1988 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1988 (Internet Archive)
Geography
Boundary disputes
separated from Israel by 1949 Armistice Line; Israeli troops in southern Lebanon since June 1982
Climate
Mediterranean; mild to cool, wet winters with hot, dry summers
Coastline
225 km
Comparative area
smaller than Connecticut
Environment
rugged terrain has historically helped isolate, protect, and develop numerous factional groups based on religion, clan, ethnicity; deforestation; soil erosion; air and water pollution; desertification
Land boundaries
531 km total
Land use
21% arable land; 9% permanent crops; 1% meadows and pastures; 8% forest and woodland; 61% other; includes 8% irrigated
Special notes
Nahr al Litani only river in Near East not crossing an international boundary
Terrain
narrow coastal plain; Al Biqa' (Bekaa Valley) separates Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon Mountains
Territorial sea
12 nm
Total area
10,400 km2; land area: 10,230 km2
People and Society
Ethnic divisions
93% Arab, 6% Armenian, 1% other
Infant mortality rate
48/1,000 (1983)
Labor force
650,000 (1985); 79% industry, commerce, and services, 11% agriculture, 10% goverment; high unemployment
Language
Arabic (official); French is widely spoken; Armenian, English
Life expectancy
men 63, women 67
Literacy
75%
Nationality
noun — Lebanese (sing., pi.); adjective — Lebanese
Organized labor
about 65,000
Population
3,320,522 (July 1987), average annual growth rate 0.33%
Religion
57% Muslim (Sunni and Shi'a) and Druze, 42% Christian (Maronite, Greek Orthodox and Catholic, Roman Catholic, Protestant), 1% other (official estimates)
Government
Administrative divisions
4 provinces
Branches
power lies with the President, who is elected by unicameral legislature (National Assembly); Cabinet appointed by President, approved by legislature; independent secular courts on French pattern; religious courts for matters of marriage, divorce, inheritance, etc.; by custom, the President is a Maronite Christian, the Prime Minister is a Sunni Muslim, and the president of the legislature is a Shi'a Muslim; each of nine religious communities are represented in the legislature in proportion to their national numerical strength
Capital
Beirut
Elections
National Assembly held every four years or within three months of dissolution of Chamber; security conditions have prevented parliamentary elections since April 1972 Political parties and leaders: political party activity is organized along largely sectarian lines; numerous political groupings exist, consisting of individual political figures and followers motivated by religious, clan, and economic considerations; most parties have well-armed militias, which are still involved in occasional clashes
Government leaders
Amine Pierre GEMAYEL, President (since September 1982); Rashid KARAMI, Prime Minister (since May 1984)
Legal system
mixture of Ottoman law, canon law, and civil law; constitution mandated in 1926; no judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday
Independence Day, 22 November
Note
Between early 1975 and late 1976 Lebanon was torn by civil war between its Christians— then aided by Syrian troops— and its Muslims and their Palestinian allies. The cease-fire established in October 1976 between the domestic political groups generally held for about six years, despite occasional fighting. Syrian troops constituted as the Arab Deterrent Force by the Arab League have remained in Lebanon. Syria's move toward supporting the Lebanese Muslims and the Palestinians and Israel's growing support for Lebanese Christians brought the two sides into rough equilibrium, but no progress was made toward national reconciliation or political reforms — the original cause of the war. Continuing Israeli concern about the Palestinian presence in Lebanon led to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in June 1982. Israeli forces occupied all of the southern portion of the country and mounted a summer-long seige of Beirut, which resulted in the evacuation of the PLO from Beirut in September under the supervision of a multinational force made up of US, French, and Italian troops. Within days of the departure of the multinational force (MNF), Lebanon's newly elected president, Bashir Gemayel, was assassinated. In the wake of his death, Christian militiamen massacred hundreds of Palestinian refugees in two Beirut camps. This prompted the return of the MNF to ease the security burden on