeli invasion of 1982. In 1993, the number of refugees in various parts of the country was estimated at over 600,000.

In 2004 there were 2,434 persons of concern to UNHCR in Lebanon, 1,753 refugees and 681 asylum seekers. By years' end, 17,302 Lebanese sought refuge in Germany. In that same year Lebanese sought asylum in Germany, Sweden, Belgium, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 2005, the net migration rate was an estimated zero per 1,000 population, down from 12.1 per thousand in 1990. The government views the migration levels as too high.

As of 2004 there were 300,000 internally displaced persons.

ETHNIC GROUPS

Ethnic mixtures dating back to various periods of immigration and invasion are represented, as are peoples of almost all Middle Eastern countries. A confusing factor is the religious basis of ethnic differentiation. Thus, while most Lebanese are Arabs, they are divided into Muslims and Christians, each in turn subdivided into a number of faiths or sects, most of them formed by historical development into separate ethnic groups. The Muslims are divided into Sunnis and Shias. The Druzes, whose religion derives from Islam, are a significant minority. The Christians are divided mainly among Maronites, Greek Orthodox, and Greek Catholics. All the major groups have their own political organizations, paramilitary units, and territorial strongholds. Other ethnic groups include Armenians (most of them Armenian Orthodox, with some Armenian Catholics) and small numbers of Jews, Syrians, Kurds, and others. The number of Palestinian refugees is estimated at 390,000. As of 2005, population estimates stood at 95% Arab, 4% Armenian, and 1% other.

LANGUAGES

Arabic is the official language and is spoken throughout the country. Much of the population is bilingual, with French as the main second language. There are also significant numbers of English, Armenian, and Turkish speakers. The distinctive Lebanese Arabic dialect contains various relics of pre-Arabic languages and also shows considerable European influence in vocabulary.

RELIGIONS

Religious communities in the Ottoman Empire were largely autonomous in matters of personal status law and were at times treated as corporations for tax and public security matters. Membership in a millet, as these religious communities were called in Ottoman law, gave the individual citizenship, and this position, although somewhat modified, has given Lebanese politics its confessional nature. Religion is closely connected with civic affairs, and the size and competing influence of the various religious groups are matters of overriding political importance. The imbalance of power between Christians and Muslims, aggravated by the presence of large numbers of Palestinians, was a major factor contributing to the bitter civil war in 1975–76.

As of 2004, it was estimated that about 70% of the population practice Islam; there were five legally recognized groups—Alawite or Nusayri, Druze, Isma'ilite, Shia, and Sunni. Muslims have come to outnumber Christians as the result of long-term demographic trends and population displacements during and after the civil war. The main branches of Islam are Shia and Sunni. Christians made up 23% of the population; there were eleven legally recognized groups—four Orthodox Christian, six Catholic, and one Protestant). The Maronites are the largest Christian group, with Greek Orthodox being the second-largest. There were also small numbers practicing Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, or Baha'ism.

Under an unwritten agreement made at the time of the National Covenant of 1943, the president of Lebanon must be a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim, and the speaker of parliament a Shia Muslim, with a ratio of six Christians to every five Muslims in the legislature. But this arrangement has subsequently ceased to reflect the strength of competing religious groups in the population and is widely criticized. Religious groups must be officially recognized by the government in order for the group or its members to participate in certain activities. For instance, members of unrecognized faiths cannot run for parliament. Proselytizing is generally discouraged. Public blasphemy is prohibited under the law. Certain Christian and Muslim holidays are officially observed.

TRANSPORTATION

As of 2002, Lebanon had 7,300 km (4,536 mi) of roads, of which 6,198 km (3,855 mi) were paved. Construction of new roads has been frequently delayed by recurrent hostilities. Many roads were badly in need of repair; since 1982, fully one-third of the country's roads have been rehabilitated. Some new mileage was also added. In 2003 there were 406,920 registered passenger autos and 85,125 commercial vehicles.

In 2004, Lebanon had 401 km (249 mi) of standard and narrow gauge railroad lines, of which 319 km (198 mi) were standard gauge. However, due to the civil war in the 1980s, only short sections are operable due to damage.

Beirut, a major Mediterranean port, was closed during the 1975–76 war and intermittently thereafter, reopening by March 1991. When the Beirut port was closed, Şaydā (Sidon) became the principal port for Muslims and Jūniyah for Christians. Other ports include Tarābulus (Tripoli) and Tyre. The rehabilitation and modernization of Beirut port was underway as of 2005, and the rehabilitation and development of Tarābulus (Tripoli) port was completed in 2001. As of 2005, Lebanon had a merchant fleet of 44 ships of 1,000 GRT or more, with a capacity of 198,602 GRT.

There were an estimated eight airports in 2004, five of which had paved runways as of 2005. Beirut International, Lebanon's principal airport, remained generally open until bombing during the Israeli invasion forced its closure in June–October 1982. It had handled 1,660,000 passengers in 1980; by 1985, the number was down to 599,000. In 2003, about 935,000 passengers were carried on scheduled domestic and international flights. Lebanon's two airlines, Middle East Airlines (MEA) and Trans-Mediterranean Airways (TMA), suffered heavy losses during the 1975–76 war and the Israeli invasion.

HISTORY

The geographical features of Lebanon have had a major effect on its history. Its mountains enabled the minority communities to survive the despotisms that submerged the surrounding areas. The sea provided trade routes in ancient times for exports from Lebanese cedar and spruce forests, and for commerce in copper and iron during the time of the Ptolemies and the Romans. Both Lebanon and Syria were historically associated from early times as part of Phoenicia (c.1600–c.800 bc), and both were later swept up into the Roman Empire. In the 7th century ad, the Arabs conquered part of Lebanon. Maronite Christians had long been established there; Islam gradually spread by conversion and migration, although the country remained predominantly Christian. In the 11th century, the Druzes established themselves in the south of the Mount Lebanon area as well as in Syria. Parts of Lebanon fell temporarily to the Crusaders; invasions by Mongols and others followed, and trade declined until the reunification of the Middle East under the Ottoman Empire.

For the most part, Ottoman officials of the surrounding areas left the Mount Lebanon districts to their own emirs and sheikhs. Fakhr ad-Din (1586–1635) of the Ma'an family set out to create an autonomous Lebanon, opened the country to Western Europe through commercial and military pacts, and encouraged Christian missionary activity. In 1697, the Shihab family acquired dominance, and from 1788 to 1840, except for a few intervals, Mount Lebanon was ruled by Bashir II of the Shihab family, who extended his power and was partly successful in building a strong state. The Egyptian occupation of Syria (1832–40) opened the Levant to large-scale European penetration and tied Lebanese affairs to international politics. It also heightened the antipathy between Christians and Druzes, with the occupiers from time to time using armed groups of one against the other. The British invasion of 1840–41 served to deliver Lebanon from Egyptian rule and forced Bashir II into exile, but it also involved France and the United Kingdom in the problem of finding a modus vivendi for the religious factions. A partition of government did not work. Economic discontent was inflamed by religious antagonisms, and the Druzes, feeling their power dwindling, organized a major onslaught against the Christians in 1860. When the latter, fearing annihilation, requested European intervention, major powers sent fleets into Syrian waters and the French sent an army into Mount Lebanon. Under European pressure, the Ottoman government agreed to the establishment of an international commission to set up a new, pro-Christian government; an autonomous province of Mount Lebanon was created in 1864, with a Christian governor who, though the servant of the Ottoman state, relied upon European backing in disputes with his sovereign.

The entry of the Ottoman Empire into World War I led to an Allied blockade, widespread hunger, and the destruction of Lebanese prosperity. An Anglo-French force took the country in 1918, and in 1920, an Allied conference gave France a mandate over Syria, in which Mount Lebanon was included. the French separated from Syria the area they called Greater Lebanon (Grand Liban), which was four times as large as the traditional Mount Lebanon and included a Muslim population almost as large as the Christian. The mandate years were a time of material growth and little political development.

Lebanon came under Vichy control in 1940, but in 1941, Lebanon and Syria were taken by a combined Anglo–Free French force. The Free French proclaimed Lebanese independence in November 1941, but when a strongly nationalistic government was created in 1943, the French intervened and arrested the new president, Bishara al-Khuri. An insurrection followed, prompting UK intervention and the restoration of the government. In 1945 agreement was achieved for the withdrawal of both UK and French forces, and in 1946 Lebanon assumed complete independence.

The 1950s and 1960s were generally characterized by economic and political stability. Beginning in 1952, Lebanon received increased US aid and also benefited from an influx of Western commercial personnel and from growing oil royalties. It also seemed the calmest center of the Middle East, taking little part in the ArabIsraeli war of 1948 and no action in the wars of 1967 and 1973. In 1958, however, a reported attempt by President Camille Chamoun (Sha'mun) to seek a second term precipitated a civil war, and in July the United States sent forces to help quell the insurrection; this move was in keeping with the Eisenhower Doctrine, which pledged US military and economic aid to any country requesting it in order to counter a Communist threat. The crisis was settled when Gen. Fu'ad Shihab (Chehab), who was supported by both government and opposition groups, was elected president in July. By October US forces were withdrawn, and public security was reestablished.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s Lebanon's economy was disrupted by conflict in the Middle East, vividly brought home by the presence, near the border with Israel, of thousands of wellarmed Palestinian guerrillas, many of whom had come from Jordan following the "Black September" fighting there in 1970–71. Serious clashes between them and the Lebanese army occurred in 1969. Fearing civil war, the government that year signed the so-called Cairo Accord with the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), which virtually made it a state within the state. the PLO gained the right to establish military bases and launch cross-border raids into Israel. This inevitably led to Israeli reprisals, and PLO interference in Lebanese affairs accelerated a slide toward anarchy. In April and May 1974, a series of Palestinian attacks on Lebanese villages killed scores of persons and injured hundreds. Government efforts to deal with the problem were denounced as insufficient by Christian rightists, while Muslim leftists defended the Palestinians, and both factions formed private militias.

During the early months of 1975, sporadic violence between the two factions gradually erupted into a full-scale civil war that pitted Maronite Christians against Muslims and against other Christian sects, and rightist militants against Palestinian guerrillas and other leftist Arab forces. At least 100,000 people on all sides were killed and some 600,000 persons displaced during the 18 months of fighting. In April 1976 Syrian forces entered Lebanon in an apparent effort to prevent an all-out victory by left-wing Muslims and Palestinians; by the fall, some 20,000 Syrian troops controlled the Bekaa Valley. A cease-fire arranged through the mediation of Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries enabled a peacekeeping force (including Syrian troops) to separate the combatants and end the war in October. the conflict not only devastated Lebanon economically, but so weakened the central government that effective power lay with the Syrians, the Palestinians, and some 30 sectarian militias. In general, the Christian Phalangists held sway over east-central Lebanon; fighters loyal to Maj. Sa'ad Haddad, a right-wing Lebanese army officer, controlled the southern border area, in a security zone set up by Israel; and the PLO, other Muslim leftists, and Syrian forces occupied northern and eastern Lebanon.

Intermittent fighting between the armed factions continued, and raids by Palestinian guerrillas based in southern Lebanon drew Israel into the conflict. In March 1978 the Israeli army invaded southern Lebanon, destroyed PLO bases, and then withdrew when the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was established to keep the peace. Continuing PLO rocket attacks on northern Israel and Syria's installation of antiaircraft missiles in the Bekaa Valley prompted Israel to launch a full-scale invasion of Lebanon in June 1982. Israeli forces quickly destroyed PLO bases in the south and in Tyre and Şaydā (Sidon), penetrated to the outskirts of Beirut, and disabled the Syrian missile bases. Several cease-fires arranged by US envoy Philip Habib broke down, but following a two-month Israeli siege of West Beirut, where the Palestinians were encamped, a truce was agreed to by Israel, the PLO, and Syria; by 1 September, more than 14,000 Palestinian and Syrian fighters had been evacuated. The Lebanese estimated their war casualties at more than 19,000 dead and 30,000 wounded (figures disputed by Israel). A multinational peacekeeping force, comprising British, French, and Italian soldiers and US marines, was stationed in the Beirut area in early September.

Despite the truce, the violence continued. On 14 September Bashir Gemayel, a Phalangist leader who in August had been elected president by the Lebanese parliament, was assassinated. Almost immediately, Israeli troops moved into West Beirut to wipe out pockets of Palestinian resistance causing tens of thousands of casualties. Phalangist forces were allowed into the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps, and at least 600 Palestinians, many of them civilians, were massacred; a subsequent Israeli government inquiry was critical of senior officials for indirect responsibility for the killings. In 1983 Israeli and Syrian troops still occupied large portions of Lebanon, and they became targets of attack by Muslim and Druze forces. In May 1983 Lebanon, Israel, and the United States signed an agreement by which Lebanon and Israel agreed to end their state of war. Israel agreed to withdraw all its forces, and both countries agreed to establish a security zone in southern Lebanon patrolled by Lebanese forces and joint Israeli-Lebanese teams. However, Syria opposed it and the agreement, never implemented, was repudiated by Lebanon in 1984.

The American embassy in Beirut was bombed in April 1983, and US marines were harassed by sniper fire. On 23 October, 241 American servicemen, including 220 marines, were killed by a truck-bomb explosion in their barracks at Beirut airport; on the same day, a similar bombing caused at least 58 deaths at a French paratroop barracks. Shortly before, Lebanon and Syria had agreed to a cease-fire pending a reconciliation conference, which began in Switzerland in November, with all major Lebanese political factions participating. Meanwhile, fighting broke out between a radical Syrian-supported PLO faction and guerrillas loyal to Yasser Arafat, chairman of the PLO; defeated at Tarābulus (Tripoli), Arafat withdrew from Lebanon in December.

As 1984 began, the position of the government headed by Amin Gemayel, who had been elected president to succeed his brother, was deteriorating. In February the United States, the United Kingdom, and Italy pulled their ground troops and nonessential personnel out of the Beirut area. In March, the Lebanese reconciliation conference dissolved without reaching substantial agreement. The following month a "national unity" government was formed, bringing together the leaders of all the major warring factions. But it almost never met and could not pacify the country; intermittent clashes between factions continued. Israel's withdrawal of its troops from Lebanon (except the south) in early 1985 left in its wake renewed fighting for the evacuated territory. In December a Syrian-sponsored cease-fire agreement that included constitutional reforms was signed by the Druze, Amal (Shia), and Christian factions, but its terms were never implemented. the general lawlessness encouraged terrorist groups of all kinds to promote their own ends by assassinations, kidnappings, and bombings. Among the most feared was the Hezbollah, or Party of God, which was aligned with fundamentalist Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

In 1985–86 there was sporadic fierce fighting between Palestinian and Shia Amal militia. Syria pushed for political reform and, when opposed by Gemayel and militant Christians, influenced Muslim ministers not to deal with the president, thus paralyzing the government. With the economy in serious decline, Prime Minister Rashid Karami was assassinated, to be succeeded by Salim alHuss. The badly divided factions could not agree on a successor to Gemayel when his term expired in September 1988. Christian Army Commander Michel Aoun asserted himself as prime minister, giving Lebanon two governments—a Muslim one in West Beirut and a Christian one in East Beirut. Aoun was opposed by the Syrians and Muslims and by rival Christian factions.

In January 1989 the Arab League appointed a committee on Lebanon which, in September, arranged for a seven-point ceasefire and convened a meeting of Lebanese parliamentarians in Taif, Saudi Arabia. The Taif Accord that resulted in November led to the election of Elias Hrawi, a Maronite Christian, as president. He named al-Huss prime minister. When forces of General Aoun (who was technically deposed by Hrawi) attacked Christian and Syrian positions, they retaliated in strength and finally obliged him to take exile in France in 1991.

In 1991–92 the government gradually began to reassert its authority. Militias, except notably Hezbollah and the Israeli-backed army of South Lebanon, were dissolved in May 1991. Palestinian militants were repressed in Şaydā (Sidon) in July. In May 1992 the last Western hostages were released after years of confinement. Lebanon joined the Israeli-Arab peace talks in Madrid in October 1991. Internally, the poor economy aggravated political instability, but parliamentary elections, the first in 20 years, were scheduled for 1992. Poor preparations, widespread irregularities, and Christian abstention produced results that did not prepare Lebanon for an assured future. Yet, the appointment of Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri in November 1992 promised a serious effort at reconstruction.

Al-Hariri, a self-made billionaire who made his fortune in Saudi Arabia, was perceived by many to be a savior of sorts for the war-torn country. He had a long history of philanthropic giving, donating large sums to rebuild Beirut, for instance. As prime minister, he was frequently accused of corruption and of making sure government rebuilding efforts were directed toward companies under his control. Still most Lebanese approved of his efforts to stabilize the country and unite its many long-warring factions. In 1996, al-Hariri was reelected prime minister in a unanimous vote of parliament.

In 1996 Lebanon was still subject to political violence, especially in the Israeli-occupied south, where that year 255 people were killed (27 Israeli soldiers) in violence. Some 54 of the dead were members of Hezbollah, and 19 were militiamen in the Israeli-controlled South Lebanon Army (SLA). The violence continued into 1997.

