Lebanon | Facts & Information

Updated September 9, 2022 | Infoplease Staff
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Facts & Figures

  • President: Tammam Salam (acting) (2014)

    Prime Minister: Tammam Salam (2014)

    Land area: 3,950 sq mi (10,230 sq km); total area: 4,015 sq mi (10,400 sq km)

    Population (2014 est.): 5,882,562 (growth rate: 9.37%); birth rate: 14.8/1000; infant mortality rate: 7.98/1000; life expectancy: 77.22

    Capital and largest city (2011 est.): Beirut, 2.022 million

    Monetary unit: Lebanese pound

    National name: Al-Joumhouriya al-Lubnaniya

    Current government officials

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

    Ethnicity/race: Arab 95%, Armenian 4%, other 1%; note: many Christian Lebanese do not identify themselves as Arab but rather as descendents of the ancient Canaanites and prefer to be called Phoenicians

    Religions: Muslim 54% (27% Sunni, 27% Shia), Christian 40.5% (includes 21% Maronite Catholic, 8% Greek Orthodox, 5% Greek Catholic, 6.5% other Christian), Druze 5.6%, very small numbers of Jews, Baha'is, Buddhists, Hindus, and Mormons. (2012 est.) note: 18 religious sects recognized

    National Holiday: Independence Day, November 22

    Literacy rate: 89.6% (2007 est.)

    Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2013 est.): $64.31 billion; per capita $15,800. Real growth rate: 1.5%. Inflation: 5%. Unemployment: 9.2% (2007 est.). Arable land: 10.72%. Agriculture: citrus, grapes, tomatoes, apples, vegetables, potatoes, olives, tobacco; sheep, goats. Labor force: 1.481 million; note: in addition, there are as many as 1 million foreign workers (2007 est.). Industries: banking, tourism, food processing, jewelry, cement, textiles, mineral and chemical products, wood and furniture products, oil refining, metal fabricating. Natural resources: limestone, iron ore, salt, water-surplus state in a water-deficit region, arable land. Exports: $5.826 billion (2012 est.): authentic jewelry, inorganic chemicals, miscellaneous consumer goods, fruit, tobacco, construction minerals, electric power machinery and switchgear, textile fibers, paper. Imports: $20.97 billion (2013 est.): petroleum products, cars, medicinal products, clothing, meat and live animals, consumer goods, paper, textile fabrics, tobacco. Major trading partners: Syria, UAE, Turkey, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Italy, France, Germany, U.S., Egypt, , China, Greece, South Africa (2012).

    Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 878,000 (2012); mobile cellular: 4 (2012). Broadcast media: 7 TV stations, 1 of which is state-owned; more than 30 radio stations, 1 of which is state-owned; satellite and cable TV services available; transmissions of at least 2 international broadcasters are accessible through partner stations (2007). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 64,926 (2012). Internet users: 1 million (2009).

    Transportation: Railways: total: 401 km (unusable because of damage in civil war) (2008). Highways: 6,970 km (includes 170 km of expressways) (2005). Ports and terminals: Beirut, Tripoli. Airports: 8 (2013).

    International disputes: lacking a treaty or other documentation describing the boundary, portions of the Lebanon-Syria boundary are unclear with several sections in dispute; since 2000, Lebanon has claimed Shab'a Farms area in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights; the roughly 2,000-strong UN Interim Force in Lebanon has been in place since 1978.

    Major sources and definitions

See also: