Lebanon Passport

[Country Name] The Lebanese Republic.

【 Area 】 10452 square kilometers.

The population is approximately 6.07 million. The vast majority are Arabs. Arabic is the official language, and French and English are commonly used. 54% of residents believe in Islam, mainly Shia, Sunni, and Druze; 46% believe in Christianity, mainly including Maronite, Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Armenian Orthodox.

【 Capital 】 Beirut, with a population of about 2 million, has an average highest temperature of 32 ℃ in July and an average lowest temperature of 11 ℃ in January.

The position of head of state is vacant.

[Important Festivals] Martyrs' Day (May 6th), Army Day (August 1st), Independence Day (November 22nd). There are many Li sects, and important festivals of each sect are all national statutory holidays.

Geography and Climate: Located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea in southwestern Asia. It borders Syria to the east and north, Palestine and Israel to the south, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. The coastline is 220 kilometers long. Coastal summers are hot and humid, while winters are warm.

In 2000 BC, it was a part of Phoenicia. Afterwards, it was successively ruled by Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, and Rome. At the beginning of the 7th century, it was incorporated into the Arab Empire. It was occupied by the Ottoman Empire in 1517. After World War I, it became a French mandated territory.

After France surrendered to Nazi Germany in June 1940, Lebanon was controlled by the Axis powers of Germany and Italy. In June 1941, the British army occupied Lebanon with the assistance of the Free French forces. In November of the same year, the Free French forces announced the end of their mandate over Lebanon. On November 22, 1943, Lebanon declared independence and established the Lebanese Republic. In December 1946, all British and French troops withdrew from Lebanon. In April 1975, the conflict between the Christian and Islamic factions in Lebanon escalated due to the distribution of state power, leading to the outbreak of civil war. In October 1989, members of parliament from the Islamic and Christian factions reached the Taif Agreement, which redistributed political power. In 1990, the Lebanese Civil War came to an end.

Li is a parliamentary democratic republic. The parliament adopts a unicameral system with 128 seats, with Christian and Islamic members each holding half of the seats.

The Constitution was promulgated on May 23, 1926 and has been amended eight times since then. In September 1990, a preface was added during the revision. The constitution stipulates that Lebanon is an independent, unified, and sovereign state, a parliamentary democratic republic with Arab characteristics, and implements a free trade policy. Any power that violates the principle of coexistence among different religious sects is illegal. The president is elected by the parliament for a term of 6 years and cannot be re elected. On October 19, 1995, the parliament amended Article 49 of the constitution, stipulating that "the current president may be extended for three years under (current) special circumstances, and the extension shall only be allowed once. The amendment of the constitution must be proposed by the President, submitted by the government to the parliament, or proposed by more than 10 members of parliament and passed by a two-thirds majority of the parliament.

The parliament is a unicameral system. The main functions are to formulate laws, amend the constitution, elect the president, approve the selection of prime minister and cabinet members, and review the national budget and foreign treaties and agreements. The seats are allocated according to the proportion negotiated among different sects, and the members are elected by universal suffrage for a term of four years. In July 1992, the Lebanese parliament passed an amendment to the election law, increasing the number of seats to 128, to be split equally between Christianity and Islam. The current parliament will be elected on May 15, 2022. Speaker Nabih Barri was elected in November 1992 and has been re elected ever since.

The current government was established on September 10, 2021, and after the parliamentary elections on May 21, 2022, the government will transition to a caretaker state.

[Administrative divisions] The country is divided into 8 provinces: Beirut Province, Mountainous Province, Northern Province, Southern Province, Bekaa Province, Nabatiye Province, Akka Province, and Baalbek Hilmur Province.

The courts are divided into the first instance court, the appellate court, the Supreme Court, the administrative court, and the public security court. In addition, there are religious courts that handle issues such as weddings, funerals, and inheritance.

[Economic Overview] Li implements a free and open market economy, with private economy dominating. Prior to the war, Lebanon was renowned as a center for finance, trade, transportation, and tourism in the Middle and Near East. However, the 16 year civil war and Israeli invasion caused direct and indirect economic losses of approximately 165 billion US dollars. Due to the continued turbulence in the regional situation, its economic recovery plan was frustrated and it carried a heavy debt burden. In the late 1990s, the economic situation in Lebanon gradually became difficult, with high fiscal deficits and rising debt. The economic development of Li has come to a standstill, the debt burden has increased, and the task of reconstruction is arduous.

The main economic figures are as follows:

Gross Domestic Product: 18 billion US dollars (2021).

Per capita Gross Domestic Product: 4576 US dollars (2021).

Economic growth rate: -7% (2021).

Currency name: Lebanese Pound.

Exchange rate: 1 US dollar=89550 Lebanese pounds (October 2024).

External debt: 35 billion US dollars (2022).

Foreign exchange and gold reserves: 35.2 billion US dollars (2021).

Inflation rate: 171.2% (2022).

Unemployment rate: 29.6% (2022).

(Source: Lebanese Ministry of Finance, Central Bank, Bureau of Statistics website, etc. Relevant data has not been updated since 2022)

Mineral resources are scarce and not extensively exploited. The mineral deposits mainly include iron, lead, copper, lignite, and asphalt.