President Ilyas Hrawi had been elected to the six-year post in 1989. In 1995 when his term was set to expire in accordance with the constitution, parliament extended his term for an additional three years. Hrawi proved to be a weak leader and his standing with the Maronites was low. Emile Lahoud, of a prominent Maronite family, had been promoted to major-general in 1985 and general and army commander in 1989. In 1998 his name surfaced as a potential successor to Hrawi. In October 1998 the assembly introduced an amendment to the constitutional clause requiring senior public officials to leave office before running for president. Within two days Lahoud was elected president of the National Assembly. Lahoud was sworn in on 24 November 1998 as Lebanon's 11th president. On 4 December 1998 Salim al-Huss began his fifth term as prime minister after Hariri's sudden resignation.

In early 1999 fighting in southern Lebanon escalated as the Hezbollah staged attacks on Israeli forces and the Israeli-backed SLA. Israel retaliated on Hezbollah strongholds, and by February, expanded air strikes beyond the "security zone" to southern and northern Lebanon. The al-Huss government's fiscal austerity aimed at reducing the deficit, which had grown to 15% of gross domestic product, met with resistance from the trade unions. On 24 June 1999 Israel destroyed bridges and power stations with its heaviest air raids in three years. In July 1999 the UN Security Council renewed for six months the mandate for UNIFIL, and restated its support of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon.

At the end of 1999 in anticipation of elections in August 2000, the government passed a law creating 14 constituencies of suspiciously varying sizes, based on rewarding or punishing political foes or friends. A bill to curb the media—limiting all elections news, advertisements, and coverage to the state-run Tele-Liban and Radio Liban—and limiting campaign spending was also drafted. On 24 May 2000 Israel made a quick withdrawal from southern Lebanon. With the Israeli withdrawal the SLA disintegrated. The exact border between Lebanon and Israel remained unsettled as they disputed ownership of the Shabaa Farms. the Lebanese government sent police and intelligence officers to the newly liberated area, but refused to deploy troops until there was evidence of stability or a comprehensive peace treaty with Israel.

In March 2001, Lebanon began to divert waters from the Wazzani River to supply villages in southern Lebanon. the Wazzani feeds into the Hatzbani, which in turn flows into the Jordan River watershed and Lake Kinneret (Lake Tiberias or the Sea of Galilee), a major source of Israel's water supply. In September 2002, Israel's prime minister Ariel Sharon identified measures to divert water from Israel as a cause for war.

Syrian troops withdrew from Beirut in June 2001 to redeploy in other parts of Lebanon, in response to greater Lebanese criticism of Syria's presence there. In February 2003, the Syrian army completed its redeployment out of north Lebanon. The majority of the Syrian army remaining in Lebanon was assembled in a stretch of the Bekaa Valley on the Syrian border. As of early 2003, there were approximately 350,000 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Hezbollah and Israeli forces continued to exchange fire over the Shabaa Farms.

Parliamentary elections held 27 August and 3 September 2000 resulted in the appointment on 23 October of Rafiq al-Hariri as prime minister once again. In October 2004, Hariri stood down as prime minister in protest over the continued presence of Syrian troops in Lebanon. On 14 February 2005, Hariri and 19 others were killed in a massive bomb blast in central Beirut. the UN Security Council unanimously authorized an international investigation into the assassination. In the wake of Hariri's murder, numerous public demonstrations took place, both for and against the presence of Syrian troops and security agents in Lebanon. the cabinet of then-prime minister Omar Karami resigned two weeks after the first wave of anti-Syrian rallies. After Karami resigned, a moderate pro-Syrian member of parliament, Najib Mikati, was named prime minister. Syria pulled all of its military forces (15,000 troops) out of Lebanon by the end of April 2005, in what was dubbed the "Cedar Revolution." In June, journalist Samir Qasir, another critic of Syrian influence in Lebanon, was killed in a car bomb attack.

Parliamentary elections were held in May and June 2005 (they had been postponed for one year). An anti-Syrian alliance led by Saad Hariri, son of the late Rafiq Hariri, won control of parliament, and parliament chose an ally of Rafiq Hariri, Fouad Siniora, to become prime minister. The anti-Syrian alliance won 72 of 128 seats in parliament. Also in June, George Hawi, anti-Syrian former leader of the Lebanese Communist Party, was killed when his car blew up. In September 2005, four pro-Syrian generals were charged in connection with Rafiq Hariri's assassination.

GOVERNMENT

As defined by the constitution of 1926 and subsequent amendments, Lebanon is an independent republic. Executive power is vested in a president (elected by the legislature for six years) and a prime minister and cabinet, chosen by the president but responsible to the legislature. On 3 September 2004, the National Assembly voted 96–29 to extend President Emile Lahoud's six-year term by three years. Under an agreement dating back to the French mandate, the president must be a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim, and the president of the National Assembly a Shia Muslim. Decisions by the president must be countersigned by the prime minister and concerned minister(s) after approval by the National Assembly.

Legislative power is exercised by a 128-member National Assembly (formerly the Chamber of Deputies), elected for a fouryear term by universal adult suffrage (compulsory for males age 21 or over, permitted for women age 21 or over with elementary education). The electoral reform law of 1960 determined the denominational composition of the legislature as follows: 30 Maronites; 20 Sunni, 19 Shia; 11 Greek Orthodox; 6 Greek Catholics; 6 Druzes; 4 Armenian Orthodox; 1 Armenian Catholic; 1 Protestant; and 1 other. Deputies were elected to the legislature in 1972, but elections scheduled for 1976 were postponed because of the war, and the legislature extended its term every two years until 1992. The Taif Accord of 1989 set the Christian-Muslim balance in parliament at 50-50, but the failure of Christians to participate in the elections of 1992 and 1996 gave Muslim groups the largest number of seats in the legislature. There has been no official census in the country since 1932, but most observers believe Muslims now form the majority with the Shia as the largest single group. The denominational composition of the legislature following the 1989 Taif Accord is: 34 Maronites, 27 Sunni, 27 Shia, 14 Greek Orthodox, 8 Greek Catholics, 8 Druzes, 5 Armenian Orthodox, 2 Alaouites, 1 Armenian Catholic, 1 Protestant, and 1 Christian Minorities.

POLITICAL PARTIES

Political life in Lebanon is affected by the diversity of religious sects and the religious basis of social organization. the mainly Christian groups, especially the Maronites, favor an independent course for Lebanon, stressing its ties to Europe and opposing the appeals of Islam and pan-Arabism. The Muslim groups favor closer ties with Arab states and are opposed to confessionalism (political division along religious lines). Principal political groups, with mainly Christian membership, have been the National Liberal Party and the Phalangist Party. There are various parties of the left, including the Progressive Socialist Party (of mostly Druze membership), the Ba'ath Party, and the Lebanese Communist Party. The various Palestinian groups, allied under the umbrella of the Palestine Liberation Organization, have played an important role in the political life of Lebanon from the late 1960s. Amal, a conservative group, and Hezbollah, more militant, represent the Shia community. The former gained 18 seats and the latter 12 seats in the elections of 1992. The Christian community, which was supposed to have half the seats, largely boycotted the elections and, as a result, won only 59 seats.

In 1996, parliamentary elections were again held, and again certain Christian sects called for a boycott. Still, turnout was much higher than in the 1992 elections, reflecting the country's increasing political stability (turnout was about 45%). International observers found the elections substantially fair, but noted some irregularities, including Syrian interference, vote buying and ballot stuffing. The government itself acknowledges these shortcomings and has instituted some reforms.

The 1996 elections took place in five stages between August and September. The balloting gave a strong majority to a coalition of pro-Syrian parties, notably the Hezbollah-Amal coalition. there were 49 newcomers elected—3 of whom were female—and 19 seats were contested on charges of voter fraud. Following the election, Prime Minister al-Hariri stepped down, as is tradition, so that President Hrawi and the new parliament could chose a new prime minister. In late October, the parliament, with presidential backing, nominated al-Hariri for his second term, as was expected. The vote in parliament was 121-0 with four abstentions.

Al-Hariri, a billionaire, was one of the richest men in the world: in 1996 there were 3 billionaires and 35 millionaires in parliament. Asked by Lahoud to be prime minister in 1998, Salim al-Huss became prime minister after al-Hariri abruptly resigned office. AlHariri was asked by President Lahoud to become prime minister once again in October 2000; he received 107 parliamentary votes backing him.

In the aftermath of al-Hariri's assassination on 14 February 2005, Hariri's son, Saad Hariri, led an anti-Syrian alliance spearheaded by his Future Movement Bloc to victory in parliamentary elections held between 29 May and 19 June of that year. Saad Hariri's bloc took 72 of the 128 seats in the National Assembly. Syrian military forces pulled out of Lebanon in April 2005, following massive street demonstrations. The 2005 election results, broken down by seats, were as follows: Future Movement Bloc 36; Democratic Gathering 15; Development and Resistance Bloc 15; Loyalty to the Resistance 14; Free Patriotic Movement 14; Lebanese Forces 6; Qornet Shewan 5; Popular Bloc 4; Tripoli Independent Bloc 3; Syrian National Socialist Party 2; Kataeb Reform Movement 2; Tachnaq Party 2; Democratic Renewal Movement 1; Democratic Left 1; Nasserite Popular Movement 1; Ba'th Party 1; Kataeb Party 1; and independents 5.

Palestinian refugees have no right to vote, despite numbering approximately 350,000.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Lebanon is divided into the six provinces (muhafazat ) of Beirut, North Lebanon, South Lebanon, Bekaa, Mount Lebanon, and Nabatiye, each with its district administration. The muhafazat are subdivided into districts (aqdiya ), municipalities, and villages. Provincial governors and district chiefs are appointed by presidential decree. In most villages, councils of village elders or heads of families or clans still play a considerable role.

Municipal elections had not been held since 1963, despite widespread civil desire for such elections. In 1995, parliament passed a law extending the term of municipal officers until 31 December 1996, after which elections were slated to be held. Municipal elections were held in May and June 1998, and in May 2004. the number of municipal councilors and mukhtar or mayors elected in 2004 was 15,300. The voter turnout tended to be low, reaching only 20% of the voters in Beirut and the turnout was not much higher in Tarābulus (Tripoli). Only in Mount Lebanon and in the south, where Hezbollah won 87 out of 142 contested municipalities, was the turnout high. In 2001, municipal elections took place in the newly liberated areas of South Lebanon after the Israeli withdrawal of May 2000.

JUDICIAL SYSTEM

Ultimate supervisory power rests with the minister of justice, who appoints the magistrates. Courts of first instance are presided over by a single judge and deal with both civil and criminal cases. Appeals may be taken to the courts of appeal, each made up of three judges. Of the four courts of cassation, three hear civil cases and one hears criminal cases. A six-person Council of State handles administrative cases. A Constitutional Council, called for in the Taif Accord, rules on the constitutionality of laws upon the request of 10 members of parliament. Religious courts—Islamic, Christian, and Jewish—deal with marriages, deaths, inheritances, and other matters of personal status in their respective faiths. There is also a separate military court system dealing with cases involving military personnel and military related issues.

The law provides for the right to a fair public trial and an independent and impartial judiciary. In practice, politically influential elements succeed in intervening to obtain desired results.

Matters of state security are dealt with by a five-member Judicial Council. The Judicial Council is a permanent tribunal, and the cabinet, on the recommendation of the Ministry of Justice, decides whether to bring a case before the Judicial Council.

In the refugee camps, the Palestinian elements implement an autonomous system of justice in which rival factions try opponents without any semblance of due process. Hezbollah applies Islamic law in the area under its control.

ARMED FORCES

The conflict of 1975–90 split the regular Lebanese army along Christian-Muslim lines. The force was later reformed, first by the United States, then by Syria. In 2005, the armed forces totaled 72,100 active personnel, of which the Army had 70,000 active members. Equipment included 310 main battle tanks, 60 reconnaissance vehicles, 1,257 armored personnel carriers, and 541 artillery pieces. Active Navy personnel that year totaled 1,100. Major naval units included 32 patrol/coastal vessels and 2 amphibious landing craft. Lebanon's Air Force had 1,000 personnel. Equipment included six fighter ground attack aircraft and two attack helicopters. Paramilitary forces consist of an Internal Security Force with an estimated 13,000 active personnel under the Ministry of Interior.

Much of the opposition militia has disbanded, and the Muslim Hezbollah (3,000 active) is the only significant communal army remaining. The defense budget was $530 million in 2005. Also stationed in Lebanon were a number of UN peacekeeping troops. Some 16,000 Syrian troops, in the country as part of the UN peacekeeping force, were removed in April 2005.

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

Lebanon is a charter member of the United Nations, having joined 24 October 1945, and belongs to ESCWA and several nonregional specialized agencies, such as the FAO, IAEA, the World Bank, the ICAO, ILO, UNESCO, UNHCR, and WHO. Lebanon was one of the founding members of the Arab League. It also serves as a member of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, the Arab Monetary Fund, G-24, G-77, and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). The country has observer status in the OAS and the WTO.

Lebanon is part of the Nonaligned Movement. It is the home site of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA, est. 1949). Lebanon and Israel have a longstanding unresolved dispute concerning boundaries in the Golan Heights region. In 2000, the United Nations mapped out a Lebanese-Israeli line of separation known as the Blue Line, pending negotiations to determine a final international border. Israeli forces withdrew from their occupation across the Blue Line; however, the UN monitors have reported violations of the agreement from both countries. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNFIL), which was originally established in 1978, continues to monitor the area and to assist in reestablishing Lebanese authority in the region.

In environmental cooperation, Lebanon is part of the Basel Convention, the Convention on Biological Diversity, Ramsar, the Montréal Protocol, MARPOL, the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and the UN Conventions on the Law of the Sea, Climate Change, and Desertification.

ECONOMY

Lebanon is traditionally a trading country, with a relatively large agricultural sector and small but well-developed industry. Until the civil war, it had always figured prominently as a center of tourist trade. The 1975–76 war caused an estimated $5 billion in property damage and reduced economic activities to about 50% of the prewar level. The cost of reconstruction after the Israeli Palestinian-Syrian war of 1982 was estimated at $12–15 billion. Lebanon has been able to survive economically because of remittances from abroad by Lebanese workers and companies, external aid by the United States, France, Germany, and Arab countries, and foreign subsidies to various political groups. A residual effect of the 1982 war was political uncertainty, which poisoned the economic climate in the following years. In 1984 and after, there was a pronounced deterioration in the economy. In 1987 inflation peaked at 487%. After the 1989 Taif Accord for National Reconciliation ended hostilities, the economy began to recover. Economic activity surged in 1991, and in 1993 the Hariri government was able to stabilize the economy, and launch a program to reconstruct the economy's infrastructure. Real GDP grew 4.2% in 1992, after growing by about 40% in 1991.

After 1988, the economy posted growth rates averaging 7.5%, although a rising budget deficit threatens to hamper economic reforms. Israel's Operation Grapes of Wrath in April 1996 cut economic development short, but in the same year, the stock market had reopened, and investment had made significant returns. In 1997, unemployment remained high at about 18% although inflation had been reduced to around 5% by 1998. Gross domestic product grew by 3% in 1998. Growth in 1999 was 1% and flat in 2000. Inflation was 1% in 1999 and zero in 2000, and did not exceed 3% in 2001. High unemployment remained a persistent problem, at 20–25% in 1999 and 2000, and 15–20% in 2001. Among Lebanese youth unemployment is estimated to be 30%.

In 2002, the government met with international donors to seek bilateral assistance in restructuring its massive domestic debt at lower rates of interest. Receipts from donor nations helped to stabilize government finances in 2003, but did little to reduce the debt, which stood at approximately 200% of GDP in 2005. In 2004, the Hariri government issued eurobonds to try to manage maturing debt. Hariri stepped down as prime minister later in 2004, and was assassinated in February 2005, which led to a downturn in the economy. Prime Minister Fuad Siniora pledged to push forward with economic reforms, including privatization and more efficient government. In 2005, the GDP growth rate was estimated at a mere 0.5%, and the inflation rate was estimated at 2.4%.

INCOME

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reported that in 2005 Lebanon's gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated at $19.5 billion. The CIA defines GDP as the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year and computed on the basis of purchasing power parity (PPP) rather than value as measured on the basis of the rate of exchange based on current dollars. The per capita GDP was estimated at $5,100. the annual growth rate of GDP was estimated at 0.5%. the average inflation rate in 2005 was 2.4%. It was estimated that agriculture accounted for 12% of GDP, industry 21%, and services 67%.

According to the World Bank, in 2003 remittances from citizens working abroad totaled $2.7 billion or about $600 per capita and accounted for approximately 13.6% of GDP. Foreign aid receipts amounted to $228 million or about $51 per capita and accounted for approximately 1.3% of the gross national income (GNI).

The World Bank reports that in 2003 household consumption in Lebanon totaled $18.27 billion or about $4,062 per capita based on a GDP of $19.9 billion, measured in current dollars rather than PPP. Household consumption includes expenditures of individuals, households, and nongovernmental organizations on goods and services, excluding purchases of dwellings. It was estimated that for the period 1990–2003 household consumption grew at an average annual rate of 2.3%. In 2001 it was estimated that approximately 31% of household consumption was spent on food, 10% on fuel, 7% on health care, and 9% on education. It was estimated that in 1999 about 28% of the population had incomes below the poverty line.

LABOR

The labor force in 2001 was approximately 2.6 million workers, with as many as one million additional foreign laborers in Lebanon. The estimated unemployment rate in 1997 (the latest year for which data was available) was 18%. There is no data on the workforce by occupation.

There are some 160 labor unions and organizations enrolling about 42% of the workforce as of 2001. the General Confederation of Workers is composed of 22 unions with about 200,000 members. Organized labor has grown slowly, partly because of the small number of industrial workers, but also because of the availability of a large pool of unemployed. Agricultural and most trade workers are not organized. Palestinians in Lebanon are free to organize their own unions. While Lebanese workers have the right to strike, there are limitations on public demonstrations which somewhat undermine this right. Lebanese workers have the right to organize and bargain collectively and this is the standard practice in employment situations.

Workers as young as eight may legally work with restrictions as to working hours and conditions. However, in reality, age limitations are not effectively enforced. In 2002, a monthly minimum wage of $200 was in effect. The standard workweek is set at 48 hours, with a 24-hour rest period. In practice, most laborers average around 35 hours of work per week.

AGRICULTURE

In 2003, an estimated 4% of the working population was engaged in agricultural activity, and agriculture accounted for about 12% of GDP. Less than 30% of Lebanon's land is arable, and expansion of cultivated areas is limited by the arid and rugged nature of the land. About 33% of the arable land was irrigated in 2003.

Agricultural production was severely disrupted by the 1975–76 war, and production of citrus fruits, the main crop, was reduced to low levels in the fertile Bekaa Valley by Israeli-Syrian fighting during 1982. Principal crops and estimated 2004 production (in thousand tons) were potatoes, 350; oranges, 190; olives, 180; apples, 140; wheat, 120; lemons and limes, 83; bananas, 66; grapefruit, 14; and peanuts, 7. In 2004, Lebanon exported $252.3 million in agricultural products (14% of total exports) and imported $1.3 billion (14% of all imports). Two profitable, albeit illegal, crops produced are opium poppy (for heroin) and cannabis (for hashish). A joint Lebanese-Syrian eradication effort has practically wiped out the opium crop and significantly reduced the cannabis crop.

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY

Much of Lebanon's livestock was lost during the protracted hostilities since the 1975–76 war and the Israeli invasion in 1982. In 2005 there were an estimated 430,000 goats, 346,000 sheep, 90,000 head of cattle, and 35,000,000 poultry. As Lebanon's own meat and milk production is below consumption needs, animal and milk products are imported.

FISHING

The fishing industry has not progressed significantly, despite a government-sponsored effort to reduce fish imports and provide employment in the canned-fish industry. The catch in 2003 was 4,688 tons.

FORESTRY

Forests comprised about 36,000 hectares (89,000 acres), or nearly 3.5% of the total area, in 2000. Most of the forests are in the central part of the country, with pine and oak predominant. Few of the ancient cedars have survived; small cedar forests have been planted at high altitudes. Roundwood production in 2004 was 88,700 cu m (3,131,000 cu ft).

MINING

Lebanon's mineral industry continued its historically small contribution to the economy. Mining activity was limited to the production of salt and the quarrying of raw materials for the construction industry, particularly limestone and silica for cement manufacture. In 2004, hydraulic cement production was estimated at 2.9 million metric tons, unchanged from an estimated 2.9 million metric tons in 2003. Gypsum production in 2004 was estimated at 1,700 metric tons, while lime production in that same year was estimated at 14,000 metric tons; and salt output estimated at 3,500 metric tons. In 2004, Lebanon also produced phosphatic fertilizers, phosphoric acid, and sulfuric acid. Modest deposits of asphalt, coal, and iron ore existed, and the country had no petroleum or gas reserves. The success of Lebanon's minerals industry depended on the long-term restoration of peace and stability in the country.

ENERGY AND POWER

Lebanon, as of 1 January 2005, has no known proven reserves of oil or natural gas. As a result, the country must import all the oil and natural gas it consumes. Although Lebanon had two coastal refineries, Tarābulus (Tripoli) in the north and Zahrani in the south, neither is operational, with the refinery in Tarābulus (Tripoli) closed since 1982.

In 2004, imports and demand for oil each averaged an estimated 108 barrels per day. There were no recorded imports or consumption of natural gas in 2003.

Lebanon's electric power generating sector is controlled by a state-owned public utility, Electricite du Liban (EdL). EdL is in charge of power generation, distribution and transmission. In 2003, total installed electrical capacity was estimated at 2 GW, with production in that year estimated at 10.7 billion kWh. Demand is estimated to have equaled output in 2003, but Lebanon's seven power plants are known to be operating below capacity and the country must import power. In 2002, Lebanon imported 1.09 billion kWh. Of the electric power produced, 97.2% came from conventional thermal sources, while hydropower accounted for 2.8%.

INDUSTRY

The 16-year civil war that ended in 1991 caused tremendous damage to the industrial sector. By 1993, it was estimated that the Lebanese industry suffered losses of $1.5 billion. Inadequate infrastructure and shortage of skilled labor are major obstacles in the process of rehabilitation. By 1995, the industrial sector was showing signs of improvement. Industrial exports in the first quarter of 1995 were up 76% (to $79.5 million) compared with the same period in 1994. Major industrial products are clothing, metal, food, marble, sanitary equipment, cement, jewelry, furniture, paper, beverages, and plastic. In 2002, manufacturing contributed 17% to GDP and accounted for 40% of total exports. Industrial activity is concentrated in construction material; food and beverages; textiles and ready-made garments; and furniture. the industrial sector remains weak due to obsolete equipment, high operating costs, low productivity, and limited access to financing.

Lebanon's two main oil refineries at Zahrani and Tarābulus (Tripoli) suspended operations for most of the 1990s after 1992 and were inoperative as of 2006.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Lebanon's advanced technology is limited to oil refining, the facilities for which were installed by international oil companies. the National Council for Scientific Research, established in Beirut in 1962, draws up national science policies and fosters research in fundamental and applied research. The council operates a marine research center at Al-Batrun. Seven colleges and universities in Beirut offer degrees in basic and applied sciences.

In 1987–97, science and engineering students accounted for 30% of college and university enrollments. In 2002, high technology exports totaled $16 million, or 3% of all manufactured exports.

DOMESTIC TRADE

Trade is by far the most important sector of the Lebanese economy. Before the 1975–91 civil war, Beirut was an important commercial center of the Middle East. During the first year of civil violence alone, 3,600 commercial establishments were destroyed, burned, or looted. Reconstruction and returning confidence have improved commercial activities since 1995.

The main trading activity is related to the importation of goods and their distribution in the local market. Distribution is generally handled by traders who acquire sole right of import and sale of specific trademarks, and although competition is keen, the markup tends to be high. Distribution of local products is more widely spread among traders. Franchising has become popular, with major firms representing the restaurant, hotel, and clothing industries.

Prices are generally controlled by the Consumer Protection Department of the Ministry of Economy and Trade. Retail credit is

common, and advertising has developed rapidly in motion picture theaters, television, radio, and the press.

Government offices are generally open from 8 am to 2 pm Monday through Thursday, from 8 to 11 am on Friday, and from 8 am to 1 pm on Saturday. Most banks are open with similar hours, occasionally with a half-day on Saturday as well. Private businesses and shops have varying hours, sometimes exceeding a 40-hour workweek.

FOREIGN TRADE

Foreign trade has been important in the economic life of Lebanon as a source of both income and employment. Some 40% of total exports are actually reexports, principally machinery, metal products, foods, wood products, textiles, and chemicals.

The most expensive products that Lebanon exports are gold, silverware, jewelry, and precious stones. Other exports include fruits, nuts and vegetables, scrap metal, and printed matter. Major imports include food, machinery and transport equipment, consumer goods, and chemicals.

Lebanon's major exporting partners in 2004 were: Syria, the UAE, Turkey, Switzerland, and Saudi Arabia. Lebanon's primary suppliers were: Italy, France, Syria, Germany, China, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

BALANCE OF PAYMENTS

Lebanon traditionally maintained a favorable balance of payments, with rising trade deficits more than offset by net earnings from services, transfers of foreign capital, and remittances from Lebanese workers abroad. Although the trade deficit increased substantially between 1977 and 1984, a balance of payments deficit was recorded only for the last two years of the period. By 1985, a surplus of $249 million was again achieved, with a modest trade recovery following in 1986–87. Hostilities in the industrial and prosperous areas of Lebanon in 1989–90 triggered a substantial outflow of capital and a deficit in the balance of payments. Order was restored in 1991 and a resumption of capital inflows averted larger deficits in the following years. In 1995, net capital inflows offset a large trade deficit to produce a $256 million surplus in the balance of payments. A large portion of the trade imbalance consists of imports of machinery that should ultimately increase productivity. In 2000, the balance of payments registered a deficit of $289 million, which compared to a $267.7 million surplus in 1999.

In 2003, exports of goods and services totaled $2.9 billion, and imports totaled $7.6 billion. The trade deficit widened in 2005 that year, Lebanon's exports totaled $1.782 billion, and imports were valued at $8.855 billion. The current-account balance in 2005 was estimated at -$4.09 billion.

BANKING AND SECURITIES

The Bank of Lebanon, established on 1 April 1964, is now the sole bank of issue. Its powers to regulate and control commercial banks and other institutions and to implement monetary policy were expanded by amendments to the Code of Money and Credit promulgated in October 1973. To encourage the movement and deposit of foreign capital in Lebanon, a bank secrecy law of 1956 forbids banks to disclose details of a client's business even to judicial authorities. There are no restrictions on currency conversions and transfers, and no foreign exchange controls effect trading.

In the late 1990s, the banking sector was undergoing a period of expansion and consolidation with a number of banks listed on the Beirut Stock Exchange. In 1998, over 70 banks were operating in Lebanon with total assets of around $31 billion. the International Monetary Fund reported that in 2001, currency and demand deposits—an aggregate commonly known as M1—were equal to $1.6 billion. In that same year, M2—an aggregate equal to M1 plus savings deposits, small time deposits, and money market mutual funds—was $35.1 billion. The discount rate, the interest rate at which the central bank lends to financial institutions in the short term, was 20%.

The Beirut Stock Exchange was officially opened in 1952 as a center in which the few available company shares could be traded. The exchange closed during the civil war but reopened in 1979. However, there was little trading in stock during 1980–81. In

1982, Beirut was chosen as the headquarters of the Arab Stock Exchange Union, reflecting Lebanon's continuing importance as financial center of the Middle East.

In September 1995, the Beirut Stock Exchange reopened after a 12-year closure. Trading began in January 1996, but with just three companies listed, all of them producers of cement or construction material. A fourth company joined in mid-1996. A secondary market was opened to trade shares in the private property company, Solidere. Solidere is developing the destroyed business heart of Beirut. With the secondary market considerably more successful than the stock exchange, plans to list Solidere on the latter have, for the moment, been shelved. In 1997, however, Solidere moved its shares from the secondary market to the Beirut Stock Exchange. An important reason for the move was a plan to cross-list Solidere shares on the Kuwait Stock Exchange. Kuwait said it would do so only if shares were traded on the official bourse rather than on the secondary market. The Lebanese Stock Exchange authority signed an agreement to cross-list shares not only with Kuwait but also withe gypt from early in 1997. Solidere has a 115 million-125 million GDR (global depository receipt) to be listed on the London Stock Exchange.

In 2001, the stock market remained sluggish, with only 12 companies, including Solidere, listed. Market capitalization was at around $1.2 billion. As of 2004, the Beirut Stock Exchange listed only 13 companies, and had a total market capitalization that year of $2.322 billion. In 2004, the BLOM index rose 39.3% from the previous year to 636.8.

INSURANCE

Activities of insurance companies are regulated by the National Insurance Council. All insurance companies must deposit a specific amount of money or real investments in an approved bank and must retain in Lebanon reserves commensurate with their volume of business. There are at least 85 insurance companies operating in Lebanon, most of them national insurance companies. In 2003, the value of all direct insurance premiums written totaled $520 million, of which nonlife premiums accounted for $381 billion. In 2002, Lebanon's top nonlife insurer was Medgulf, with gross written nonlife premiums (including healthcare) of $46.7 million. In 2004, the country's leading life insurer was Alico, which had gross written life premiums of $69.8 million.

PUBLIC FINANCE

The annual budget of the central government must be approved by the National Assembly. The Lebanese government annually faces the formidable problem of financing a massive deficit resulting from heavy financial obligations and huge shortfalls in revenues. To reduce the deficit, the government has tried to increase revenues by raising taxes and tightening the budget. the government relies heavily on grants and loans from multilateral agencies, Arab governments, and the French to cover the deficit. As a result, the country's total debt reached $28 billion in 2001, about 150% of total GDP.

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) estimated that in 2005 Lebanon's central government took in revenues of approximately $4.9 billion and had expenditures of $6.5 billion. Revenues minus expenditures totaled approximately -$1.6 billion. Public debt in 2005 amounted to 200.7% of GDP. Total external debt was $25.92 billion.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported that in 2002, the most recent year for which it had data, budgetary central government revenues were ll5,385 billion and expenditures were ll9,056 billion. The value of revenues was us$4 million and expenditures us$6 million, based on a market exchange rate for 2002 of us$1 = ll1,507.5 as reported by the IMF. Government outlays by function were as follows: general public services, 61.6%; defense, 10.3%; public order and safety, 4.4%; economic affairs, 8.9%; environmental protection, 0.1%; housing and community amenities, 0.8%; health, 3.3%; recreation, culture, and religion, 0.7%; education, 8.0%; and social protection, 2.0%.

TAXATION

A graduated tax is imposed on individual salaries, real profits, and real estate income. Corporations and joint stock companies generally are taxed on net real profits derived in Lebanon at a flat rate of 15%. Dividends, interest and royalties are generally subject to a 10% withholding tax. Bank interest is subject to a 5% rate. Also levied are inheritance and gift taxes, social security payroll taxes, flat and graduated property taxes, and a stamp duty.

CUSTOMS AND DUTIES

Customs duties, based on the Harmonized System of tariffs, depend on the type of product and range from 0–70%, averaging 15%. Lebanon acceded to Arab League's Arab Free Trade Area agreement in 1997 and also has bilateral free trade agreements with egypt, Kuwait, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates. It also adheres to the Arab League boycott of Israel. Lebanon has applied for World Trade Organization membership and is in negotiations for accession.

FOREIGN INVESTMENT

Lebanon's liberal investment policies are designed to attract foreign direct investment to foster economic recovery and rebuild its war damaged infrastructure. Some analysts estimated that the rebuilding costs would exceed $18 billion with construction accounting for a large part of foreign investment. By 2006, French, Italian, German, British, Korean, and Finnish companies were the predominant investors in Lebanon. Their presence is most strongly felt in the fields of electricity, water, and telecommunications. US-based investment was only $7 million in 1996, though this had climbed to $65 million by 1999. The movement of funds in and out of Lebanon is free from taxes, fees, or restrictions. the top corporate tax rate is 15%. Lebanon also has bilateral trade investment agreements with China and a number of European and Arab countries.

To conserve cash, the government uses "build, operate, transfer" (BOT) agreements to finance major projects. In 1997 total foreign direct investment (FDI) totaled $150 million. By 2000 this had nearly doubled to $297.8 million. In 2001, the annual FDI inflow fell to $249.3 million. In 2003, net FDI inflow amounted to $246.5 million. Construction and real estate account for the largest share of FDI. Other forms of capital inflow—remittances, repatriated capital and placements in treasury bills—far outweigh inward FDI.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Since World War II, Lebanon has followed free-enterprise and free-trade policies. The country's favorable geographical position as a transit point and the traditional importance of the trading and banking sectors of the economy helped make Lebanon prosperous by the early 1970s. Lebanon became a center of trade, finance, and tourism by means of a stable currency backed largely with gold, by a conservative fiscal policy, by various incentives for foreign investors, and by minimization of banking regulations.

Lebanon's development went awry in the mid-1970s, as factional conflict, always present in Lebanese society, erupted into open warfare. The loss to the economy was enormous, particularly in Beirut. In November 1979, Saudi Arabia and six other oil-producing Arab countries promised to contribute $2 billion for Lebanon's reconstruction effort over a five-year period, but only $381 million had been provided by October 1987. (After Israel invaded Lebanon in June 1982, the Arab countries decided to withhold future funds until Israeli forces had withdrawn completely.)

Under the leadership of Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri, Lebanon embarked on the Horizon 2000 program in 1993. Areas of major activity targeted by the plan were the rehabilitation of telecommunications, electricity grids, highways, sewage, waste management, water networks, the renovation of the Beirut International Airport, harbor, the education system, and housing. the plan also called for investment in commercial facilities to reestablish Beirut as an international business center in competition with Hong Kong and Singapore. The government established a private company, Solidere, to carry out the reconstruction and development of downtown Beirut. Under the Horizon 2000 guidelines, no single investor would be permitted to hold more than a 10% share in the company. The parliament also established a public company, Elyssar, for developing southwest Beirut. Under the government's five-year program (2001–05) the "three pillars" of reform were affirmed by the Hariri government to be 1) economic revival and sustained growth with the private sector as the engine of growth; 2) fiscal consolidation and administrative reform; and 3) monetary, financial, and price stability.

By 2006, the Lebanese government was continuing its plans for economic reforms. These included an improvement in the management of the national debt (in 2005, it stood at over 200% of GDP); an expansion of state revenues by widening the tax base, improving the collection of revenues, and rationalizing expenditure; and strengthening financial management. As of December 2005, the government was formulating a new five-year plan with the aim of helping the government reduce its $37 billion public debt. The World Bank, the United States, and European nations declared they would only aid Lebanon if the government submitted to an "implementable program."

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

A government social security plan is intended to provide sickness and maternity insurance, accident and disability insurance, family allowances, and end-of-service indemnity payments. the employer contributes 8.5% of payroll, while the employee and government make no contribution. The system provides lump sum payments only for retirement, disability, and survivor benefits. Foreigners employed in Lebanon are entitled to benefits if similar rights are available for Lebanese in their home countries. Family allowances are provided for workers' families with children and nonworking wives. Voluntary social work societies also conduct relief and welfare activities.

Careers in government, the professions, and, less commonly, business are open to women. However, in some segments of society, social pressure prevents them from taking full advantage of employment opportunities. Lebanese citizenship is passed on only by fathers to their children. The children of Lebanese women married to foreigners are unable to secure citizenship. Many of the religious laws governing family and personal status discriminate against women. Despite these circumstances, there are a growing number of women in business and in government. Domestic abuse and violence affects a significant percentage of women. the absence of economic independence and the fear of losing custody of children prevent women from leaving abusive spouses. Foreign domestic servants are frequently abused.

Human rights abuses include arbitrary arrest and detention and the use of excessive force and torture. Prison conditions are substandard and include severe overcrowding. Human rights organizations are allowed to operate freely.

HEALTH

As of 2004, there were an estimated 325 physicians, 118 nurses, 121 dentists, and 95 pharmacists per 100,000 people. the Lebanese Ministry of Health's review of hospital use identified major health problems to be hypertension, diabetes, and asthma, in addition to eye and ear diseases, cardiac conditions, and dermatological problems. In 2000, 100% of the population had access to safe drinking water and 99% had adequate sanitation.

As of 2002, the crude birth rate and overall mortality rate were estimated at, respectively, 8.2 and 14.7 per 1,000 people. About 61% of married women (ages 15–49) used contraception. Life expectancy in 2005 was 72.63 years and the infant mortality rate was 24.54 per 1,000 live births. The fertility rate was 2.3 births per childbearing woman. The maternal mortality rate was 100 per 100,000 live births. Immunization rates for children up to one year old included diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus, 94%, and measles, 88%. Vitamin deficiencies are a problem; an estimated 25% of all school-age children have goiter.

The HIV/AIDS prevalence was 0.10 per 100 adults in 2003. As of 2004, there were approximately 2,800 people living with HIV/AIDS in the country. There were an estimated 200 deaths from AIDS in 2003.

HOUSING

Despite substantial construction activity since World War II and a boom in construction during the 1960s, which increased the number of housing units to 484,000 in 1970, there was a housing shortage, especially of low-cost residential units, in the early 1970s. The situation was aggravated by the civil war (ending in 1990) and subsequent factional strife in which half of the country's real estate was severely damaged or destroyed. About 750,000 people were displaced. Under the CDR 1983–91 plan, nearly 30% of total expenditures were allocated to build new dwellings and to restore war-damaged houses. According to the last available information for 1980-88, total housing units numbered 820,000 with 3.3 people per dwelling. Housing needs until the year 2000 have been estimated at 400,000 units.

EDUCATION

Free primary education was introduced in 1960, but about two-thirds of all students attend private schools. Primary school covers six years of study, followed by three years of complementary (intermediate) courses. Based on their performance at the basic levels of education, students are assigned to general secondary school (studying economics, life sciences, humanities, and science) or a technical secondary school (with about 55 different field options). The academic year runs from October to June.

In 2001, about 74% of children between the ages of three and five were enrolled in some type of preschool program. Primary school enrollment in 2003 was estimated at about 91% of age-eligible students. In 2001, secondary school enrollment was about 77% of age-eligible students. It is estimated that about 68% of all students complete their primary education. the student-to-teacher ratio for primary school was at about 17:1 in 2003.

Leading universities include the American University in Beirut; St. Joseph University; the Lebanese (State) University; the University of the Holy Spirit; and the Arab University of Beirut. In 2003, about 44% of the tertiary age population were enrolled in some type of higher education program. The adult literacy rate for 2003 was estimated at about 87.4%, with 93.1% for men and 82.2% for women.

As of 2003, public expenditure on education was estimated at 2.7% of GDP, or 12.3% of total government expenditures.

LIBRARIES AND MUSEUMS

Lebanon has about a dozen sizable libraries with specialized collections of books, manuscripts, and documents. Most libraries are in Beirut, but there are also collections at Şaydā (Sidon) and Harissa. The National Library of Lebanon, founded in 1921, had more than 100,000 volumes when it was destroyed at the beginning of the war in 1975. By 2002, it had restored that collection to 150,000 volumes. The Arab University Library has 200,000 volumes, but the largest library is that of the American University in Beirut, with 546,000 volumes. St. Joseph University has several specialized libraries, including the Bibliothèque Orientale, with 400,000 volumes. The library of the St. John Monastery in Khonchara, founded in 1696, contains the first known printing press in the Middle East. The Université Saint-Esprit de Koslik in Jounieh has the largest provincial collection with 200,000 volumes. the Municipal Public Library of Beirut has two branches; the Bachoura branch, opened in 2004, maintains a collection that includes 20,000 books in Arabic, French, English, Armenian, Spanish, and German, plus audio books, CD-ROMs, videos, and DVDs. there are at least 25 other public and municipal libraries throughout the country that are organized through the Assabil library network, a nongovernmental organization established in 1997; these branches include National Library of Baakline, Cultural Center for Francophone Activities, Public Library of the Cultural League in Tarābulus (Tripoli), and the Library for the Blind (in Beirut).

The National Museum of Lebanon (1920) in Beirut has a collection of historical documents and many notable antiquities, including the sarcophagus of King Ahiram (13th century bc), with the first known alphabetical inscriptions. The American University Museum also has an extensive collection of ancient artifacts. Beirut also houses the Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum of Lebanese Prehistory of St. Joseph University. the Gibran Museum in Bsharri, celebrating the life and work of the prophet Kahil Gibran, is a popular site. The Planet Discovery Children's Science Museum is located in Beirut.

MEDIA

Before the civil war, Beirut was an international communications center with an earth satellite station and two oceanic cables linking it to Marseille, France, and Alexandria, Egypt. As of 1999, the rebuilding of Lebanon's telecommunications system was well underway. In 2003, there were an estimated 199 mainline telephones for every 1,000 people. The same year, there were approximately 227 mobile phones in use for every 1,000 people.

Government-controlled Radio Lebanon broadcasts in Arabic, and Tele-Liban broadcasts on three channels in Arabic, French, and English. All other radio and television stations are privately owned. In 2001 there were 36 radio stations and 7 television stations. In 2003, there were an estimated 182 radios and 357 television sets for every 1,000 people. About 29.9 of every 1,000 people were cable subscribers. Also in 2003, there were 80.5 personal computers for every 1,000 people and 117 of every 1,000 people had access to the Internet. There were 29 secure Internet servers in the country in 2004.

Historically, Lebanon has had the freest press in the Arab world. Even during the civil war some 25 newspapers and magazines were published without restriction. Newspapers freely criticize the government but refrain from criticizing political groups that have the power to retaliate forcibly. As of 2002, the largest Arabic dailies and their circulations included An-Nahar (the Day, 77,600), Al-Anwar (Lights, 58,675), As-Safir (the Ambassador, 50,000), Al-Amal (Hope, 35,000), Al Hayat (Life, 31,030), Al-Sharq (36,000), and Al-Liwa (the Standard, 15,000). Also influential are the French-language papers L'Orient–Le Jour (23,000), Le Soir (16,500), and Le Réveil (10,000).

Though the constitution provides for freedom of the press, the government uses several means short of censorship to control freedom of expression. The Surete Generale is authorized to approve all foreign materials, including magazines, plays, books, and films. The law prohibits attacks on the dignity of the head of state or foreign leaders, prosecuting through a special Publications Court.

ORGANIZATIONS

There are chambers of commerce and industry in Beirut, Tarābulus (Tripoli), Şaydā (Sidon), and Zahlah. The Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture of Beirut and Mount Lebanon promotes tourism as well as international trade. the International Labour Organization Regional Office for the Arab States is in Beirut. Lebanon has a French Chamber of Commerce, and an Association of Lebanese Industries.

The Amel Association is a major social welfare organization providing emergency relief and social, medical, and educational services. The National Council for Scientific Research offers major support for promoting scientific study and research. A smaller organization, the Nadim Andraos Foundation, also provides financial support for medical and scientific studies.

National youth organizations include the Lebanese Scout Federation, Lebanese Youth and Student Movement for the United Nations, the Progressive Youth Organization, the Democratic Youth Union, and YMCA/YWCA. There are several sports associations representing a variety of pastimes, such as squash, aikido, badminton, yachting, tennis, and track and field. There are active branches of the Paralympic Committee and the Special Olympics.

There are Rotary and Lion's Clubs in Beirut. there are national chapters of the Red Cross Society, Defence for Children, and Habitat for Humanity.

TOURISM, TRAVEL, AND RECREATION

Before 1975, Lebanon's antiquities—notably at Şaydā (Sidon), Tyre, Byblos, and Baalbek—combined with a pleasant climate and scenery to attract many tourists (more than two million in 1974), especially from other Arab countries. During the civil war that began that year, however, fighting and bombing destroyed or heavily damaged major hotels in Beirut and reduced the number of tourists to practically zero. With the rebuilding of the country, the tourism industry has steadily grown. The luxury hotels have attracted tourists along with the famous Pigeon Rocks in Raouche. Many attractions are historical sites in Tyre and Tarābulus (Tripoli). The temple complex in Baalbek, which includes the remains of the temples of Jupiter, Bacchus, and Venus, is one of the largest in the world. Horse racing is also popular in Lebanon, with races held every Sunday.

Visas are required to enter Lebanon, along with passports valid for six months when applying for the visa. In 2003, foreign visitors totaled 1,015,793 in Lebanon, a 6% increase from 2002. Hotels numbered 16,202 with 28,246 beds. Tourism expenditure receipts totaled $1 billion that same year.

According to the US Department of State, in 2004 the estimated daily cost of travel in Lebanon was $193.

FAMOUS LEBANESE

Khalil Gibran (Jibran, 1883–1931), a native of Lebanon, achieved international renown through his paintings and literary works. He is best known for his long poem the Prophet. Charles Habib Malik (1906–87), for many years Lebanon's leading diplomat, was president of the 13th UN General Assembly in 1958/59. Rafik Hariri (1944–2005), twice prime minister of Lebanon, was assassinated in February 2005; massive demonstrations held after his death led to the eventual withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon in April 2005.

DEPENDENCIES

Lebanon has no territories or colonies.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

AbuKhalil, As'ad. Historical Dictionary of Lebanon. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow, 1998.

El-Khazen, Farid. The Breakdown of the State in Lebanon, 1967–1976. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2000.

Hamzeh, Ahmad Nizar. In the Path of Hizbullah. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 2004.

Harris, William W. Faces of Lebanon: Sects, Wars, and Global Extensions. Princeton, N.J.: Markus Wiener Publishers, 1997.

Khalaf, Samir. Civil and Uncivil Violence in Lebanon: A History of the Internationalization of Communal Contact. New York: Columbia University Press, 2002.

Khater, Akram Fouad. Inventing Home: Emigration, Gender, and the Middle Class in Lebanon, 1870–1920. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001.

Lattouf, Mirna. Women, Education, and Socialization in Modern Lebanon: 19th and 20th Centuries Social History. Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 2004.

Makdisi, Samir A. The Lessons of Lebanon: The Economics of War and Development. New York: I.B. Tauris, 2004.

Najem, Tom. Lebanon: The Politics of a Penetrated Society. London: Routledge, 2002.

Seddon, David (ed.). A Political and Economic Dictionary of the Middle East. Philadelphia: Routledge/Taylor and Francis, 2004.

Lebanon

Basic Data

Background & General Characteristics

Lebanon (Lubnan ) or the Lebanese Republic (Al Jumhuriyah al Lubnaniyah ) can be thought of as, "a land in-between." This definition well describes its geographical positioning, political situation, religious compilation, and communication and press orientation. Noting increasing connections with international bodies and an increasing respect for international norms, it is expected that these factors will increase the stability of the country's politics and infrastructure, facilitating development through all levels of society and engendering a better place to live for its citizens.

Country Geography

Geographically, Lebanon can be found bordering the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It is also bordered by Israel (south) and Syria (north and west). Lebanon has felt intense political pressures from these two neighbors throughout its history. The outside political pressure has been intensified because many Lebanese identify themselves far more readily by their local, tribal/ethnic, and religious affiliations than by their national association.

Lebanon (population between 3.6 and 4.3 million) is normally divided into four roughly parallel topographical zones that run the length of the country. One region is the Mediterranean coastal plain located primarily in the north, which is home to the major cities of Lebanon including Tripoli, Jubail (Byblos), Beirut, Saida (Sidon), and Sur (Tyre). The mountain ranges of Lebanon receive significant snowfall during the year and provide a beautiful panorama for surrounding areas. The presence of snow seems to have been deemed important enough to have played an integral role in the very naming of the country; Lebanon means white (laban ) in Aramaic. And as well as having the rarity of snow, Lebanon has one other rarity in the Middle East—no desert.

Country History

Lebanon has been active as an entity since the ancient world; however, for much of its history, it has been a war zone for would be conquerors, usurpers, and overlords. It was the homeland for the Phoenicians/Canaanites (c.2700-450 B.C.) and also served as host to the Babylonians, Egyptians, Romans, and others. Yet, despite the desires of its nemeses, Lebanon remained free of total subjugation from would-be conquerors and provided perennial refuge to persecuted racial and religious minorities from all over the region due to its mountainous, rugged terrain. Thus, early on in its history from the influx of both conquerors and persecuted Lebanon gained a type of cosmopolitanism, becoming composed of multiple ethnic backgrounds and religious orientations.

In the ninth and tenth centuries, besides settled Sunni populations along the coasts, Mitwali (Shi'a) began to establish communities in the mountain area just off Lebanon's coast. Then in the eleventh century, the Druze also established enclaves as well. The years 1291 through 1516 saw the Mamluk—a warrior caste made up of Turks, Mongols, and Circassians—period of rule. While the Mamluk's ruled over Egypt, Syria, and other Arabian holy areas, the Lebanese, through persistent political maneuvering, continued to maintain autonomous functioning. The Maronites of the province fared especially well during this period due to their contacts with Italy and the Roman Curia. The Druze and Mitwali, who had not established the same contacts, were not privy to the same favoritism. This created discontent against the Maronites. So, in the thirteenth century, taking advantage of Mamluk preoccupation with the Mongol threat from Persia, the Druze and Shi'a revolted against the Maronites creating havoc in central Lebanon.

The year 1516 began the rule of the Ottomans. It was in this year that they conquered Syria from the Mamluks and incorporated Lebanon into their empire. Yet, even with the Ottomans, Lebanon was allowed to function relatively autonomously. During a weak point in Ottoman rule, Fakir ad-Din II (1586-1635) of the Druze House of Ma'an attempted complete independence from the Ottomans and succeeded for a number of years, but it did not last and he was eventually executed in 1635 in Constantinople. After this, the House of Ma'an was succeeded by the House of Shihab. This dynasty enjoyed a two-hundred-year rule, ending with the exile of Bashir II in 1840.

The Ottomans then set up a system of Kaimakams— one Druze and one Maronite—to rule under the Turkish pashas of Beirut and Sidon. This began the reemergence of Maronites to power, which led to years of sectarian violence, which the Ottomans did little to curtail. The Ottomans lack of interest in Lebanon turned out to be the Europeans gain.

The European powers, sensing an opportunity, began to move beyond the traditional trading activities that they had engaged in for centuries with Lebanon and began to establish political/military alliances with particular ethnic factions. The French formed with the Maronite Christians, the Russians with the Orthodox Christians, and the British with the Druze and the Sunnis. Thus, after 1860, the Europeans were able to externally control some of the Lebanese.

European influence proved strong enough to set up an international committee consisting of Austria, France, Great Britain, Prussia, Russia, and the Ottomans to facilitate the restoration of order inside Mount Lebanon. Violence was curtailed through the policies arising from this conference, and the period of 1860-1914 became known as a renaissance for Lebanese culture. Roads and railroads were built, Arab literature and learning blossomed, and overall the culture simply flourished. Beirut transformed from a Sunni town into a coastal cosmopolitan commercial center. Increasing prosperity was experienced by many and, very importantly, this period led to exceptionally strong feelings of Lebanese identity and Lebanese leadership for the Arab nationalist movement among the people of Mount Lebanon.

After World War I the League of Nations mandated the five provinces of the Ottoman Empire to France—this mandated area today makes up modern Lebanon. This newly formed area, bequeathed to France in 1920, was called "Grand Liban." At its outset the territory was evenly divided between Christian and Muslim populations. However, due to French ties with Maronite Christians, the tables of favoritism flipped once again and the Maronites became the new ruling power of the area. The Druze and Shi'ites detested this turn-of-events. To combat opposition and consolidate their authority, the Maronites established associations with the Sunnis and other factions of reasonably placid orientation. Though there were periodic outbursts of violence over French rule and Maronite governing up to the beginning of World War II, these proved inconsequential due to the large showingof French military that remained stationed in the area. Yet once again, despite overarching rule by an outside power, Lebanon remained an autonomously governed area, only subject to veto on its ruling decisions.

