1993 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1993 (Project Gutenberg)
Geography
Area
total area: 10,400 km2 land area: 10,230 km2 comparative area: about 0.8 times the size of Connecticut
Climate
Mediterranean; mild to cool, wet winters with hot, dry summers; Lebanon mountians experience heavy winter snows
Coastline
225 km
Environment
rugged terrain historically helped isolate, protect, and develop numerous factional groups based on religion, clan, ethnicity; deforestation; soil erosion; air and water pollution; desertification
International disputes
separated from Israel by the 1949 Armistice Line; Israeli troops in southern Lebanon since June 1982; Syrian troops in northern, central, and eastern Lebanon since October 1976
Irrigated land
860 km2 (1989 est.)
Land boundaries
total 454 km, Israel 79 km, Syria 375 km
Land use
arable land: 21% permanent crops: 9% meadows and pastures: 1% forest and woodland: 8% other: 61%
Location
Middle East, in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, between Israel and Syria
Map references
Africa, Middle East, Standard Time Zones of the World
Maritime claims
territorial sea: 12 nm
Natural resources
limestone, iron ore, salt, water-surplus state in a water-deficit region
Note
Nahr al Litani only major river in Near East not crossing an international boundary
Terrain
narrow coastal plain; Al Biqa' (Bekaa Valley) separates Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon Mountains
People and Society
Birth rate
27.86 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Death rate
6.66 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Ethnic divisions
Arab 95%, Armenian 4%, other 1%
Infant mortality rate
41 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
Labor force
650,000 by occupation: industry, commerce, and services 79%, agriculture 11%, government 10% (1985)
Languages
Arabic (official), French (official), Armenian, English
Life expectancy at birth
total population: 69.01 years male: 66.63 years female: 71.52 years (1993 est.)
Literacy
age 15 and over can read and write (1990) total population: 80% male: 88% female: 73%
Nationality
noun: Lebanese (singular and plural) adjective: Lebanese
Net migration rate
-3.1 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Population
3,552,369 (July 1993 est.)
Population growth rate
1.81% (1993 est.)
Religions
Islam 70% (5 legally recognized Islamic groups - Alawite or Nusayri, Druze, Isma'ilite, Shi'a, Sunni), Christian 30% (11 legally recognized Christian groups - 4 Orthodox Christian, 6 Catholic, 1 Protestant), Judaism NEGL%
Total fertility rate
3.47 children born/woman (1993 est.)
Government
Administrative divisions
5 governorates (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah); Al Biqa, 'Al Janub, Ash Shamal, Bayrut, Jabal Lubnan
Capital
Beirut
Chief of State
President Ilyas HARAWI (since 24 November 1989)
Constitution
26 May 1926 (amended)
Digraph
LE
Diplomatic representation in US
chief of mission: Ambassador Simon KARAM chancery: 2560 28th Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: (202) 939-6300 consulates general: Detroit, New York, and Los Angeles
Executive branch
president, prime minister, Cabinet; note - by custom, the president is a Maronite Christian, the prime minister is a Sunni Muslim, and the speaker of the legislature is a Shi'a Muslim
Flag
three horizontal bands of red (top), white (double width), and red with a green and brown cedar tree centered in the white band
Head of Government
Prime Minister Rafiq HARIRI (since 22 October 1992)
Independence
22 November 1943 (from League of Nations mandate under French administration)
Judicial branch
four Courts of Cassation (three courts for civil and commercial cases and one court for criminal cases)
Legal system
mixture of Ottoman law, canon law, Napoleonic code, and civil law; no judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Legislative branch
unicameral National Assembly (Arabic - Majlis Alnuwab, French - Assemblee Nationale)
Member of
ABEDA, AFESD, AL, AMF, CCC, ESCWA, FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OIC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNRWA, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Names
conventional long form: Republic of Lebanon conventional short form: Lebanon local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Lubnaniyah local short form: none
National Assembly
Lebanon's first legislative election in 20 years was held in the summer of 1992; the National Assembly is composed of 128 deputies, one-half Christian and one-half Muslim; its mandate expires in 1996
National holiday
Independence Day, 22 November (1943)
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
Suffrage
21 years of age; compulsory for all males; authorized for women at age 21 with elementary education
Type
republic
US diplomatic representation
chief of mission: Ambassador Ryan C. CROCKER mailing embassy: Antelias, Beirut address: P. O. Box 70-840, Beirut, or Box B, FPO AE 09836 telephone: [961] 417774 or 415802, 415803, 402200, 403300
Economy
Agriculture
accounts for about one-third of GDP; principal products - citrus fruits, vegetables, potatoes, olives, tobacco, hemp (hashish), sheep, goats; not self-sufficient in grain
Budget
revenues $533 million; expenditures $1.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1991 est.)
