Lebanon

By 1943, Lebanon had gained independence from Free France and established a distinct form of confessional government, with the state's major religious groups being apportioned specific political powers.

[16] The Lebanese liquidity crisis, coupled with nationwide corruption and disasters such as the 2020 Beirut explosion, precipitated the collapse of Lebanon's currency and fomented political instability, widespread resource shortages, and high unemployment and poverty.

Archaeologists discovered remnants of prehistoric huts with crushed limestone floors, primitive weapons, and burial jars left by the Neolithic and Chalcolithic fishing communities who lived on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea over 7,000 years ago.

During the late 4th and early 5th century, a hermit named Maron established a monastic tradition focused on the importance of monotheism and asceticism near the Mediterranean mountain range known as Mount Lebanon.

[40] During the 980s, the Fatimid Caliphate took control of the Levant, including Mount Lebanon, resulting in the rejuvenation of Mediterranean trade along the Lebanese coast through renewed connections with Byzantium and Italy.

The Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate[51][52][53] (1861–1918, Arabic: متصرفية جبل لبنان; Turkish: Cebel-i Lübnan Mutasarrıflığı) was one of the Ottoman Empire's subdivisions following the Tanzimat reform.

Lebanon experienced profound devastation in the First World War when the Ottoman army assumed direct control, disrupting supplies and confiscating animals, ultimately leading to a severe famine.

[59] Amidst the height of the First World War, the Sykes–Picot Agreement of 1916, a secret pact between Britain and France, delineated Lebanon and its surrounding areas as regions open to potential French influence or control.

Soon after the war, Patriarch Elias Peter Hoayek, representing the Maronite Christians, successfully campaigned for an expanded territory at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, also including areas with significant Muslim and Druze populations in addition to the Christian-dominated Mount Lebanon.

[66] Lebanon's history since independence has been marked by alternating periods of political stability and turmoil interspersed with prosperity built on Beirut's position as a regional center for finance and trade.

In 1958, during the last months of President Camille Chamoun's term, an insurrection broke out, instigated by Lebanese Muslims who wanted to make Lebanon a member of the United Arab Republic.

The Israeli Prime Minister, Likud's Menachem Begin, compared the plight of the Christian minority in southern Lebanon (then about 5% of the population in SLA territory) to that of European Jews during World War II.

Arising in the aftermath of the 1982 war and drawing inspiration from the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Hezbollah actively engaged in combat against Israel as well as suicide attacks, car bombings and assassinations.

Their objectives encompassed eliminating Israel, fighting for the Shia cause in the Lebanese civil war, ending Western presence in Lebanon, and establishing a Shiite Khomeinist Islamic state.

[105] The United Nations International Independent Investigation Commission published preliminary findings on 20 October 2005 in the Mehlis report, which cited indications that the assassination was organized by Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services.

[121] In early January 2011, the national unity government collapsed due to growing tensions stemming from the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which was expected to indict Hezbollah members for the Hariri assassination.

[125] A report leaked by the Al-Akhbar newspaper in November 2010 stated that Hezbollah had drafted plans for a violent takeover of the country in case the Special Tribunal for Lebanon issued an indictment against its members.

[132] On 17 October 2019, the first of a series of mass civil demonstrations erupted;[133][134][135] they were initially triggered by planned taxes on gasoline, tobacco and online phone calls such as through WhatsApp,[136][137][138] but quickly expanded into a country-wide condemnation of sectarian rule,[139] a stagnant economy and liquidity crisis, unemployment, endemic corruption in the public sector,[139] legislation (such as banking secrecy) that is perceived to shield the ruling class from accountability[140][141] and failures from the government to provide basic services such as electricity, water and sanitation.

[142] As a result of the protests, Lebanon entered a political crisis, with Prime Minister Saad Hariri tendering his resignation and echoing protestors' demands for a government of independent specialists.

[148][149] Lebanon is the first country in the Middle East and North Africa to see its inflation rate exceed 50% for 30 consecutive days, according to Steve H. Hanke, professor of applied economics at the Johns Hopkins University.

[151] Protests resumed within days following the explosion, which resulted in the resignation of Prime Minister Hassan Diab and his cabinet on 10 August 2020, nonetheless continuing to stay in office in a caretaker capacity.

[178] The mountains of Lebanon are drained by seasonal torrents and rivers foremost of which is the 145 kilometres (90 mi) long Leontes that rises in the Beqaa Valley to the west of Baalbek and empties into the Mediterranean Sea north of Tyre.