On May 26, 1926, French Lebanon became the Republic of Lebanon (Al Jumhuriyah al Lubnaniyah ). The initial constitution of the Republic proved an unsuccessful document by which to govern, but through all of its numerous revisions, up to current times, it has remained the principle document organizing the Lebanese government. Importantly, in November 1941, France formally declared Lebanon a sovereign independent state, although France continued to maintain a strong military presence in the state. Then, in 1943 due to constitutional reform measures being taken in Lebanon, the French arrested the President of Lebanon. This nefarious act united the various factions of Lebanese politicians, as well as British and Americans who took the side of the Lebanese. France was forced to acquiesce to Lebanese demands for complete independence and all of its troops completely withdrew on December 31, 1946 (Evacuation Day).

Lebanon has continued to see hard times since its independence. However, up until 1975 a modicum of solid national consistency was maintained in the country. Its position on the Mediterranean coast with a number of seaports has made it an important economic player in the area, which has also helped to increase outside interest in its stability and helped to attract foreign aid for development.

Lebanon's long and devastating civil war (1975-1991) consisted of numerous factions vying for often weakly defined and definitely elusive goals. The factions included: The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), Shi'ites (Amal and Hezbollah/Hizbullah), Maronite, Phalangist, Lebanese National Movement (LNM), and Lebanese Forces (LF). In addition to Lebanon's internal fighting, concurrent Israeli and Syrian incursions in the country further exacerbated the destructive and chaotic nature of the time. Its people and infrastructure bore heavy losses. Lebanon is recovering from these losses, but it is doing so slowly. The future is open and looks promising but could hold either promise or peril for this country.

State of the Press

With all of its historical difficulties, Lebanon has managed to produce a highly literate, educated, and critical populace. As reported by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency in 2002 using a 1997 estimate, an average of 86.4 percent of the Lebanese population is considered literate (males, 90.8 percent; females, 82.2 percent). A significant factor driving this educational process is the presence of relatively diverse and sophisticated press and media systems that facilitate continuing education of the Lebanese populace above and beyond traditional schooling. As well, Lebanon has had a positive relationship with the press due to its ethnically diverse population base—each segment requiring papers focused to its particular interests. This niche marketing of papers has allowed for a vibrant dialogue to occur in the Lebanese political and social scene, enough so that one historian has designated Lebanon as the "true cradle of Arab journalism." With multiple opinions available to them, the Lebanese have typically become savvy enough readers/listeners/viewers to gravitate back and forth between papers/channels depending upon which political or social slant they want to read/hear/view. Often, they can tune into a random station generating a broadcast with news content and, within a small portion of time, can suggest the political orientation of the message, some of the history driving the issue being discussed, and some of the key figures related to the topic.

Lebanese traditions with the press and the media date back more than 150 years. The first newspaper, Hadikat Al-Akhbar (The Garden of News ), was published in Lebanon in 1858 through the direction of Khalil El-Khouri and was followed two years later in 1960 by three other papers: Nafeer Souria (The Call of Syria ) published by Butrus Al-Bustani in Lebanon, Aj-Jawa'ib (The Traveling News) published in Istanbul, and Barid Paris (Paris Mail) published in France. The time of the Ottoman Empire was an era of significant persecution for journalists in Lebanon. Some of the journalists ended up fleeing to Egypt and founding some of the country's major papers like Al-Ahram and Al-Musawar. After the Ottomans, the French enacted even harsher press laws. Yet, the Lebanese press was resilient and, by 1929, there were 271 papers with a majority calling for national independence from external oppressive regimes.

At the end of World War II, Lebanon finally gained full independence but, fascinatingly, the first indigenous ruling regime enacted even harsher press laws than the French. However, again the press refused to bow to pressure and, by 1952, a popular revolt was fomented against the government that led to relaxed press laws. In 1962 laws were enacted that guaranteed freedom of the press in Lebanon. Civil war was the next trial that the Lebanese press had to endure during the period 1975-1991. Yet, emerging from the bloody chaos of the war in 1991, the Lebanese press had 105 licensed political publications comprised of 53 dailies, 48 weeklies, and 4 monthly magazines. As well, more than 300 non-political publications were being published. The Lebanese press is tenacious and stalwart, and it continually grows.

In the 2000s, An-Naha r or Al-Nahar and Al-Diyar are arguably the most influential daily papers in terms of raw circulation numbers. Al-Nahar is more of a prestigious publication, and Al-Diyar is more populist in orientation. Al-Safir and Al-Anwar are second runner-ups. For all of these papers, the readership ratio is roughly two to one favoring men over women; this is, however, reversed for one paper, L'Orient le Jour, where more women than men compose its reader base.

Dailies

Almost every publication from Lebanon is published in the capital city of Beirut. Lebanese news is published in four languages: Arabic, French, Armenian, and English. The leading Arabic dailies include: An-Nahar (The Day ), Al-Safir (The AmbassadorAl-Diyar or Ad-Diyar(The Homeland ), Al-AmalThe HopeLisan ul-Hal (The Organ ), Sada LubnanEcho of LebanonAl-Hayat (The Life ), and Al-AnwarThe Lights ).

An-Nahar has a circulation of 45,000. It was founded in 1933 as an independent, moderate right-of-center paper, attempting to speak on behalf of the Greek Orthodox community and appeal to a broader audience as well. It has been noted as being a watchdog for public rights and an excellent source for reporting diverse and divergent views in a professional manner. Al-Safir, founded in 1974, has a circulation of 50,000. As a political paper, it represents Muslim interests with strong news coverage and background articles, strongly promotes Arab nationalism, and is pro-Syrian. Al-Diyar or Ad-Diyar is unlike most of the competition because it comes out on Sundays. The paper is strong in classified advertising and is widely read, but its sensationalist style has often lacked professional ethics. Al-Amal, founded in 1939, and with a circulation of 35,000, is the voice of the Phalangist party. Lisan ul-Hal has a circulation of 33,000 and was founded in 1877; Sada Lubnan has a circulation of 25,000 and was founded in 1951; and Al-Hayat has a circulation of 31,034 and was founded in 1946 as an independent. Al-Anwar, founded in 1959, has a circulation of 25,000. It is published by the famous publishing house of Dar al-Sayyad owned by the Freiha family; the paper typically attempts to appeal to wide readership and is noted for stressing production quality and professional journalism.

Other Arabic papers include: Al-Harar, Al-Bairaq (The Banner), Bairut (Beirut), Ach-Chaab (The People), Ach-Charq or Al-Sharq (The East), Ach-Chams (The Sun), Ad-Dunya (The World), Al-Hakika (The Truth), Al-Jarida (The [News] Paper), Al-Jumhuriya (The Republic), Journal Al-Haddis, Al-Khatib (The Speaker), Al-Kifah al-Arabi (The Arab Struggle), Al-Liwa (The Standard), Al-Mustuqbal, An-Nass (The People), An-Nida (The Appeal), Nida' al-Watan (The Call of the Home-land), An-Nidal (The Struggle), Raqib al-Ahwal (The Observer), Rayah (Banner), Ar-Ruwwad, Sawt al-Uruba (The Voice of Europe), Telegraf-Bairut, Al-Yaum (Today), and Az-Zamane or Al-Zaman.

With Lebanese Arabs making up 95 percent of the population and with a Muslim religious orientation of various persuasions (including Shi'a, Sunni, Druze, Isma'ilite, Alawite or Nusaryi) making up roughly 70 percent of the faith perspective, it should be apparent why there is a plethora of Arabic newspapers compared to a small minority of other dailies. The other dailies include three Armenian, two French, and one English. The Armenian papers are: Ararat, Aztag, and Zartonk. The French papers are L'Orient-Le Jour (from the publishers of Al-Nahar and noted for well-researched background information, intelligent feature stories, and thoughtful editorials) and Le Soir. Since a significant number of the country's elite speak French, the French-language newspapers have a higher degree of influence than one might expect. The English paper is the Daily Star.

Weeklies and other Periodicals

Along with a rich and robust plate of dailies, there is also a burgeoning repertoire of Lebanese weeklies. The weeklies include: Al-Alam al-Lubnani (The Lebanese World ), AchabakaThe Net ), Al-Ahad (SundayAl-AkhbarThe NewsAl-Anwar Supplement , DabbourAd-DyarAl-Hadaf (The Target), Al-Hawadess (EventsAl-HiwarDialogue ), Al-Hurriya (Freedom ), Al-MoharrirThe LiberatorAl-Ousbou' al-Arabi (Arab Week ), Sabih al-KhairGood Morning ), and Samar.

Al-Alam al-Lubnani, founded in 1964, has a circulation of 45,000; it is published in Arabic, English, French, and Spanish, and contains matters of politics, literature, and social economy. Achabaka, founded in 1956, has a circulation of 108,000, while Al-Ahad, a political paper, has a circulation of 32,000. Al-Akhbar, the voice of the Lebanese Communist Party, has a circulation of 21,000. The Al-Anwar Supplement, a cultural-social paper, has a circulation of 90,000, while the Ad-Dyar, a political paper, has a circulation of 46,000. Al-Hadaf, founded in 1969, is the voice for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Al-Hawadess has a circulation of 120,000; Al-Hurriya has a circulation of 30,000 and is the voice of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine). Al-Ousbou'al-Arabi, a political and social paper, has a circulation of 87,000 throughout the Arab world, while Samar is published for the teenage audience.

Some selected examples of periodicals other than weeklies include: Alam at-Tijarat (Business World ),Arab Construction World, Arab Defense JournalArab Economist , Al-Intilak (Outbreak ), Fairuz LebanonAl Computer, Communications, and Electronics , Fann at-Tasswir, Al-Mukhtar (Reader's Digest ), Rijal al-Amal (The Businessman ), Tabibok (Your Doctor ), and At-Tarik (The Road ).

Economic Framework

As noted above, at least 86.4 percent of the Lebanese population older than fifteen years of age is estimated as literate; thus, illiteracy is not an impediment to newspaper readership. Due to a large proportion of urbanization (83.7 percent), distribution is also not a typical impediment. However, price and time can be significant obstacles. The most respected newspapers can cost up to US$1.32. In a country where the average GDP is US$5,000 and unemployment is at 18 percent, costs can tend to add up quickly. Placed comparatively next to the monthly costs of television subscription, the expense of newsprint becomes more obvious. On a monthly basis, purchasing a newspaper 6 days a week costs about US$29 a month while linking up to satellite television costs between US$10-12. And then even beyond the concern of cost is the concern of time. Those who have been able to find employment are more concerned with getting there and getting home than with picking up a paper. Jamil Mroue of the Daily Star has suggested that to combat this dilemma of cost and time, home delivery of papers should be increased, upping readership (which currently hovers at only 50 percent of the population according to the British Broadcasting Service) and at the same time lowering cost by increasing distribution.

Of course, a significant aspect creating the economic woes facing Lebanon was the civil war that raged from the 1970s until the early 1990s, which devastated much of the infrastructure of Beirut and also took its toll through civilian death. The war also caused what has come to be known as "brain-drain" or the mass migration of educated intelligentsia to other countries offering better rates of pay and social benefits. Specifically with the press/media, numbers of journalists were killed during the fighting and numerous offices/studios/printing plants were bombed, looted, and/or otherwise sabotaged.

During the beginning years of the war, when fighting was extremely intense, many publications were forced to shut down. However, even in the darkest hours about 24 newspapers and other periodicals were still being regularly published. Also, as soon as the fighting lessened, some of the other publications almost immediately resumed schedule. Papers were able to so easily resume because so many of them were privately owned by either individual proprietors or by publishing houses. All of the typical bureaucracy of government was avoided in getting everything back up and running. Still due to lack of external investment in the country, internal unemployment, and the need to cope with immigrant worker populations, physical and economic reconstruction has been slow overall.

While it has been a positive experience for Lebanese press to be privatized, due to the niche marketing of much of the industry to specific ethnic-religious enclaves there has also been a narrow margin of profit. As it has been said, while the Lebanese press may be healthy, they certainly are not wealthy. This would normally be something that could be dealt with, but there are extenuating circumstances in the case of Lebanon. There is a legal requirement that any aspiring publisher must be licensed by purchasing an existing title. The government is refusing to issue any new licenses. Thus, there has become a huge market in newspaper publishing licenses, exorbitantly driving up the price to amounts that make it virtually impossible for anyone but a publishing house to undertake starting a new publication—especially since the profit margin is small. For instance, it could easily cost in the realm of US$300,000-400,000 to acquire the license for a weekly. (The price to acquire a daily could easily double that amount.) This creates an economic hurdle brought about by a government decision that is inhibiting press freedom in Lebanon.

As well, due to the small margin of realized profit available to newspapers, many of them are open to bribery or "subsidies with strings attached" from foreign sources. It comes down to being willing to slant the news in someone's favor in order to stay in business. And it is not only corporations or "rogue" nations that have been implicated in this practice—Russian and American sources have been named as well. The same can be said for advertising. Again, because of small margins of profit, newspapers actively seek out advertising dollars. However, it is typically not local merchants buying ad space. The advertising dollars seem to come from outside foreign corporations who often have more than simply a product to sell.

As it currently stands, there are about 23 publishing houses operating in Lebanon producing a significant amount of the print that is sold in the country. One of the larger and more well-known houses is Dar Assayad Group (SAL and International). Dar Assayad, owned by the Freiha family, publishes Al-Anwar; Assayad; Achabaka; Arab Defense Journal; Fairuz Lebanon; Al-Idair; Al Computer, Communications, and Electronics; and Al-Fares. There are also numerous private owners of publications who have held the licenses to such publications for many years, but it has become far less plausible for such private procurement of publishing licenses to continue occurring as the situation stands.

Press Laws

The major laws concerning press and media are the 1962 Press Law and the Audiovisual Media Law (Law 382/94) passed by the parliament in October 1994 and finally applied on September 18, 1996. The 1962 Press Law, which has significant similarities with many other Arab states' press laws, states that nothing my be published that endangers national security, national unity, or state frontiers, or that insults high-ranking Lebanese officials or a foreign head of state. More positive portions of the law, such as Article Nine, state that journalism is "the free profession of publishing news publications." It defines a journalist as anyone whose main profession and income are from journalistic aspects. The 1962 law also set the standard for Lebanese journalists as being at least 21 years of age, having a baccalaureate degree, and having apprenticed for at least four years in journalism. The 1962 Press Law also organized journalists into two syndicates: the Lebanese Press Syndicate (owners) and the Lebanese Press Writers (reporters) Syndicate. As well, a Higher Press Council was created, along with other committees, to consider other issues pertinent to journalists— including devising a retirement plan.

Before and during the civil war of 1975-1991, the 1962 Press Law was rarely enforced, and this was taken advantage of by the press. Upon emerging from the conflict, the government has attempted to become more stringent. In 1994 the government attempted to enforce penalties of detention and fines upon various press establishments but met with significant opposition and gave way under pressure. However, fines and other forms of sanctions remain a significant and ever present threat to press freedom.

Press freedom and media freedom issues often run closely parallel courses. Early in January 1992, the government proposed that any television station wishing to continue its broadcasting not include any "information" programming as that was the purview of the government. The media immediately assailed the government, and the proposal was withdrawn a few days later. Then the government proposed the Audiovisual Media Law of 1994, which did get enacted. It divided television and radio stations into categories related to whether or not they were licensed for broadcasting news and/or political coverage or only entertainment or general concern content. Fascinatingly, this law abolished Lebanon's state broadcasting monopoly. Thus, Lebanon became the first Arab State to authorize private radio and television stations to operate within its borders. However, even though this seems to be a monumental achievement, the downside to this equation is that many of the small operators of illegal stations were closed and influential politicians and corporate conglomerates were the ones who received the bulk of the private licenses. The initial idea with the Audiovisual Media Law was to offer a one-year provisional permit to license applicants and then, if all requirements were met, to bestow a 16-year license. In actuality, licenses were typically immediately granted or denied.

No individual or family is allowed to own more than 10 percent in a television company. Television stations themselves are required to broadcast to the entire country for at least 4,000 hours per year with at least 40 percent of the programming being locally produced. Nothing is allowed that is in the least bit favorable to the establishment of relations with "the Zionist entity." The Audiovisual Media Law is supposedly based upon a premise of seeking to promote balanced news coverage; thus, in any given program there is supposed to be an equal airing of political perspectives ideally providing a balanced orientation. The reality of the situation is of course far from the ideal. In order to monitor and assess whether or not the law is being followed the National Council for Audio-visual Media has been created (CNA). A portion of the controversial aspect of the council's task comes from a portion of the mandate that they have been given. In Arabic a part of their task has been specified as riqaba, which can be translated as either censorship or monitoring/supervision. It has been suggested that since prohibitions related to content are dealt with in the Lebanese Penal Code, the CAN's task is more closely related to the second understanding of riqaba.

Censorship

The Ministry of Information always maintains the "right" or at least the ability to control and censor press and media materials. Even though the press got foreign publication censorship abolished in 1967 and persuaded the Ministry of Information to withdraw censors from television stations in 1970, many changes and even the establishment of laws are seemingly no guarantee that they will be followed. The establishment of the CNA is a case in point—such an organization can one day be a promoter of accuracy in media and another day become its very antithesis.

