Geography
Source: This image is the intellectual property of Rei-artur. Redistribution under licence CC BY-SA 3.0
Area: 10,400 km2 (1,63% water)
Terrain: Narrow coastal plain, the Bekaa Valley divides the mountains of Lebanon (in the centre of the country, parallel to the coast) and Anti-Lebanon (on the Syrian border)
Highest point: Qurnat as Sawda’ 3,088 m (in northern Lebanon)
Climate: Mild Mediterranean climate, wet winters and hot dry summers. Heavy winter snow in the mountains
Geographical population distribution: About 60% of the population lives in coastal cities, including the Beirut area where over 30% of the population is concentrated
Natural resources: limestone, iron ore, salt, arable land, water surplus
Demographics
Population: 6,825,442 (2020)Annual population growth: -0.4% (2020)
Population estimate in 2025: 6,397,000
Population distribution by age group (2020)0-14 – 25%
15-64 – 67%
65+ – 8% Fertility rate (births per woman): 2.1 (2019)
Birth rate (births per 1000 people): 17 (2019)
Death rate (deaths per 1000 people): 4 (2019)
Median age: 27.6 (2015)
Life expectancy (at birth): 79 years (2019)
Males – 77 years
Females – 81 years
Net migration: - 150,000 people (2017)
Language: Arabic is the official language of Lebanon
Religious groups: Sunni Muslims 28.1%, Shia Muslims 27.7%, Catholic Christians (mainly Maronites) 24.9%, Greek Orthodox 6.7%, Other Muslims 5%, Non-religious/atheists 3.7%, Buddhists 2.1%, Other Christians 0.8%, Other religions 1% (2015)
Ethnic groups: Arabs 93.0%, Armenians 4.5%, Others 2.5% (2013)
Economy
GDP: $31.74 bil (2020)
GDP per capita: $4,649.5 (2020)
GDP annual growth rate: -21.5% (2020)
Public debt (% GDP): 155.1% (2019)
Inflation (CPI): 84.9% (2020)
Unemployment: 6.6% (2020)
Imports: $19,982,944,051 (2018)10 largest import partners (% total imports - 2018): China 10.3%, Greece 8.6%, Italy 8.0%, USA 7.2%, Germany 5.9%, Turkey 4.8%, France 3.5%, UAE 3.0%, Russia 2.8%, Egypt 2.8% Exports: $2,952,759,932 (2018)
10 largest export partners (% total exports - 2018): UAE 15.5%, Saudi Arabia 7.2%, Syria 7.0%, South Africa 5.9%, Iraq 5.0%, Qatar 4.5%, Switzerland 4.4%, Turkey 4.3%, Jordan 2.9%, Kuwait 2.6% Global Competitiveness Report (World Economic Forum)
56.3/100 (2019 – position 88/141) Index of Economic Freedom (Heritage Foundation)
51.4/100 (2021– position 154/180) Income Inequality Index (Gini – World Bank)
31.8% (2011) Prosperity Index (Legatum Institute)
52.86/100 (2021 – position 109/167)
Military Power
Active personnel: 80,000Army: 77,000
Navy: 1,500
Airforce: 1,500 Defence expenditure (%GDP): 3.0% (2020)
Politics and Government
Form of government: Semi-presidential President: Michel Aoun (2016)Prime Minister: Najib Mikati (2021)
Executive branch: Executive power rests on the Council of Ministers, the President is the head of state and the Prime Minister is the head of government. The President is always a Christian Maronite elected for a 6-year term while in order to be re-elected at least 6 years have to pass since the termination of his previous term. The Prime Minister is always a Sunni Muslim and he is appointed by the President and approved by the Parliament. The Prime Minister is also responsible for negotiating with the parliamentary parties in order to form the Council of Ministers. The Council of Ministers is appointed by the President and approved by the Parliament.
Legislative branch: The Parliament exercises legislative authority and is comprised of 128 members who are elected directly by citizens for a 4-year term. The Speaker (President) of the Parliament is always a Shia Muslim. Half seats of the Parliament (64) are distributed among the Christian religious groups and the other half between the Muslim religious groups and the Druzes.
Judicial branch: The Supreme Judicial Council trains and appoints the country’s judges. The Court of Cassation is Lebanon’s highest court and its head also serves as head of the Supreme Judicial Council. The Constitutional Council is responsible for judging the constitutionality of laws and is comprised of 10 judges, of which 5 are appointed by the Parliament and the other 5 by the Council of Ministers. The country has first-instance, appellate, administrative, religious, labour and other special courts.
Parliamentary parties (seats): Free Patriotic Movement (18), Future Movement (13), Hezbollah (13), Lebanese Forces (12), Amal Movement (10), Progressive Socialist Party (9), Azm Movement (4), Armenian Revolutionary Federation (3), Kataeb Party (3), El-Marada (3), Syrian Social Nationalist Party (3), Arab Liberation Party (2), El-Khazen Bloc (2), Al-Ahbash (1), National Dialogue Party (1), Popular Nasserite Organization (1), Murr Bloc (1), Civil Society Movement (1), Independence Movement (1), Union Party (1), Baath Party (1), Lebanese Democratic Party (1), Ανεξάρτητοι (24)
Last elections: Parliamentary elections 2018 – Hezbollah 16.83%, Future Movement 10.03%, Amal 9.41%, Free Patriotic Movement 8.14%, Lebanese Forces 7.29%, Progressive Socialist Party 5.02%, Civil Society Movement 2.55%, Azm Movement 2.25%, Kataeb Party 1.94%, El-Marada 1.77%, Syrian Social Nationalist Party 1.36%, Arab Liberation Party 1.29%, Al-Ahbash 1.07%, Armenian Revolutionary Federation 1.00%, Other parliamentary parties 5.21%, Independents 16.58%, Other candidates 8.16%. Voter turnout was 49.68%.Next elections: Parliamentary elections in spring 2022
Rule of Law - Human Rights
Corruption Perceptions Index (Transparency International)25/100 (2020 - position 149/180) Rule of Law Index (World Justice Project)
0.45/1 (2020 - position 96/128) Global Terrorism Index (Institute for Economics & Peace)
4.395/10 (2019 – position 43/163) Fragile States Index (Fund For Peace)
89.0/120 (2021 – position 34/179) Democracy Index (Economist Intelligence Unit)
4.16/10 (2020 – position 108/167) Press Freedom Index (Reporters Without Borders)
32.20/100 (2021 – position 107/180) Freedom in the World Index (Freedom House)
51/100 (2021)
