Edition 1994 — Lebanon — World Factbook

Administrative divisions

5 governorates (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah); Al Biqa, 'Al Janub, Ash Shamal, Bayrut, Jabal Lubnan

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

Airports

total: 9 usable: 7 with permanent-surface runways: 5 with runways over 3,659 m: with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 3 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 1

Area

total area: 10,400 sq km land area: 10,230 sq km comparative area: about 0.8 times the size of Connecticut

Birth rate

27.89 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Branches

Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF; including Army, Navy, and Air Force)

Budget

revenues: $990 million expenditures: $1.98 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1993 est.)

Capital

Beirut

Climate

Mediterranean; mild to cool, wet winters with hot, dry summers; Lebanon mountains experience heavy winter snows

Coastline

225 km

Constitution

23 May 1926, amended a number of times

Currency

1 Lebanese pound (#L) = 100 piasters

Death rate

6.55 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $271 million, 8.2% of GDP (1992 budget)

Digraph

LE

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Ambassador Riad TABBARAH chancery: 2560 28th Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: (202) 939-6300

Economic aid

aid for Lebanon's reconstruction programs currently totals $1.3 billion since October 1992, including a $175 million loan from the World Bank

Electricity

capacity: 1,300,000 kW production: 3.413 billion kWh consumption per capita: 990 kWh (1992)

Environment

current issues: deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; air and water pollution natural hazards: NA international agreements: party to - Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation

Ethnic divisions

Arab 95%, Armenian 4%, other 1%

Exchange rates

Lebanese pounds (#L) per US$1 - 1,713.00 (December 1993), 2,200.00 (1992), 928.23 (1991), 695.09 (1990), 496.69 (1989)

Executive branch

chief of state: President Ilyas HARAWI (since 24 November 1989); 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 head of government: Prime Minister Rafiq HARIRI (since 22 October 1992) cabinet: Cabinet; chosen by the president in consultation with the members of the National Assembly

Exports

$925 million (f.o.b., 1993 est.) 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

$700 million (1993 est.)

FAX

(202) 939-6324 consulate(s) general: Detroit, New York, and Los Angeles

[961] (1) 407-112

Fiscal year

calendar year

Flag

three horizontal bands of red (top), white (double width), and red with a green and brown cedar tree centered in the white band

Highways

total: 7,300 km paved: 6,200 km unpaved: gravel 450 km; improved earth 650 km

Illicit drugs

illicit producer of hashish and heroin for the international drug trade; hashish production is shipped to Western Europe, the Middle East, and North and South America; increasingly a key locus of cocaine processing and trafficking

Imports

$4.1 billion (c.i.f., 1993 est.) commodities: Consumer goods, machinery and transport equipment, petroleum products partners: Italy 14%, France 12%, US 6%, Turkey 5%, Saudi Arabia 3%

Independence

22 November 1943 (from League of Nations mandate under French administration)

Industrial production

growth rate 25% (1993 est.)

Industries

banking, food processing, textiles, cement, oil refining, chemicals, jewelry, some metal fabricating

Infant mortality rate

39.5 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

35% (1993 est.)

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 sq km (1989 est.)

Judicial branch

four Courts of Cassation (three courts for civil and commercial cases and one court for criminal cases)

Labor force

650,000 by occupation: industry, commerce, and services 79%, agriculture 11%, government 10% (1985)

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%

Languages

Arabic (official), French (official), Armenian, English

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

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 69.35 years male: 66.92 years female: 71.9 years (1994 est.)

Literacy

age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.) total population: 80% male: 88% female: 73%

Location

Middle East, in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, between Israel and Syria

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 827,267; fit for military service 514,291

Map references

Africa, Middle East, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims

territorial sea: 12 nm

Member of

ABEDA, ACCT, 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

Merchant marine

63 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 268,268 GRT/399,054 DWT, bulk 4, cargo 39, chemical tanker 1, combination bulk 1, container 2, livestock carrier 9, refrigerated cargo 1, roll-on/roll-off cargo 2, specialized tanker 1, vehicle carrier 2, combination ore/oil 1

Names

conventional long form: Republic of Lebanon conventional short form: Lebanon local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Lubnaniyah local short form: none

National Assembly

(Arabic - Majlis Alnuwab, French - Assemblee Nationale) 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)

National product

GDP - exchange rate conversion - $6.1 billion (1993 est.)

National product per capita

$1,720 (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate

4.2% (1992)

Nationality

noun: Lebanese (singular and plural) adjective: Lebanese

Natural resources

limestone, iron ore, salt, water-surplus state in a water-deficit region

Net migration rate

-1.52 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Note

Lebanon has made progress toward rebuilding its political institutions and regaining its national sovereignty since the end of the devastating 16-year civil war in October 1990. Under the Ta'if accord - the blueprint for national reconciliation - the Lebanese have established a more equitable political system, particularly by giving Muslims a greater say in the political process. Since December 1990, the Lebanese have formed three cabinets and conducted the first legislative election in 20 years. Most of the militias have been weakened or disbanded. The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) has seized vast quantities of weapons used by the militias during the war and extended central government authority over about one-half of the country. Hizballah, the radical Sh'ia party, retains most of its weapons. Foreign forces still occupy areas of Lebanon. Israel maintains troops in southern Lebanon and continues to support a proxy militia, The Army of South Lebanon (ASL), along a narrow stretch of territory contiguous to its border. The ASL's enclave encompasses this self-declared security zone and about 20 kilometers north to the strategic town of Jazzine. As of December 1993, Syria maintained about 30,000-35,000 troops in Lebanon. These troops are based mainly in Beirut, North Lebanon, and the Bekaa Valley. Syria's deployment was legitimized by the Arab League early in Lebanon's civil war and in the Ta'if accord. Citing the continued weakness of the LAF, Beirut's requests, and failure of the Lebanese Government to implement all of the constitutional reforms in the Ta'if accord, Damascus has so far refused to withdraw its troops from Beirut.

Nahr al Litani only major river in Near East not crossing an international boundary; rugged terrain historically helped isolate, protect, and develop numerous factional groups based on religion, clan, and ethnicity

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 the 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. In October 1992, Rafiq HARIRI was appointed Prime Minister. HARIRI, a wealthy entrepreneur, has announced ambitious plans for Lebanon's reconstruction which involve a substantial influx of foreign aid and investment. Progress on restoring basic services is limited. Since Prime Minister HARIRI's appointment, the most significant improvement lies in the stabilization of the Lebanese pound, which had gained over 30% in value by yearend 1993. The year 1993 was marked by efforts of the new administration to encourage domestic and foreign investment and to obtain additional international assistance.

Pipelines

crude oil 72 km (none in operation)

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

Population

3,620,395 (July 1994 est.)

Population growth rate

1.98% (1994 est.)

Ports

Beirut, Tripoli, Ra'Sil'ata, Juniyah, Sidon, Az Zahrani, Tyre, Jubayl, Shikka Jadidah

Railroads

system in disrepair, considered inoperable

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%

Suffrage

21 years of age; compulsory for all males; authorized for women at age 21 with elementary education

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)

Terrain

narrow coastal plain; Al Biqa' (Bekaa Valley) separates Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon Mountains

Total fertility rate

3.39 children born/woman (1994 est.)

Type

republic

Unemployment rate