ور�ي�ة مه� �لج� ا�لل�بن�ان�ي�ة ا

Lebanon

General Facts

Capital: Beirut Population: 4,224,000Languages: Arabic, French, English, ArmenianEthnicities: 95% Arab, 4% Armenian, 1% otherArea: 4,035 sq milesGDP: $51.47 billion

Brief History• Remnants of one of the oldest cities dating to

5000 B.C. Byblos found • Ruled by Macedonian, Persian, Armenian,

Roman, Arab, Crusader, and Ottoman Empires• Under French control following WWI, until

independence in 1943• Civil war in 1975• Cedar Revolution in 2005• 2008 presidential ousting

Government• Parliamentary

Democracy/Confessionalism- relatively distributes power among religious groups

• President must be Maronite Christian, Prime Minister a Sunni Muslim and the Speaker of Parliament a Shi’a Muslim

• Parliament divided equally between the 18 Muslim and Christian denominations

• Public→Parliament(4 years) → President (6 years)→Prime Minister

Michel Suleiman

Economy• Industry comprises 21% of total GDP, with

the largest skilled labor force in Arabic countries• Agriculture contributes 11% to GDP. Main

exports: apples, peaches, oranges, lemons• Tourism accounts for 67% of GDP• 2006 Lebanese war injured all sectors of

economy, now experiencing slow recovery

Millennium Development Goals

1)Eradicate Poverty and Hunger• Reduced poverty from 34% to 26% from 2004

2) Universal Primary Education• Primary education enrolment increased from 92% in 1991 to 97% in

2006 and 96% graduate• 86% continue to secondary education

3) Gender Equality• Female illiteracy rate dropped from 27% in 1990 to 18% in 2003• Increase from 3 women in Parliament in 2000 to 6 in 2006 • Unemployment still higher among females (9.6% compared to male

7.4% )

4) Decrease Child Mortality• Dropped from 28/1000 in 1996 to 18/1000 in 2004

http://www.undp.org.lb/WhatWeDo/MDGs.cfm

Media• Has national media,

but often funded by government officials

• Al-Manar TV, LBC, Voice of Lebanon, Al Anwar, As Safir, An Nahar, El Sohof

Elnashra.com• “Thousand is affected by modified non-

Lebanese nationality law: civil society is moving in the light of political division on the file and fears of a resettlement”

http://www.elnashra.com/articles-1-14835.html

An Nahar • “Obama, bringing together Abbas and

Netanyahu today without expect a lot from one meeting”

http://www.annahar.com/index.php

Al Bawaba• “Wael Kfoury embarrasses Yara”

http://www.albawaba.com/en/entertainment/253891

Bibliography

• http://www.undp.org.lb/WhatWeDo/MDGs.cfm• http://

community-en.menassat.com/profiles/blogs/2319616:BlogPost:1581

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanon• http://www.annahar.com/index.php• http://

www.albawaba.com/en/entertainment/253891• http://www.elnashra.com/articles-1-14835.html