Currency
1 Lebanese pound (#L) = 100 piasters
Economic aid
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $356 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $664 million; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $962 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $9 million
Electricity
1,300,000 kW capacity; 3,413 million kWh produced, 990 kWh per capita (1992)
Exchange rates
Lebanese pounds (#L) per US$1 - 1,742.00 (April 1993), 1,712.80 (1992), 928.23 (1991), 695.09 (1990), 496.69 (1989), 409.23 (1988)
Exports
$490 million (f.o.b., 1991) commodities: agricultural products, chemicals, textiles, precious and semiprecious metals and jewelry, metals and metal products partners: Saudi Arabia 21%, Switzerland 9.5%, Jordan 6%, Kuwait 12%, US 5%
External debt
$400 million (1992 est.)
Fiscal year
calendar year
Illicit drugs
illicit producer of opium, hashish, and heroin for the international drug trade; opium poppy production in Al Biqa almost completely eradicated this year; hashish production is shipped to Western Europe, Israel, US, the Middle East, and South America
Imports
$3.7 billion (c.i.f., 1991) commodities: Consumer goods, machinery and transport equipment, petroleum products partners: Italy 14%, France 12%, US 6%, Turkey 5%, Saudi Arabia 3%
Industrial production
growth rate NA%
Industries
banking, food processing, textiles, cement, oil refining, chemicals, jewelry, some metal fabricating
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
100% (1992 est.)
National product
GDP - exchange rate conversion - $4.8 billion (1991 est.)
National product per capita
$1,400 (1991 est.)
National product real growth rate
NA%
Overview
Since 1975 civil war has seriously damaged Lebanon's economic infrastructure, cut national output by half, and all but ended Lebanon's position as a Middle Eastern entrepot and banking hub. Following October 1990, however, a tentative peace has enabled the central government to begin restoring control in Beirut, collect taxes, and regain access to key port and government facilities. The battered economy has also been propped up by a financially sound banking system and resilient small- and medium-scale manufacturers. Family remittances, banking transactions, manufactured and farm exports, the narcotics trade, and international emergency aid are main sources of foreign exchange. In the relatively settled year of 1991, industrial production, agricultural output, and exports showed substantial gains. The further rebuilding of the war-ravaged country was delayed in 1992 because of an upturn in political wrangling. Hope for restoring economic momentum in 1993 rests with the new, business-oriented Prime Minister HARIRI.
Unemployment rate
35% (1991 est.)
Communications
Airports
total: 9 usable: 8 with permanent-surface runways: 6 with runways over 3,659 m: with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 3 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 2
Highways
7,300 km total; 6,200 km paved, 450 km gravel and crushed stone, 650 km improved earth
Merchant marine
63 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 270,505 GRT/403,328 DWT; includes 39 cargo, 1 refrigerated cargo, 2 vehicle carrier, 3 roll-on/roll-off, 1 container, 9 livestock carrier, 2 chemical tanker, 1 specialized tanker, 4 bulk, 1 combination bulk
Pipelines
crude oil 72 km (none in operation)
Ports
Beirut, Tripoli, Ra'Sil'ata, Juniyah, Sidon, Az Zahrani, Tyre, Jubayl, Shikka Jadidah
Railroads
system in disrepair, considered inoperable
Telecommunications
telecommunications system severely damaged by civil war; rebuilding still underway; 325,000 telephones (95 telephones per 1,000 persons); domestic traffic carried primarily by microwave radio relay and a small amount of cable; international traffic by satellite - 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth station and 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station (erratic operations), coaxial cable to Syria; microwave radio relay to Syria but inoperable beyond Syria to Jordan, 3 submarine coaxial cables; broadcast stations - 5 AM, 3 FM, 13 TV (numerous AM and FM stations are operated sporadically by various factions)
Military and Security
Branches
Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF; including Army, Navy, and Air Force)
Defense expenditures
exchange rate conversion - $271 million, 8.2% of GDP (1992 budget)
Manpower availability
males age 15-49 798,299; fit for military service 495,763 (1993 est.)