In fact, on August 8, 2001, the CNA issued a document to the Council of Ministers relating to coverage of events. On August 9, Minister of Information Ghazi Aridi suggested an ominous warning to media saying that he would utilize the law to end "mistakes by media outlets, which threaten state security." Correspondingly, the An Nahar was charged with defaming the army, and lawsuits were brought against the author of the article, Raphi Madoyan, as well Joseph Nasr, the Editor-in-Chief of An Nahar. On August 16, journalist Antione Bassil, and on August 19, journalist Habib Younis, were arrested without warrants and interrogated without lawyers present. On April 8, 2002, journalist Saada Allao had to face the press court of Lebanon for writing articles in November 2001 that were critical of the judicial handling of a case concerning the disappearance of a little girl. Allao had quoted the little girl's mother relating how nothing had been done since she filed a complaint years earlier and had been told by the courts that the documents had been lost. For this article, Allao was on trial and facing three years of imprisonment or a fine of 20 million Lebanese pounds or about 13,500 euros. These are but a small example of how censorship continues to be utilized in Lebanon. As well, it can easily be imagined how self-censorship is practiced by journalists due to concerns for their own and their family's physical and psychological safety.

The problem remains that a country with a ruling on the books that deems it illegal to legitimately criticize the state or emissaries of the state, whether or not such criticism can lead to national instability or interstate instability, essentially retains the "right" for itself to arbitrarily prosecute journalists. In instances such as these, it is the state that defines what constitutes criticism and what the punishment should be given, which is antithetical to freedom of the press.

Attitude toward Foreign Media

Foreign media are typically welcome in Lebanon, but there are continuing instances of censorship and intimidation being propagated by the government. Other than case examples already presented, on August 9, 2001, Yehia Houjairi, cameraman of the Kuwaiti state television channel was arrested outside the courts of law for filming a demonstration against a recent raid on anti-Syrian circles called the CPL (Free Patriotic Movement). The chairman of the photographers union intervened on his behalf, and he was subsequently released. On the same day, Hussein el Moulla was assaulted by a plain-clothes intelligence officer in front of the law courts while photographing the same demonstrations and then was also arrested. On November 3, 2001, Tunisian journalist Taoufik Ben Brik was not allowed to board a plane to fly to an anti-globalization summit he had been invited to attend in Beirut. The employee told him, "Your security cannot be guaranteed."

The foreign press is welcome in Lebanon. However, it remains a significant concern that, even if somewhat limited, seemingly random acts of not only censorship, but violent censorship continue to occur.

News Agencies

The Lebanese domestic news agency is the National News Agency (NNA). It can be accessed on the Internet at http://www.nna-leb.gov.lb. It remains state-owned. There is also a single press association, the Lebanese Press Syndicate or Lebanese Press Order. It was founded in 1911 and has 18 members. It is available on the Internet at http://www.pressorder.org.

Currently, there are around 16 foreign bureaus in Lebanon, all of them essentially in Beirut. The bureaus include: Agence France-Presse (AFP), Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata (ANSA [Italy]), Allgemeiner Deutscher Nachrichtendienst (ADN [Germany]), Associated Press (AP [USA]), Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), Kyodo Tsushin (Japan), Middle East News Agency (MENA [Egypt]), Reuters (United Kingdom), Rossiiskoye Informatsionnoye Agentstvo Novosti (RIA Novosti [Russia]), United Press International (UPI [USA]), Xinhua (New China) News Agency (People's Republic of China), BTA (Bulgaria), Iraqi News Agency (INA [Iraq]), Jamahiriya News Agency (JANA [Libya]), Prensa Latina (Cuba), and Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

Broadcast Media

Television

Before the licensing requirement brought about by the Audiovisual Media Law in 1994, a multitude of stations dotted the electronic landscape. This has been curtailed. There are now seven television stations that can legally broadcast news information—the seventh just gained licensing in 2001. Télé-Liban began in 1959 but really came into its own in late 1977 as a merger between La Compagnie Libanaise de Télévision (CLT) and Télé-Orient and their subsidiaries of Advision and Télé-Management; in 2002 it faces significant financial hurdles and has suffered neglect in the hands of the government. The Lebanese Broadcasting Company International (LBCI), founded in 1985 by Christian businessmen, is the most universally watched in all regions. National Broadcasting Network (NBN) had a license initially granted before the station even existed; the major single stockholder is speaker of the Lebanese House, Nabih Berri. Murr TV (MTV), founded in 1992, and Future Television or Future TV (FTV), Al-Manar (Light-house) Television, and NTV are the remaining stations.

Another television station in operation that is not licensed to broadcast news is Télé-Lumiere, an educationally-based station owned by the Catholic Church.

Satellite television is accessible from Arabsat, Eutelsat, Intelsat, Polsat, as well as others. LBC-Sat, Future TV, Middle East Broadcasting Centre (MBC), Syrian TV, CNN, BBC, French TV5, French Arte, and French La Cinquieme are popular channels. Showtime and Orbit packages are available. Euronews and Al-Jazeera are available on Arabsat C-band.

Television broadcasting is said to be able to reach more than 97 percent of the Lebanese adult audience. All told, there are around 15 total stations (with five repeaters) broadcasting to 1.18 million sets.

Radio

Following the example of television, only a small number of radio stations have been allowed to broadcast news: Voice of Lebanon, Voice of the People, Radio Lebanese Liberty, Radio Lebanon (government owned), Voice of Tomorrow, and Voice of Light.

As well, local broadcasting is disallowed, and licenses are only provided for stations that can cover the entire country with their programming. The reasoning for this is to attempt to cause people to look beyond their local confines to the greater national area in order to engender feelings of national unity. A few small stations are avoiding closure, including a station broadcasting the Holy Quran, Sawt al-Mahabba, and Voice of the South.

Radio broadcasting reaches 85 percent of the Lebanese adult audience. However, while relatively ubiquitous in nature, it is a medium that is still trying to shake off images of wartime use for sending flash bulletins. If radio is utilized, it tends to be less for news than for music. Of those broadcasting news, the favorites seem to be Voice of Lebanon (Sawt Libnan ) and Radio One (105.5 FM), which relays news neutrally interspersed with music.

Currently there are around 20 AM, 22 FM, and 4 shortwave stations in Lebanon broadcasting to around 2.85 million radios.

Internet

Lebanon's government has established its own site on the Internet. As well, there are a numerous other sites that are available originating from Lebanon. The country code is.lb and as of 2000, there were 22 Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the country and 227,500 Internet users according to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.

Education & TRAINING

Journalists can gain their necessary baccalaureate education and further graduate education in the country from the Lebanese University, the American University of Beirut, or another acceptable institution.

Summary

The strength and weakness of Lebanon lies in its diversity. The people of Lebanon's commitment to locality has kept them from ever being entirely subjugated, but it has also kept them from ever being completely united. Hopefully, the Lebanese have had their fill of war. Connections are being established and reestablished. Buildings and lives are being built and rebuilt. The fact that Lebanon has always been relatively open to media and opinions, and the fact that media and opinions are more readily available today than ever before, is suggestive of great potential for the people and the country of Lebanon. They only have to take advantage of the opportunities.

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Clint B. Thomas Baldwin

Lebanon , officially Lebanese Republic, republic (2005 est. pop. 3,826,000), 4,015 sq mi (10,400 sq km), SW Asia. The country is bordered on the west by the Mediterranean Sea, on the north and east by Syria and on the south by Israel. The capital is Beirut .

Land and People

Much of the terrain is mountainous; the Lebanon Mts., which run parallel to the coast, reach their highest point at Qurnet as-Sawda (10,131 ft/3,088 m); on the eastern border is the Anti-Lebanon range. Between the two mountain ranges lies the fertile valley of Al Biqa (avg. elev. 3,280 ft/1,000 m). The Orontes in the north and the Litani in the south are the main rivers. In addition to Beirut there are three ports, Tripoli in the north and Sidon (Saida) and Tyre (Sur) in the south.

About 95% of Lebanese are Arabs; Armenians are the principal minority. About 60% of the population is Muslim and about 40% is Christian, and each is divided into a number of subgroups, including Shiite and Sunni Muslims, Druze , and Maronites . Arabic is the official language; French, English, and Armenian are also spoken.

Economy

Until the economy was almost completely destroyed by the civil strife that rent the country from 1975 to 1990, Lebanon was long the distribution center for the Middle East, and commerce was its major industry. Beirut, a free port, was the region's financial and commercial hub. Throughout the 1980s the commercial and industrial life of Lebanon was in severe disarray, but by the 1990s the economy had at least partially revived, although the Israel invasion and air attacks of 2006 were a severe setback. Banking, insurance, food processing, and the manufacture of textiles, chemicals, jewelry, and wood and furniture products are now important. Oil refining and metal fabricating are also important industries. Other significant sources of income have been a revived tourism industry, remittances from Lebanese working abroad, and international aid. The illicit narcotics trade (opium, hashish, heroin) also has a considerable impact on the economy.

Farm products contribute only a small portion of the GDP. The main crops are citrus fruits, vegetables, olives, tobacco, and grapes. Sheep and goats are raised. Lebanon has few minerals. Not many of the famed cedars remain, although oak and pine are exploited.

The annual cost of Lebanon's imports is much greater than its earnings from exports. The country exports jewelry, chemicals, consumer goods, fruit, tobacco, construction materials, electric equipment, textile fibers, and paper, largely to other Arab countries. Imports include petroleum products, cars, medicine, clothing, meat and live animals, consumer goods, paper, textile fabrics, and tobacco. The main trading partners are Syria, the United Arab Emirates, Italy, and Saudi Arabia.

Government

Lebanon's ethnic and religions diversity has had an enormous impact on its governmental system. Traditionally the president of the country is a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim, and the speaker of parliament a Shiite Muslim. The country is governed under the constitution of 1926 as amended. Under the constitution, the president, who is the head of state and wields real power, is elected by the legislature for a six-year term and cannot serve consecutive terms. The government is headed by the prime minister, who is appointed by the president. The unicameral legislature consists of the 128-seat National Assembly, whose members are elected by popular vote on the basis of sectarian proportional representation for four-year terms. There are independent secular courts based on the French system and religious courts for such issues as marriage, divorce, and inheritance. The Ta'if accord of 1989, which aimed at national reconciliation, gave Muslims a share in governmental power equal to that of Christians, and calls for all main religious groups to be represented in the cabinet. Administratively, Lebanon is divided into eight governorates.

History

Early History to Independence

In ancient times the area of Lebanon and Syria was occupied by the Canaanites, who founded the great Phoenician cities and later established a commercial maritime empire (see Phoenicia ). Lebanon's cities as well as its forests and iron and copper mines (since exhausted) attracted the successive dominant powers in the Middle East. The Phoenician cities occupied a favored position in the Persian Empire and were conquered by Alexander the Great. The region came under Roman dominion starting in 64 BC (there are notable Roman ruins at Baalbek ) and was Christianized before the Arab conquest in the 7th cent. By then the Maronites had established themselves—a cardinal fact in the history of Lebanon, which long remained predominantly Christian while Syria became Muslim. Later (11th cent.) the Druze settled in S Lebanon and in adjacent regions of Syria, and trouble between them and the Christians was to become a constant theme in regional history.

The Crusaders (see Crusades ) were active in Lebanon (late 11th cent.) and were aided by the Lebanese Christians. After the Crusaders, Lebanon was loosely ruled by the Mamluks (c.1300). Invasions by Mongols and others contributed to the decline of trade until the reunification of the Middle East under the Ottoman Turks (early 16th cent.). Under Ottoman control, Lebanon had considerable autonomy, and powerful families ruled the country.

Many Western religious missions and businesses were established in the area in the 19th cent. Conflict among the religious communities, culminating in massacres of the Maronites by the Druze in 1860, led to intervention by France (1861), and the Ottoman sultan was forced to appoint a Christian governor for Lebanon. The French were given the mandate of Syria after World War I by the League of Nations; Lebanon was a part of that mandate.

The French, being Catholic, separated Lebanon (home of most of the Maronite Catholics) from Syria, thus creating a new state. There was much discontent and, among the Muslims, a desire for independence within a wider Arab state. In 1926 the mandate was given a republican constitution. A treaty with France in 1936 provided for independence after a three-year transition period, but it was not ratified by France. In World War II the French Vichy government controlled Lebanon until a British–Free French force conquered (June–July, 1941) the Lebanese coast. The Free French proclaimed Lebanon an independent republic. Elections were held in 1943, and, after considerable controversy, Lebanon became independent on Jan. 1, 1944.

New Nation, New Leadership

In 1945, Lebanon became a member of the United Nations, and all British and French troops were evacuated by the end of 1946. As a member of the Arab League, Lebanon declared war on Israel in 1948 but took little part in the conflict. In 1952, after the election of Camille Chamoun as president, Lebanon formed closer ties with the West. In the spring of 1958, opposition to Chamoun's pro-Western policies and his acceptance of U.S. aid under the Eisenhower Doctrine erupted in rioting in Tripoli, Beirut, and elsewhere. The rioting grew into full-scale rebellion, and Chamoun called in U.S. forces (July, 1958). Gen. Fouad Chehab, a nonpolitical personality who had kept the army out of the civil strife, was elected to succeed Chamoun, and the rebellion ebbed. By autumn U.S. forces had left the country.

Lebanon subsequently steered a course closer to that of the other Arab nations. The secession of Syria (1961) from the United Arab Republic revived once again the rift between pro-Western and pan-Arab elements in Lebanon. In 1962 a military coup was attempted in Beirut but was crushed. Chehab was succeeded in 1964 by Charles Hélou ; Suleiman Franjieh was elected president in 1970.

Lebanon, Israel, and the Palestinians

During the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Lebanon gave verbal support to the Arab effort against Israel but did not become involved in any military action. After that, however, Lebanon's position became increasingly difficult because of the activities against Israel of Palestinian terrorists based in Lebanon. Israel repeatedly accused Lebanon of not doing enough to control the terrorists, and in 1968 Israeli forces began a series of reprisals against Palestinian strongholds in Lebanon. In 1969 fighting broke out between the Lebanese army and the Palestinian commandos after the government had threatened to limit the latter's activity.

After the bloody suppression in 1970–71 of the guerrillas in Jordan, large numbers of Palestinians fled into S Lebanon and Beirut. Again in 1972 heavy fighting took place between the Lebanese army and the Palestinians. Anti-Israeli terrorist attacks continued into the 1970s, and Israel continued its attacks on Palestinian guerrilla bases in S Lebanon. Lebanon did not enter the Oct., 1973, Arab-Israeli War , nor did the Lebanese army interfere with Palestinian guerrillas operating in S Lebanon.

Civil War

Lebanon became embroiled in civil war among the Christians, Muslims, and Palestinians from early 1975 to late 1976. At the request of Lebanon's president, Syrian forces entered Lebanon (Apr., 1976), halting Muslim and Palestinian advances. An estimated 50,000 Lebanese were killed and twice that number wounded. The country became devastated, the economy crippled, and tourism plummeted to a standstill. A cease-fire in Oct., 1976, proved unstable, and hostilities resumed full scale in 1977. In response to guerrilla attacks by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Israel occupied S Lebanon in Mar., 1978, but withdrew in June. This came with the installation of a UN peacekeeping force of 6,000, which was unable to effectively maintain control of Lebanese militia activity.

In 1981 fighting continued between Christian and Syrian forces, and Beirut was subjected to Israeli air raids in reprisal for PLO attacks. In June, 1982, Israeli forces invaded Lebanon, primarily to eliminate Palestinian guerrilla bases. Nearly 7,000 Palestinians were forced to leave Lebanon, which was accomplished under the supervision of a Multinational Force (MNF) comprised of U.S. and European-allied troops, who left immediately afterward. On Aug. 23, Bashir Gemayel (see under Gemayel , family) was elected president of Lebanon, but he was killed three weeks later by a bomb. In the wake of his death, Christian Phalangist forces entered the Palestinian refugee camps in Israeli-controlled areas and massacred some 1,000 civilians, provoking an international outcry.

Bashir Gemayel's brother, Amin, was elected president a few days later on Sept. 20. Another multinational force, of U.S. Marines and British, French, and Italian soldiers, returned to Lebanon to monitor the Lebanese militias. A U.S.-aided peace treaty, concluded with Amin Gemayel and Israel in May, 1983, called for the removal of foreign troops. Syria rejected the peace agreement, refusing to evacuate its holdings. As Israeli troops slowly left the Beirut and southern area, Lebanese militias fought among themselves in the wake of the Israeli withdrawal. In Apr., 1983, a terrorist bombing partially destroyed the U.S. embassy in Beirut, killing 50 people. On Oct. 23, 260 U.S. Marines and 60 French soldiers were killed by a truck bomb.

The multinational force left Lebanon in 1984. Israel completed its withdrawal in mid-1985 but left soldiers to work in conjunction with the Christian South Lebanese Army (SLA) to maintain a security ( "buffer" ) zone. Palestinian action gradually resumed as PLO members and units returned to S Lebanon. Beirut remained a major battle area, and in Feb., 1987, Syrian troops moved into the city to suppress the warring factions. By this time, Iranian-supported Lebanese Shiite groups had become notorious for their holding of Western hostages. When Gemayel's term ended in 1988, it proved impossible to hold national elections and find a successor. A transitional military government was led by Gen. Michel Aoun, whose aim of ousting Syrian forces from Lebanon sparked new rounds of battles and bloodshed.

A tentative peace accord was reached between Christian and Muslim representatives, but Aoun complained that the peace accord failed to pressure the Syrians to withdraw. On Nov. 22, 1989, the newly elected Syrian-backed president, René Moawad, was assassinated; he was succeeded by Elias Hrawi. Revolts by Aoun in late 1989 and 1990 were put down with the help of Syrian forces, and Aoun was ousted from the country. In Nov., 1990, major rival Shiite Muslim groups signed an agreement to end their fighting.

Post–Civil War Lebanon

In early 1991, Lebanese troops organized to regain control of the south from PLO guerrillas and Israelis who controlled a 6-mi (10-km) deep security zone. There were repeated and largely successful attempts to disband rival militias. A treaty (1991) of friendship and cooperation with Syria, which continued to have significant forces in Lebanon, essentially guaranteed Syrian domination of Lebanon's foreign relations. Meanwhile, beginning in the same year, Lebanon participated in peace talks with Israel, Syria, and a joint Palestinian–Jordanian delegation. International pressures on Lebanon eased with the release of the last U.S. and Western hostages in 1992.

By the mid-1990s, neither the Israeli nor the Syrian forces had quit the country, and clashes between Palestinian units and Israeli troops, as well as among the existing Lebanese militias, continued. Intense fighting erupted between Shiite Hezbollah (Party of God) guerrillas and Israel in S Lebanon in early 1996, as the guerrillas fired rockets into Israel and Israel retaliated with shelling and bombing. A tentative cease-fire was reached in late April; the episode generated a heavy flow of refugees from areas of S Lebanon. The many years of heavy fighting in Lebanon crippled the nation's infrastructure and economy, and devastated tourism, but a major rebuilding effort was undertaken in the 1990s.

In 1995, President Hrawi's term in office was extended by three years by a constitutional amendment. Gen. Emile Lahoud was elected president in 1998. Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas erupted again in June, 1999, following an announcement by Israel's new prime minister, Ehud Barak , that he would withdraw Israeli troops stationed in S Lebanon within a year. In May, 2000, Israeli troops engaged in a gradual withdrawal from S Lebanon, turning over its position to its Lebanese Christian ally, the South Lebanon Army (SLA), but the SLA collapsed, leading Israel to accelerate its withdrawal, which was completed by late May.

The 2000 parliamentary elections brought the opposition back into power, and Rafik Hariri became prime minister; he had previously held the office from 1992 to 1998. President Lahoud's term was extended for three years by constitutional amendment in 2004 at the behest of Syria, which still had some 18,000 troops in Lebanon. The blatant meddling in Lebanese affairs caused a governmental crisis in Lebanon, eventually resulting in the resignation of Hariri's government and the appointment of Omar Karami as prime minister; Karami had served as prime minister from 1990 to 1992. The UN Security Council denounced foreign interference in Lebanese politics and demanded that all foreign forces leave Lebanon. Some Syrian forces were withdrawn or redeployed in the following months.

In Feb., 2005, Hariri was assassinated in a Beirut car bombing, provoking a rash of anti-Syrian demonstrations and leading to increased international pressure on Syria to withdraw, although Hezbollah rallied its supporters in defense of Syria. Syria subsequently agreed to withdraw all its troops, and did so by the end of April. The crisis also led Karami's government to resign (February), but the president subsequently asked Karami to form a new government, which he proved unable to do. In April, however, Najib Mikati, a pro-Syrian politician who was also responsive to some opposition demands, became prime minister and formed a new government.

Parliamentary elections in May–June resulted in a majority for the anti-Syrian coalition; Fouad Siniora, a former finance minister and an ally of Hariri, became prime minister. The new government moved, albeit cautiously, to reduce Syrian influence in the Lebanese security forces, and arrested several high-ranking security officials associated with the president as suspects in the assassination of Hariri. A UN investigation into the killing meanwhile implicated senior Lebanese and Syrian officials. By the end of 2005, however, a cabinet vote in favor of an international trial of the suspects in Hariri's murder provoked a split in the government, with Shiite ministers refusing to attend cabinet sessions; the boycott lasted until Feb., 2006.

The disarming of the Shiite Hezbollah militia, as demanded by the United Nations, slowed the resolution of the boycott, and the prime minister ultimately acknowledged the group as a "national resistance movement," but many in the government continued to support disarming Hezbollah. In July, 2006, Hezbollah forces captured two Israeli soldiers in fighting along the Israeli border, leading Israel to launch air attacks against targets in Beirut, Sidon, Tyre, and many other locales, place a blockade on Lebanon, and send troops into S Lebanon. Hezbollah respond largely by mounting rocket attacks against N Israel, including Haifa and Tiberias, but the its forces also offered resistance to Israeli troops, slowing their advance.

A UN-mediated cease-fire took effect in mid-August, and by the beginning of October Israel had essentially withdrawn from Lebanon and ended its blockade. As much as a fifth of the Lebanese population was displaced by the conflict, and Israeli attacks destroyed much of the country's infrastructure, a setback for the rebuilding that had occurred since the end of the civil war. Tourism and agriculture were among the sectors of the Lebanese economy most severely hurt by the fighting. Amnesty International accused both sides of war crimes in the fighting, mainly because of their attacks on civilians.

The Israeli pullout left Hezbollah in position to proclaim its resistance and survival a victory, and emboldened it to insist on a re-formation of the Lebanese government that would give it and its allies a much stronger political position. Hezbollah also continued to resist disarming, as called for by the UN Security Council, and neither were the captured Israeli soldiers released. At the same time, however, the Lebanese army was deployed, albeit not forcefully, throughout S Lebanon for the first time since the civil war; UN peacekeepers were also deployed there. Israel, for its part, continued its military overflights of Lebanon, also despite the UN Security Council.

The political stalemate over the role of Hezbollah and its allies in the government led it and Amal, the other Shiite party in the cabinet, to leave the government, giving the government an interim standing under the Ta'if accord (because Shiites were no longer represented in the cabinet). The move also stalled the government's approval of an international tribunal to prosecute Hariri's suspected killers. Hezbollah subsequently mounted demonstrations and strikes calling for the government's resignation, and their clashes between government and antigovernment partisans at times.

The situation continued unsettled and unresolved into 2007, despite talks in March. Assassinations of members of parliament, mainly those opposed to Syria, also continued, and in Dec., 2007, an army general was killed. In May–Sept., 2007, there was fierce fighting in a refugee camp near Tripoli between the Lebanese army and Palestinian guerrillas aligned with Syria; a bank robbery by the group provoked the clash. More than 200 people died in the fighting before the government took control of the camp. Also in May the United Nations approved an international tribunal to try suspects in the Hariri assassination; the tribunal first convened in Mar., 2009, but in April the four Lebanese officers who had been held since 2005 in connection with the case were released for lack of evidence. In Aug., 2010, Hezbollah asserted that it had evidence implicating Israel in the assassination; the accusation was apparently prompted by information that the tribunal had found indications that some Hezbollah members had been involved.

The political stalemate delayed the election of a successor to President Lahoud, who left office in Nov., 2007. Although the parties agreed on army chief Michel Suleiman as a presidential candidate by early 2008, disputes over the makeup of the government postponed his election by parliament until May, 2008. The May agreement that led to a new president and cabinet was negotiated in Doha, Qatar, and was finalized only after the government's attempt to ban Hezbollah's private telephone network led Hezbollah to attack its Lebanese opponents in Beirut and elsewhere. After a week of bloody fighting, the government rescinded its ban.

A new government, with Siniora as prime minister, was finally established in July, 2008; Hezbollah and its allies received enough cabinet seats to give them veto power over government decisions. In September, an agreement was signed to end sectarian fighting in Tripoli, which had sporadically continued there between Sunnis and Alawites since May. The following month, Syria formally established diplomatic relations with Lebanon for the first time; Syria's previous failure to do so had been seen as a rejection of Lebanese independence. Parliamentarly elections held in June, 2009, resulted in a victory for the pro-Western Sunni, Druze, and Maronite coalition, led by Hariri's son, Saad. Attempts to form a coalition government proved difficult. In September Saad Hariri stepped down as prime minister designate, but he was renamed to the post, and a national unity government that included Hezbollah and its allies was formed in November.

Syria's influence in the country was again evident in 2010, as Hariri traveled several times to Damascus and, in September, said that he had been wrong to blame Syria for his father's assassination. In Jan., 2011, as an indictment from the Hariri assassination tribunal prosecutors neared, Hezbollah called on Prime Minister Hariri to repudiate the tribunal, which was expected to accuse members of Hezbollah of involvement in the crime. When the prime minister refused, Hezbollah and its allies withdrew from the government, forcing negotiations to establish a new government; they supported former prime minister Mikati, who as prime minister designate sought to establish a unity government, but Hariri's coalition announced it would not join the government, which was finally formed in July. Later than month, the Hariri tribunal delivered confidential arrest warrants to the Lebanese state prosecutor; its indictment of four Hezbollah members was made public the following month.

Bibliography

See P. Hitti, Lebanon in History (3d ed. 1967); M. Suleiman, Political Parties in Lebanon (1967); S. H. Longrigg, Syria and Lebanon under French Mandate (1958, repr. 1972); E. P. Haley and L. W. Snider, ed., Lebanon in Crisis (1979); J. C. Randal, Going All the Way: Christian Warlords, Israeli Adventurers, & the War in Lebanon (1983); W. Goria, Sovereignty & Leadership in Lebanon (1985); Y. Evron, War and Intervention in Lebanon (1987); T. Petran, The Struggle Over Lebanon (1987); R. Fisk, Pity the Nation (1990).

Lebanon

Recipes

1 GEOGRAPHIC SETTING AND ENVIRONMENT

Situated on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, Lebanon has an area of 4,015 square miles (10,400 square kilometers), about three-fourths the size of the state of Connecticut. The Lebanon Mountains are rugged. East of the Lebanon Mountains is the Bekaa Valley, an extremely fertile flatland. At the eastern flank of the Bekaa stands Mount Hermon, straddling the border with Syria. Lebanon contains few rivers, and its harbors are mostly shallow and small, with polluted coastal waters. Lebanon has an extraordinarily varied climate: within a 45-minutes drive in winter, spring, and fall, both skiing and swimming are possible. Less than 30% of Lebanon's total area can support crop production. Expansion of cultivated areas is limited by the arid and rugged nature of the land.

2 HISTORY AND FOOD

A unique cultural history has helped to make Lebanese food the most popular of all Middle Eastern cuisines. For most of its past, Lebanon has been ruled by foreign powers that have influenced the types of food the Lebanese ate. From 1516 to 1918, the Ottoman Turks controlled Lebanon and introduced a variety of foods that have become staples in the Lebanese diet, including olive oil, fresh bread, baklava (a sweet pastry dessert), laban (homemade yogurt), stuffed vegetables, and a variety of nuts. The Ottomans also increased the popularity of lamb.

After the Ottomans were defeated in World War I (1914–1918), France took control of Lebanon until 1946, when the country won its independence. During this time, the French introduced some of their most widely eaten foods, particularly treats such as flan, a caramel custard dessert dating back to the 1500s, and buttery croissants.

The Lebanese themselves have also helped to bring foods of other cultures into their diet. Ancient tribes journeyed throughout the Middle East, carrying with them food that would not spoil easily, such as rice and dates. These foods slowly became part of the Lebanese diet. As the tribes wandered, they discovered new seasonings, fruits, and vegetables that they could add to their everyday meals. Exotic ingredients from the Far East (east and southeast Asia) and other areas of the world were often discovered by these early tribes.

Lebanese Rice Pudding

Ingredients

• 1 quart whole milk
• ¾ cup rice
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 to 3 Tablespoons vanilla
• Spoonful of orange marmalade (optional)

Procedure

1. Cook the rice according to package directions.
2. When rice is cooked, add the sugar and milk and mix well.
3. Continue cooking over medium heat for 3 to 4 more minutes.
4. Remove the pot from the stove. Add 2 to 3 Tablespoons of vanilla and mix well.
5. Serve topped with a spoonful of orange marmalade.

Serves 4 to 6.

Pita Bread

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt

Procedure

1. Dissolve the yeast in 1 cup of warm water.
2. Sift together the flour and salt.
3. Combine the yeast and water with the flour and salt and mix well.
4. Work the mixture into a dough and knead for several minutes.
5. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place for 3 hours.
6. Preheat oven to 350°F.
7. Divide the dough into 6 equal portions and roll into balls.
8. Using a hand or a rolling pin, pat and press each ball of dough into a 5-inch circle about ½-inch thick.
9. Place on an ungreased baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes, or until the pita are light golden brown.

Serves 8.

Cucumber with Yogurt

Ingredients

• 1 medium cucumber, peeled and diced
• 2 cups plain yogurt
• 2 or more cloves of garlic
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 Tablespoons fresh mint, finely chopped
• A few sprigs fresh mint, for garnish

Procedure

1. Put the cucumber in a serving bowl.
2. In a separate mixing bowl, beat the yogurt and garlic together and season to taste with salt and black pepper.
3. Stir in the mint.
4. Pour the mixture over the cucumber.
5. Garnish with sprigs of fresh mint and serve with pita bread.

Serves 6 to 8.

3 FOODS OF THE LEBANESE

The Lebanese diet focuses on herbs, spices, and fresh ingredients (the Lebanese rarely eat leftovers), relying less on heavy sauces. Mint, parsley, oregano, garlic, allspice, nutmeg, and cinnamon are the most common seasonings.

Bread, a staple food in Lebanon, is served with almost every meal, most often as a flat bread, or pita. It is so crucial to the Lebanese diet that some Arabic dialects refer to it as esh, meaning "life."

Fruit, vegetables, rice, and bread out-weigh the amount of meat eaten in the average Lebanese meal. However, the most commonly eaten meats, poultry and lamb, make up some of the country's most popular dishes. The national dish, kibbeh (or kibbe ), consists of a ground lamb and cracked wheat paste, similar to paté. Kibbeh was originally made by harshly pounding the lamb and kneading in the spices and wheat. Those who were unfamiliar with this practice often found it quite unpleasant, including the English food writer George Lassalle, who described it as "frightening." Some rural villages continue to prepare it this way.

Mezze, a variety of flavorful hot and cold dishes, is another important part of the Lebanese diet. As many as forty small dishes are presented at once as either appetizers or as a meal itself. Hummus (chickpea, sesame seed, and garlic paste), rice and meat wrapped in grape leaves, mashed beans, hot and cold salads, grilled seafood and meats (including kebabs, cooked cubes of lamb, peppers, and onions), and pickled vegetables are most popular. Lebanese meals are rarely served in courses, but presented all at once. Tabbouleh (a salad made with cracked wheat) and mujaddara (a lentil and rice dish) are also widely consumed.

Lebanon's variety of fresh fruits makes them popular after-dinner desserts. Melon, apples, oranges, tangerines, persimmons, grapes, and figs are great treats. Baklava, a sweet, flaky pastry, is usually associated with Greek cuisine. However, the Lebanese have embraced the dessert and normally prepare it with pistachio nuts, drizzled with rose-water syrup (the Greeks use walnuts and honey). Ahweh (strong, thick Arabic-style coffee) and the country's national drink, arak (a colorless alcoholic beverage made with anise, also called "Lion's Milk" because it is white), are most commonly served with dessert.

Tabbouleh

Ingredients

• ¾ cup cracked wheat, finely ground
• 2 cups fresh tomatoes, diced
• 2 Tablespoons dried mint
• 1 or 2 bunches of parsley, cut fine
• ¾ cup green onions, thinly sliced
• Juice of one lemon
• ¼ cup olive oil
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Procedure

1. In a bowl, cover cracked wheat with warm water and let stand about 15 minutes. Drain thoroughly.
2. Mix tomatoes, mint, parsley, onions, lemon juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper in a separate bowl.
3. Add the drained wheat and mix well.
4. Add more lemon juice and olive oil, if needed. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.
5. Serve in a bowl, or on a bed of lettuce leaves, with pita bread cut into triangles.

Serves 6 to 8.

Baked Kibbeh

Ingredients

• 2 cups cracked wheat (bulgur)
• 4 cups cold water
• 2 pounds lean ground beef or lamb
• 1 medium onion, very finely chopped
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• ½ teaspoon allspice (optional)
• ¼ cup butter, melted

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Place cracked wheat in a large mixing bowl and cover with the cold water.
3. Let stand 5 minutes, and then drain. Press on grains to remove water.
4. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.
5. Process in batches in a food processor fitted with the chopping blade or a blender.
6. Butter a 9x12-inch baking pan.
7. Spread the mixture into the pan, smoothing the top with wet hands.
8. Cut into 2-inch squares. It is traditional to cut the kibbeh into a diamond pattern.
9. Pour melted butter over the top. Bake for 50 minutes.
10. Serve with pita bread.

Serves 6 to 8.

4 FOOD FOR RELIGIOUS AND HOLIDAY CELEBRATIONS

It seems as though the Lebanese are always participating in holiday celebrations, especially religious holy days. This is because Lebanon is home to two main religions: Islam and Christianity. Despite bitter disagreements between them, the people of both religions continue to enjoy their own traditional festive celebrations, which often include large feasts among family and friends.

Muslims (believers of Islam) celebrate several holidays throughout the year, though probably none are as important as the holiday of Ramadan. During the entire ninth month of the Islamic calendar, Muslims avoid all food and drink between sunrise and sunset. In some villages, a man beats a drum through the streets, attempting to wake people before the sun rises so that they may enjoy an early breakfast. A typical pre-dawn breakfast might include grapefruit, pita bread with olive oil, a boiled egg, a cup of laban (yogurt), and tea. After the sun sets, Muslims gather with friends and family to share in a delicious feast.

Eid al-Fitr, meaning "festival that breaks the fast," marks the end of Ramadan and food is generously shared with loved ones. The Feast of the Sacrifice, Eid al-Adha, is also celebrated with food and festivities. During this time, a sheep is killed and eaten after returning from the hadj (the pilgrimage to Mecca). Many families donate a portion of their sheep to the poor.

The most widely celebrated Christian holidays are Christmas and Easter. Visiting friends and family at Christmas has become tradition. Prior to a large chicken or turkey lunch, most guests are offered sugarcoated almonds to snack on. Dessert is commonly bûche de noël, a French Christmas cake shaped like a yule log. Homes are decorated with tinsel, and Christmas trees are often adorned with orange peels cut into various shapes. Easter is probably the most important holiday for Christians. Children may celebrate by playing a Lebanese Easter egg game called Biis-Biis, in which they compete to see who has the strongest, unbreakable hard-boiled egg. After a long day of excitement, families sit down to enjoy a lamb dinner, often followed by ma'moul (date-filled teacakes) or ka'ak (cookies).

Labor Day (May 1) and Independence Day (November 22) are popularly celebrated national holidays. Both attract people of all ages to partake in food and festivities.

Easy Lebanese Baklava

Ingredients

• 2 cans (8 ounces each) refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
• 3 to 4 cups pistachio nuts (or pecans), chopped
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 cups honey
• 2 Tablespoons margarine or butter
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Unroll one can of dough into an ungreased 9x13-inch baking pan.
3. Press over bottom and ½-inch up sides to form crust, pressing perforations to seal.
4. Bake for 5 minutes and remove from the oven.
5. In a large bowl, combine nuts, sugar, and cinnamon. Sprinkle the mixture over baked crust.
6. Unroll the second crescent roll dough and spread over top.
7. With a sharp knife tip, score top dough to form a diamond pattern.
8. In a small saucepan, combine honey, butter or margarine, and lemon juice, and bring to a boil.
9. Remove from heat and pour half of the honey mixture evenly over top of dough.
10. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.
11. Drizzle remaining honey mixture over top of the hot baklava. Cool completely and cut into diamond-shaped pieces.

Makes 18 to 24 pastries.

Ahweh (Arabic Coffee)

Ingredients

• 1¼ cups cold water
• 1 heaping teaspoon Arabic or Turkish coffee, ground
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• A few drops of orange blossom water (optional)
• Pinch of cardamom, ground (optional)

Procedure

1. Using a saucepan, dissolve the sugar in the water and bring to a boil.
2. Add the coffee (with ground cardamom if desired) and stir well. Bring to a boil.
3. When the foam rises to the top, remove the saucepan from the heat to let the foam subside for about 1 minute.
4. Return the pot to the heat and bring to a boil again.
5. Traditionally, the coffee is brought to a boil at least three times.
6. Serve with a few drops of orange blossom water, if desired.

Sugared Almonds

Ingredients

• 1 pound almonds
• 1 egg white
• 1 Tablespoon water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon salt

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 300°F.
2. Separate the egg yolk from the egg white, and discard the yolk.
3. Beat the egg white and water in a bowl.
4. Add the nuts and mix well.
5. In a separate bowl, combine the sugar, cinnamon, and salt and mix well.
6. Add the sugar mixture to the nut mixture.
7. Spread on foil-covered pan.
8. Bake for 15 minutes.
9. Stir and bake another 15 minutes.

Ka'ak Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup oil (or butter)
• 2 eggs
• 3 cups flour, or enough to make dough firm
• 1 cup milk
• 1 Tablespoon mahlab, pounded until fine (or substitute with ground cinnamon)
• 3 teaspoons baking powder

Procedure

1. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and let chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F.
3. Roll out the dough until it is about ¼-inch thick.
4. Cut into circles and bake for 10 to 15 minutes.

Makes about 36 cookies.

Lebanese Fresh Fruit Salad

Ingredients

• 1 ripe melon
• ½ fresh pineapple
• 1 to 2 oranges
• Apples, pears, or strawberries (depending on season)
• 2 ripe bananas

Procedure

1. Remove melon from rind and dice.
2. Cut pineapple into chunks.
3. Peel and section the oranges, removing all the white membrane.
4. Cut the orange slices into chunks.
5. Toss together in a bowl.
6. Dice the apple, pear, and strawberries.
7. Add them to the tossed fruit mixture.
8. Just before serving, peel, slice, and add banana. Mix well.

Makes 6 servings.

5 MEALTIME CUSTOMS

Arabs have a reputation for hospitality towards guests that come to visit, even if the visit was not planned (which most are not). Food is almost guaranteed to be delicious and filling.

A rural family will often pick fruit and vegetables from their own gardens. If they do not have what they need, a souk (street market shop) can provide them with any food from eggplant to mint leaves. Because bread is essential with almost every meal, rural women travel to the village bakery, called the foorn, to bake their breads and pastries for the day, as well as to catch up on gossip.

Lunch, the largest of the three meals eaten each day, is usually served around 2:00 p.m. Mezze, several appetizer-like dishes, are served first. Warm bread, hummus (chickpea paste), and olives, cheese, and pistachio nuts are commonly served. Kibbeh, the national dish, is frequently the main meal. Kebabs (cubes of cooked meat on a skewer) and kefta (ground meat mixed with herbs and spices) are popular too. Baklava or a fresh bowl of melon will likely make for a sweet dessert. Most children nap after such a plentiful afternoon meal.

Unlike in the United States, milk is rarely drunk with meals. Adults will often enjoy beer, wine, or arak (licorice-flavored liquor). Children enjoy limoonada (lemonade), fresh fruit juices, or jellab (a soft drink made from raisins and served with pine nuts). International restaurants are widespread throughout the country. French, Italian, German, Austrian, Scandinavian, Greek, Chinese, American, and Indian food are readily available. In addition, U.S. fast food chains are often bustling with people.

Limoonada (Lemonade)

Ingredients

• 2 lemons
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 6 ice cubes
• 3 cups cold water
• 2 teaspoons orange flower water (optional)
• 4 slices lemon, for garnish

Procedure

1. Wash lemons. If the lemons are thick skinned, cut off and discard the pointy end pieces.
2. Cut each lemon into 4 to 6 pieces and place in a blender along with any juice that escaped during cutting.
3. Place the lid on the blender and blend on maximum speed for 3 to 5 seconds.
4. Add the remaining ingredients and blend again on high speed for 30 seconds.
5. Pour through a sieve into a serving pitcher.
6. Serve lemonade in tall glasses with extra ice and lemon slices.

Serves 4.

Hummus be Tahini

Ingredients

• 1 can cooked chickpeas
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 3 Tablespoons tahini (a thick paste made from ground sesame seeds; found in specialty stores)
• ½ cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 Tablespoons parsley, chopped
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 Tablespoons cold water

Procedure

1. Heat the cooked chickpeas over medium low heat. Remove from heat and mash by hand or in a food processor, reserving a few whole ones for garnishing.
2. Add tahini, lemon juice, crushed garlic, salt, and water. Blend the mixture until it is creamy.
3. Pour the thick dip into a deep bowl. Garnish with whole chickpeas and chopped parsley. Sprinkle with olive oil and serve with pita bread.

6 POLITICS, ECONOMICS, AND NUTRITION

The World Bank reports only about 2 percent of the Lebanese population is classified as undernourished, which means they do not receive sufficient nutrition in their diets. About 63 percent has adequate access to sanitation, and 100 percent to safe drinking water. Ninety-five percent of the population has access to health care services. Of children under the age of five, about 3 percent are underweight, and 12 percent are stunted (short for their age).

War and violence during the 1980s and 1990s has had a significant impact on the development of many Lebanese children. Between 1982 and 1990, there were over 144,000 deaths due to an Israeli invasion. As a result, many children suffer from post-traumatic stress disorders. According to law, children over the age of eight are allowed to work a maximum of seven hours a day, which also contributes to childrens' stress.

7 FURTHER STUDY

Books

Amari, Suad. Cooking the Lebanese Way. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Company, 1986.

Foster, Leila Merrell. Enchantment of the World: Lebanon. Chicago: Children's Press, 1992.

Karaoglan, Aida. Food for the Vegetarian: Traditional Lebanese Recipes. Northampton, MA: Interlink Publishing Group, 1998.

Levi, Zion and Hani Agabria. The Yemenite Cookbook. New York: Seaver Books, 1988.

Salloum, Mary. A Taste of Lebanon. New York: Interlink Books, 1988.

Sawaya, Linda Dalal. "Memories of a Lebanese Garden." Aramco World, January/February 1997, 1623.

Scott, David. Recipes from an Arabian Night: Traditional Cooking from North Africa and the Middle East. New York: Pantheon Books, 1983.

Sheehan, Sean. Cultures of the World: Lebanon. New York: Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 1997.

Web Sites

Arab Net. [Online] Available http://www.arab.net/ (accessed March 1, 2001).

Cedar's Land. [Online] Available http://www.made-in-lebanon.com/ (accessed March 1, 2001).

Cyber-kitchen. [Online] Available http://www.cyber-kitchen.com/ (accessed March 5, 2001).

Global Gourmet. [Online] Available http://www.globalgourmet.com (accessed March 1, 2001).

Islam-usa.com. [Online] Available http://www.islam-usa.com/h9.html (accessed March 5, 2001).

Lebanon.com. [Online] Available http://www.lebanon.com/tourism/food.htm (accessed March 1, 2001).

Lebanon Guide. [Online] Available http://www.lebanon-guide.com/links/cuisine.htm (accessed March 1, 2001).

Lonely Planet World Guide: Lebanon. [Online] Available http://www.lonelyplanet.com (accessed March 1, 2001).

Recipes from Lebanon. [Online] Available http://www.kadado.com/gallery/lebanon/food.htm (accessed March 1, 2001).

Sallysplace.com. [Online] Available http://www.sallys-place.com/food/ethnic_cuisine/lebanon.htm/ (accessed March 1, 2001).

Searchable Online Archive of Recipes (SOAR). [Online] Available http://soar.berkeley.edu/recipes/ethnic/lebanese/recipe19.rec (accessed March 1, 2001).

Virgin Net. [Online] Available http://www.virgin.net/travel/guides//middle_east/lebanon/socialprofile.htm (accessed March 1, 2001).

Lebanon An ethnically homogeneous country which for centuries has suffered from divisions and enmity between its various religious groups. A part of the Ottoman Empire since 1516, it came under French control in 1918, and was declared a French League of Nations Mandate on 1 September 1920. This Mandate entailed a large increase in the country's territory to its present size, which brought the number of Muslims to near parity with that of the Maronite Christians who dominated the country's political and economic establishment. Its constitution of 1926, which shaped its political system for the rest of the century, was based on that of the French Third Republic. Political representation was awarded by religious group, to each according to its size. In the Chamber of Deputies, Maronite Christians were to be represented relative to Muslims at a ratio of six to five. The main offices of state were also reserved for different religions and sects, so that the President was to be a Maronite Christian, the Prime Minister a Sunni Muslim, the Speaker a Shi'ite Muslim.

Released into independence in 1943, the new state still had an extremely underdeveloped sense of nationhood. By this time the Maronites, who had benefited considerably from French administration, looked to Western culture, while Muslims felt more Syrian than Lebanese. Upon independence, it was agreed that the current political system should be maintained, while each group should refrain from extremism, i.e. the Maronites accepted that Lebanon was an Arab country, while Muslims turned their attention away from other Arab states. In the next decades this compromise was challenged by four basic factors, two of them internal, two of them external.

First, demographic change eroded the Maronites' popular majority, since they had lower birth rates and higher emigration rates than their Muslim counterparts. Thus, by 1986, around 41 per cent of the population were Shi'ite Muslims, 27 per cent Sunni Muslims, 7 per cent Druze, and only 16 per cent Maronite Christian. To growing Muslim resentment, the political system did not adjust to these shifting balances in the relative size of the religious groups. Secondly, the divisions among the sects were intensified by economic differences. The Christians formed not only the political but also the economic elite, especially in Beirut, whereas the Shi'ite Muslims formed the majority of the poorest sections of the population. Economic progress after 1945 increased these differences, and thus heightened general resentment against the Christian population.

Thirdly, Muslim Arab consciousness was intensified by the growth of pan-Arabism, fostered by Nasser in particular. Fourthly, perhaps the most crucial factor was the influx of refugees from Palestine since 1947 and the establishment of Israel. The problem was compounded by the arrival of refugees after the Six Day War. In Palestinian refugee camps, authority was exercised by the PLO, which became a state within a state against whom the Lebanese authorities were powerless, as the PLO was supported by the Muslim part of the population. Following the PLO's expulsion from Jordan by Hussein, the Lebanon became the headquarters of the PLO, which used the country as a base for military raids on Israel.

Consequently, during the 1970s and 1980s the country was riven by two separate but mutually reinforcing conflicts. After bitter fighting erupted briefly in 1973, civil war broke out in 1975, mainly between Muslim private militias supported by Syria, and Maronite Christian groups (led by Jumayyil's Phalanges) supported by Israel. In a conflict in which allegiances often turned, Syria invaded most of Lebanon and Beirut in 1976 and came to the aid of the Christian Maronites. Syria expelled the Palestinians to the south, and thus Arafat's control over them increased. From 1978, Israel occupied a ‘security zone’ in southern Lebanon, in order to make cross-border attacks more difficult. In 1982 the Israeli army launched a full-scale invasion, which led to a siege of Beirut. The Syrians were expelled from most of the country, and the PLO was forced to withdraw its headquarters to Tunisia. It turned out to be a hollow victory for Israel, however, since its military actions temporarily defeated the PLO but provoked the foundation of much more radical Islamic groups such as Hezbollah. Ultimately, heavy losses forced Israel in 1984 to withdraw to its security zone in southern Lebanon. Civil war continued unabated but, in the absence of a common enemy, rival factions became more and more fragmented, and turned on one another.

The remaining members of the last elected Chamber of Deputies before the outbreak of the civil war in 1975 signed a Charter for National Reconciliation at Taif in 1989, which envisaged constitutional reform. Given the state of anarchy and chaos that prevailed, it was unenforceable, however. As international (and particularly US) attention focused on Iraq in the buildup to the Gulf War, in 1990 Syria quietly reoccupied Lebanon, securing a fragile peace by enforcing the Taif Accord. The country became practically a protectorate of Syria, whose 40,000 troops ensured that the Lebanese government could do little without Syrian consent. Syrian occupation also gave an added twist to the Middle East peace process, since Israel became even more reluctant to give up its six-mile security zone in southern Lebanon while Syrian forces remained in the rest of the country. For at least as long as the Israeli occupation of the southern Lebanese border continued, however, it was unlikely that Lebanon would find a lasting peace. The new political order of the early 1990s was confirmed in the elections of August/September 1996, which resulted in an overwhelming victory for the parties backing the pro-Syrian government, even in areas with a large Christian population. Lebanon was governed between 1992 and 1998 by Rafik al-Hariri (b. 1945, d. 2005, who returned to power after the elections of 2000. The growing stability of the country was confirmed in 2000, when the last Israeli troops withdrew from the Lebanon and the militias which Israel had supported disbanded. The growing confidence of the domestic political elite was reflected in a developing public debate about the continued presence of Syrian troops. It raised the question whether the wounds of the civil war had healed sufficiently for order to be maintained in Lebanon's heterogeneous society without the aid of Syrian forces.

Lebanon city (1990 pop. 24,800), seat of Lebanon co., SE Pa., in the Pennsylvania Dutch farm country; founded 1753, inc. as a city 1868. Its manufactures include fabricated metal products, lumber, apparel, machinery, tools, textiles, fertilizers, and processed foods. Grain, soybeans, and apples are grown, and livestock is raised. Lebanon was a flourishing town before 1790, and early 18th-century German religious groups are still represented there. The city has a historical museum, and horse shows are a local feature. Also in the area are the Cornwall Furnace (operated 1742–1883) and the Union Canal tunnel, a civil-engineering landmark.

Lebanon, French mandate whose governor sided with the Vichy government after the fall of France in June 1940. The country was conquered by British and Free French forces in July 1941 during the Syrian campaign, the mandate was terminated, and Lebanon's future independence was announced by the Free French authorities. But it was only finally achieved in 1946 after wartime public disturbances and the threat of armed intervention by the British on the side of the nationalists. Lebanon was a founding member of the Arab League.

Lebanon

The people of Lebanon are called Lebanese. Lebanese are divided into Muslims and Christians. Muslims are divided into Sunnis and Shi'ites. The Christian Maronites make up about one-third of the total population of Lebanon, and are a distinct and significant group.

Lebanon

SeeEthnic Variation/Ethnicity

Lebanon •Buchanan, cannon, canon, colcannon, Louisianan, Montanan, Rhiannon, Shannon •Botswanan •Lennon, pennon, tenon •Canaan •Burkinan, Henan •finnan •phenomenon, prolegomenon •Parthenon •Arizonan, Conan, Ronan •Lebanon • Algernon • Vernon •Groningen • Vlissingen •Tongan, wrong'un •cap'n, happen •dampen, lampern •aspen •parpen, sharpen, tarpon •weapon • hempen •capon, misshapen •cheapen, deepen, steepen •tympan • ripen • saucepan • open •lumpen