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There are sharp local contrasts in the country’s climatic conditions. Lebanon is included in the Mediterranean climatic region, which extends westward to the Atlantic Ocean. Winter storms formed over the ocean move eastward through the Mediterranean, bringing precipitation at that season; in summer, however, the Mediterranean receives little or no precipitation. The climate of Lebanon is generally subtropical and is characterized by hot, dry summers and mild, humid winters. Mean daily maximum temperatures range from the low 90s F (low 30s C) in July to the low 60s F (mid-10s C) on the coast and low 50s F (low 10s C) in Bekaa in January. Mean minimum temperatures in January are in the low 50s F on the coast and the mid-30s F (about 2 °C) in Bekaa. At 5,000 feet (1,524 meters), the elevation of the highest settlements, these are reduced by about 15 °F (8 °C).
Nearly all precipitation falls in winter, averaging 30 to 40 inches (750 to 1,000 mm) on the coast and rising to more than 50 inches (1,270 mm) in higher altitudes. Bekaa is drier and receives 15 to 25 inches (380 to 640 mm). On the higher mountaintops, this precipitation falls as heavy snow that remains until early summer.
Plant and animal life
Lebanon was heavily forested in ancient and medieval times, and its timber—particularly its famed cedar—was exported for building and shipbuilding. The natural vegetation, however, has been grazed, burned, and cut for so long that little of it is regenerated. What survives is a wild Mediterranean vegetation of brush and low trees, mostly oaks, pines, cypresses, firs, junipers, and carobs.
Few large wild animals survive in Lebanon, though bears are occasionally seen in the mountains. Among the smaller animals, deer, wildcats, hedgehogs, squirrels, martens, dormice, and hares are found. Numerous migratory birds from Africa and Europe visit Lebanon. Flamingos, pelicans, cormorants, ducks, herons, and snipes frequent the marshes; eagles, buzzards, kites, falcons, and hawks inhabit the mountains; and owls, kingfishers, cuckoos, and woodpeckers are common.
Although Lebanon’s diverse and abundant plant and animal life suffered a heavy toll during the country’s lengthy civil war and subsequent conflicts, the post-civil war period was marked by the rise of fledgling environmental groups and movements that worked toward the creation of protected areas and parks in Lebanon’s sensitive ecological areas.
People
Ethnic and linguistic composition
Lebanon has a heterogeneous society composed of numerous ethnic, religious, and kinship groups. Long-standing attachments and local communalism antedate the creation of the present territorial and political entity and continue to survive with remarkable tenacity. Ethnically, the Lebanese compose a mixture in which Phoenician, Greek, Armenian, and Arab elements are discernible. Within the larger Lebanese community, ethnic minorities including Armenian and Kurdish populations are also present. Arabic is the official language, although smaller proportions of the population are Armenian- or Kurdish-speaking; French and English are also spoken. Syriac is used in some of the churches of the Maronites (Roman Catholics following an Eastern rite).
Religion
Perhaps the most distinctive feature of Lebanon’s social structure is its varied religious composition. Since the 7th century, Lebanon has served as a refuge for persecuted Christian and Muslim groups. As religion and government in Lebanon are deeply and formally intertwined, the relative proportions of the country’s religious communities is a highly sensitive matter. There has not been an official census since 1932, however, and the data depicting Lebanon’s confessional composition are variable. In general terms, the two largest groups are the Shiʿi Muslims and the Sunni Muslims, each comprising more than one-fourth of the population. Maronites, a Roman Catholic Eastern rite group that originated in the region, make up more than one-fifth of the population. A number of other Christian communities are also present, including the Greek Orthodox and the Greek Catholics. The Druze constitute a small percentage of the population but play an influential role in Lebanese society. There is also a very small Jewish minority.
Settlement patterns
Most of the population live on the coastal plain, and progressively fewer people are found farther inland. Rural villages are sited according to water supply and the availability of land, frequently including terraced agriculture in the mountains. Northern villages are relatively prosperous and have some modern architecture. Villages in the south have been generally poorer and less stable: local agricultural land is less fertile, and, because of their proximity to Israel, many villages were subject to frequent dislocation, invasion, and destruction from the beginning of the civil war in 1975 until the end of the Second Lebanon War in 2006. Most cities are located on the coast; they have been inundated by migrants and displaced persons, and numerous suburbs, often poor, have been created as a result. Before 1975 many villages and cities were composed of several different religious groups, usually living together in harmony, and rural architecture reflected a unity of style irrespective of religious identity. Since the civil war began, a realignment has moved thousands of Christians north of Beirut along the coast and thousands of Muslims south or east of Beirut; thus, settlement patterns reflect the chasms separating sections of the Lebanese people from each other.
