Lebanon lies at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea north of Israel and west of Syria. It is four-fifths the size of Connecticut. The Lebanon Mountains, which parallel the coast on the west, cover most of the country, while on the eastern border is the Anti-Lebanon range. Between the two lies the Bekaa Valley, the principal agricultural area.
Country lead by President: Émile Lahoud (1998)
Prime Minister: Fouad Siniora (2005)
Population
3,874,050 (growth rate: 1.2%); birth rate: 18.5/1000; infant mortality rate: 23.7/1000; life expectancy: 72.9; density per sq mi: 981
Land Area
3,950 sq mi (10,230 sq km); total area: 4,015 sq mi (10,400 sq km)
Monetary unit
Lebanese pound Language
Arabic (official), French, English, Armenian
Ethnicity Arab 95%, Armenian 4%, other 1%
Religion Islam 60% (Shi'a, Sunni, Druze, Isma'ilite, Alawite/Nusayri), Christian 39% (Maronite, Melkite, Syrian, Armenian, and Roman Catholic; Greek, Armenian, and Syrian Orthodox; Chaldean; Assyrian; Copt; Protestant), other 1%
Transportation Railways: total: 401 km (unusable because of damage in civil war) (2002). Highways: total: 7,300 km; paved: 6,198 km; unpaved: 1,102 km (1999 est.). Ports and harbors: Antilyas, Batroun, Beirut, Chekka, El Mina, Ez Zahrani, Jbail, Jounie, Naqoura, Sidon, Tripoli, Tyre. Airports: 8 (2002).
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