The industrial foundation of Li is relatively weak, mainly in the processing industry. The main industries include non-metallic manufacturing, metal manufacturing, furniture, clothing, wood processing, textiles, etc. The number of employees is about 200000, accounting for 7% of the labor force in Li, making it the third largest industry after commercial and non-financial services.

Agriculture is underdeveloped. The Bekaa Valley is the main agricultural area in Lebanon, with arable land area accounting for 52% of the country's total. Agricultural products are mainly fruits and vegetables. Li's grain production is backward and mainly relies on imports, with crops including barley, wheat, corn, potatoes, etc. Economic crops include tobacco, sugar beets, olives, etc. In recent years, the grape planting industry in Li has developed rapidly.

Liyuan is a tourist destination in the Middle East. Before the civil war, the number of inbound tourists reached 2 million per year, and tourism revenue accounted for over 20% of national income. During the civil war, the tourism industry plummeted. After the war, the Lebanese government once considered revitalizing the tourism industry as an important part of its reconstruction plan, but in recent years, the conflict and unstable security situation in Lebanon have once again affected the revitalization of the tourism industry. The main tourist attractions include the Phoenician era city of Beaufort, the Roman era city of Baalbek, and the Crusader era castle of Seda. In addition, the snow capped mountains in the north have many ski resorts, attracting a large number of tourists.

【 Transportation 】

Water transportation: The main ports include Beirut Port, Tripoli Port, and Saida Port.

Air freight: Beirut International Airport is a well-known airport. In 1990, the Lebanese government invested $400 million to renovate Beirut Airport, increasing its annual throughput from 2 million to 6 million people. In May 2005, it was renamed as Rafik Hariri International Airport.

Highway: runs through the entire area, with a total length of about 7300 kilometers, including about 530 kilometers of highways or expressways. The highway was severely damaged during the civil war and the conflict between Lebanon and Israel, and the progress of repair work was slow. The total number of vehicles in Li is about 1.6 million, with an average of one car per 2.5 people, ranking among the top in the world in terms of per capita ownership.

Railway: With a total length of 402 kilometers, all of which are state-owned, except for the Beirut Chekka section, the rest have been abandoned due to war and destruction.

Beirut was once a financial center in the Middle East, where foreign exchange and gold were freely traded. There are dozens of banks across the country. Most of the banks in Lebanon are privately owned, among which the larger ones include Odie Bank, Lebanese French Bank, and Bank of Beirut.

Foreign trade plays an important role in the national economy of Li, and the government implements a foreign trade policy that coordinates opening up to the outside world with protecting the national economy. The main export commodities include iron, aluminum, copper, sheet metal, metal waste, gold products, etc. The main trade partners are the European Union, the United Arab Emirates, China, the United States, Türkiye, etc. From January to August 2022, the total foreign trade volume of Lebanon was 13.3 billion US dollars, including imports of 10.7 billion US dollars and exports of 2.6 billion US dollars.

The total military strength of the government army is about 56000, including about 54000 in the army, about 800 in the air force, and about 1100 in the navy. There are also about 17000 internal security forces. The president is the supreme commander of the military. Implement a military service system that combines compulsory military service with voluntary military service. The compulsory service period is 18 months, and the voluntary system requires a minimum contract of 3 years.

In March 1978, after Israel invaded Lebanon, the United Nations deployed a multinational peacekeeping force to Lebanon and has been carrying out its mission ever since to supervise Israel's withdrawal from Lebanese territory, restore international peace and security, and assist the Lebanese government in effectively governing the southern region from which Israel withdrew.

There are 2704 primary and secondary schools in China, with over 760000 students and more than 60000 teachers. There are a total of 41 higher education institutions, including 4 comprehensive universities.

Li is known for its Middle East News Center. There are over 600 newspapers and magazines of various types across the country. The main daily newspapers include Daytime Daily, Flag Daily, Homeland Daily, and Anwar Daily. The main publications include Event Weekly, Arab Weekly, Hunter, Magazine Weekly, Lebanon Review, Monday Morning, etc.

The Lebanese National News Agency is the only official news agency, established in 1962 and under the leadership of the Ministry of Information. Daily news releases in Arabic, English, and French, only reporting official domestic news in Lebanon.

Li adheres to a policy of neutrality and non alignment, advocating for the establishment of a fair, reasonable, equal, and balanced new international political and economic order. Externally emphasizing its Arab national identity, adjusting relations with Syria, actively developing relations with Arab powers such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and attaching importance to relations with Western countries such as the United States and France. Lebanon and Israel have not established diplomatic relations and have been in a state of hostility for a long time. There is a territorial dispute between Lebanon and Israel, and the land border has not been finally delineated. In October 2022, after indirect negotiations, Lebanon and Israel signed a maritime boundary agreement. Since the escalation of the new round of Israeli Palestinian conflict in October 2023, Hezbollah in Lebanon has shown support for Hamas. The border conflict between Lebanon and Israel continues. Since September 2024, Lebanon has experienced a large-scale explosion of communication equipment, and Israel has carried out large-scale airstrikes and ground military operations in southern Lebanon, further escalating the tension between Lebanon and Israel.