[199] In 2017, Human Rights Watch found that Lebanon's garbage crisis, and open burning of waste in particular, was posing a health risk to residents and violating the state's obligations under international law.

[203] Lebanon's ongoing economic crisis has precipitated electricity shortages, prompting an increased reliance on diesel generators and subsequently contributing to environmental deterioration and health hazards.

[225][226] The Lebanese Armed Forces' primary missions include defending Lebanon and its citizens against external aggression, maintaining internal stability and security, confronting threats against the country's vital interests, engaging in social development activities, and undertaking relief operations in coordination with public and humanitarian institutions.

[245] The crisis stems from a long-term Ponzi scheme by the Central Bank of Lebanon, borrowing dollars at high interest rates to sustain deficits and maintain a currency peg.

[255][258] The commodities market in Lebanon includes substantial gold coin production, however according to International Air Transport Association (IATA) standards, they must be declared upon exportation to any foreign country.

Despite ongoing efforts, the government's inability to control the drug-producing Beqaa Valley and address illicit Captagon factories allows for the persistent occurrence of drug trades, impacting Lebanon's economy and regional stability.

Originally home to the Canaanite-Phoenicians, and then subsequently conquered and occupied by the Assyrians, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Arabs, the Crusaders, the Ottoman Turks and most recently the French, Lebanese culture has over the millennia evolved by borrowing from all of these groups.

[371] Despite its small population and geographic size, Lebanon plays an influential role in the production of information in the Arab world and is "at the core of a regional media network with global implications".

Byblos is believed to have been first occupied between 8800 and 7000 BC [ 27 ] and continuously inhabited since 5000 BC, [ 28 ] making it among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world . [ 29 ] [ 30 ] It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site . [ 31 ]
Map of Phoenicia , trade routes and the Phoenician colony of Carthage
The Fall of Tripoli to the Egyptian Mamluks and destruction of the Crusader state, the County of Tripoli, 1289
1862 map drawn by the French expedition of Beaufort d'Hautpoul , [ 55 ] later used as a template for the 1920 borders of Greater Lebanon [ 56 ] [ 57 ]
Map of the French Mandate and the states created in 1920
Martyrs' Square in Beirut during celebrations marking the release by the French of Lebanon's government from Rashayya prison on 22 November 1943
Under Camille Chamoun 's presidency, Lebanon experienced economic growth.
The Green Line that separated west and east Beirut, 1982
Map showing the Blue Line demarcation line between Lebanon and Israel, established by the UN after the Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 1978
Map showing power balance in Lebanon, 1983:
controlled by Syria
controlled by Christian groups
controlled by Israel
controlled by the UN
Rafic Hariri , prime minister of Lebanon in 1996
Demonstrations in Lebanon triggered by the assassination of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on 14 February 2005
Over 20,000 Syrian and Palestinian refugees live in the Shatila refugee camp on the outskirts of Beirut.
The 2019 protests were non-sectarian, crossing the Sunni–Shia Muslim / Christian sociological and religious divide.
Women protesters forming a line between riot police and protesters in Riad el Solh, Beirut ; 19 November 2019
Kadisha Valley , a view from Qannoubine Monastery
Lebanon from space. Snow cover can be seen on the western Mount Lebanon and eastern Anti-Lebanon mountain ranges.
The Lebanon cedar is the national emblem of Lebanon.
'Pilgrimage to the Cedars of Libanon' – painting by a Hungarian painter, Csontváry Kosztka Tivadar
Mount Lebanon is a mountain range in Lebanon. It averages above 2,500 m (8,200 ft) in elevation.
One of many protests in Beirut
United Nations Lebanon headquarters in Beirut
Soldiers of the Lebanese army, 2009
Grand Serail from Riad El Solh Square, Beirut
Saint Joseph University of Beirut 's Campus of Innovation and Sports on Damascus Street, Beirut
Lebanese real GDP 1970–2017
Port of Beirut
Beirut is the tourism hub of the country.
Beirut , located on the Mediterranean Sea , is the most populous city in Lebanon.
Distribution of main religious groups of Lebanon according to 2009 municipal election data [ 314 ]
Innovation and Sports Campus of Saint Joseph University
Belluve Medical Center
Temple of Bacchus is considered among the best preserved Roman temples in the world, c. 150 AD .