Lebanon's weak army and security forces. In late March 1984 the last MNF units withdrew. Lebanon continues to be partially occupied by Syrian troops. Israel withdrew the bulk of its forces from the south in 1985, retaining a 10-km deep security zone just north of the 1949 Armistice Line. Israel continues to arm and train the Army of South Lebanon (ASL), which opposes the return of Palestinian fighters to South Lebanon. The ASL has increasingly been involved in confronting Shi'a as well as leftist militias sponsored by Syria. Sporadic fighting between Shi'a and Palestinian forces based in the refugee camps of Beirut, Sidon, and Tyre escalated during October 1986 to January 1987, finally breaking into major combat in February. At its height, fighting in West Beirut pitted the Shi'a against the Druze (their nominal allies) and the Sunnis and Palestinians. At the request of Prime Minister Rashid Karami and other Muslim members of the government, Syria dispatched troops to West Beirut to restore order. Syria also maintains troops in the Riyaq area of the Bekaa Valley, while Special Forces units are stationed in the Matn, and in the Tripoli areas, north and northeast. In late 1985 the Syrian regime successfully negotiated a tripartite agreement among the three major rival Christian, Druze, and Shi'a militias, but implementation remains a distant possibility. The Christian and Muslim communities are deeply split from within over specific points in the agreement. Israel and Lebanon signed a withdrawal agreement on 17 May 1983. The agreement was never implemented and was subsequently voided. A partial Israeli withdrawal and government attempts to extend authority have led to renewed factional fighting. The following description is based on the present constitutional and customary practices of the Lebanese system.
Official name
Republic of Lebanon
Suffrage
compulsory for all males over 21; authorized for women over 21 with elementary education
Type
republic
Economy
Agriculture
rice (overwhelmingly dominant), corn, vegetables, tobacco, coffee, cotton; formerly self-sufficient; food shortages (due in part to distribution deficiencies) include rice; an illegal producer of opium poppy and cannabis for the international drug trade
Aid
Western (non-US) countries ODA and OOF (1970-84), $409 million; US (FY7079), $276 million
Budget
receipts, $100 million; expenditures, $191 million; deficit, $91 million (1979 est.)
Electric power
175,000 kW capacity; 900 million kWh produced, 240 kWh per capita (1986)
Exports
$36 million (f.o.b., 1984 est.); electric power, forest products, tin concentrates; coffee, undeclared exports of opium and tobacco
Fiscal year
1 July-30 June
GNP
$765 million, $220 per capita (1984 est.)
Imports
$98 million (c.i.f., 1984 est.); rice and other foodstuffs, petroleum products, machinery, transportation equipment
Major industries
tin mining, timber, green coffee, electric power
Major trade partners
imports — Thailand, USSR, Japan, France, Vietnam; exports — Thailand, Malaysia
Monetary conversion rate
official — 10 kips=US$l; commercial— 35 kips=US$l; inward remittances — 108 kips=US$l (December 1985)
Natural resources
tin, timber, gypsum, hydroelectric power
Shortages
capital equipment, petroleum, transportation system, trained personnel
Communications
Airfields
64 total, 49 usable; 9 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 1 1 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Branches
Lao People's Army (LPA, which consists of an army with naval, aviation, and militia elements), Air Force, National Police Department
Highways
about 27,527 km total; 1,856 km bituminous or bituminous treated; 7,451 km gravel, crushed stone, or improved earth; 18,220 km unimproved earth and often impassable during rainy season mid-May to mid-September
Inland waterways
about 4,587 km, primarily Mekong and tributaries; 2,897 additional kilometers are sectionally navigable by craft drawing less than 0.5 m
Military manpower
males 15-49, 900,000; 482,000 fit for military service; 41,000 reach military age (18) annually; no conscription age specified Boundary representation is not necessarily authoritative See regional mip VI
Pipelines
136 km, refined products
Ports (river)
5 major, 4 minor
Telecommunications
service to general public considered poor; radio network provides generally erratic service to government users; about 10 AM stations; 1 TV station; over 5,000 telephones; 1 satellite ground station Defense Forces