Demographic trends
Lebanon’s birth rate is slightly below the world’s average, while its death rate is well below the global average. About one-fifth of the population is under age 15, with about two-fifths under age 30. Life expectancy in Lebanon is higher than both the regional and world averages. One of the most salient demographic features of Lebanon is the uneven distribution of its population. The country’s overall population density varies regionally and is on the whole much lower than that of Beirut and the surrounding area but much higher than that of the most sparsely populated Bekaa valley.
Before the civil war began, the movement of people from rural areas was a major factor in the country’s soaring rate of urbanization. Most of the internal migration was to Beirut, which accounted for the great majority of Lebanon’s urban population. The civil war led to a substantial return of people to their villages and to a large migration abroad, primarily to the United States, Europe, Latin America, Australia, and parts of the Middle East; within Lebanon, it also led to a process of population dispersal and exchange in many areas that had previously been characterized by the coexistence of Christians and Muslims, and postwar efforts to reverse this process through programs meant to resettle the displaced were not immediately successful. Following the warfare between Hezbollah (Lebanese Shiʿi militant group and political party) and Israeli armed forces in 2006, many more Lebanese citizens—an estimated one million residents, particularly those living in the country’s south—were displaced from their homes.
Economy of Lebanon
Geopolitical factors in recent decades have placed significant strain on the economy of Lebanon, which had enjoyed status as a regional and commercial center. The Lebanese economy was characterized by a minimum of government intervention in private enterprise combined with an income- and profit-tax-free environment. Although imports far outstripped exports, elements such as tourism and remittances from laborers working abroad helped balance the trade deficit. Income was generally on the rise, and Lebanese products were finding a place on the international market.
A long-lasting civil war (1975–90) created long-term consequences for the economy. For the first 10 years of the civil war, the Lebanese economy proved remarkably resilient; after the mid-1980s, however, the value of the Lebanese pound plummeted as the continued destruction of the country’s infrastructure took its toll. After the civil war, Lebanon embarked on an ambitious program of social and economic reconstruction that entailed extensive renovation of the country’s flagging infrastructure. Initiated by Prime Minister Rafic al-Hariri in the 1990s, it aimed to revive Beirut as a regional financial and commercial center. Beirut’s reconstruction program made considerable progress in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, albeit at the expense of an increasing internal and external governmental debt load: much of the rebuilding program was financed through internal borrowing, which led to the emergence of both budget deficits and a growing public debt. Yet, to attract and encourage investment, tax rates were reduced. This led to severe budgetary austerity, resulting in only limited investment in Lebanon’s social infrastructure and a growing reliance on regressive indirect taxation to meet budgetary shortfalls. Hence, while a fraction of Lebanese became very rich in postwar Lebanon, at the beginning of the 21st century some one-third of the Lebanese population lived below the poverty line.
Despite Lebanon’s uneasy economic recovery, its economy remained resilient in the face of the 2008 global economic recession. Increased domestic security contributed to investment and growth, while its small export base insulated the economy from the global downturn. From 2007 to 10, gross domestic product (GDP) growth averaged 8 percent.
Lebanon’s fortunes turned in 2011, however, with the uprising in Syria and the subsequent civil war there. With Lebanon dependent on Syria’s economy and also having to deal with a massive influx of refugees, GDP growth in Lebanon slowed to less than 2 percent from 2011 to 2017. In 2018 a financial crisis loomed as the debt-to-GDP ratio exceeded 150 percent. Political wrangling and corruption, belt-tightening austerity measures, and the inability of the government to address crises contributed to a substantial loss in consumer and investor confidence, eventually culminating in October 2019 with massive demonstrations countrywide.
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing
Arable land is scarce, but the climate and the relatively abundant water supply from springs favor the intensive cultivation of a variety of crops on mountain slopes and in the coastal region. On the irrigated coastal plain, market vegetables, bananas, and citrus crops are grown. In the foothills the principal crops are olives, grapes, tobacco, figs, and almonds. At higher elevations (about 1,500 feet [460 meters]), peaches, apricots, plums, and cherries are planted, while apples and pears thrive at an elevation of about 3,000 feet (900 meters). Sugar beets, cereals, and vegetables are the main crops cultivated in Bekaa. Poultry is a major source of agricultural income, and goats, sheep, and cattle are also raised.
As a result of the continued violence through 2006, many small farmers lost their livestock, and there was a noticeable decrease in the production of many agricultural crops. The production of hemp, the source of hashish, has flourished in Bekaa valley, however, and the hashish is exported illegally through ports along the coast. Already the third largest producer of cannabis in the world, Lebanon in 2020 legalized cannabis production in order to boost its economy.
Resources and power
The mineral resources of Lebanon are few. There are deposits of high-grade iron ore and lignite; building-stone quarries; high-quality sand, suitable for glass manufacture; and lime. The Litani River hydroelectric project generates electricity and has increased the amount of irrigated land for agriculture. Lebanon’s power networks and facilities were damaged during the country’s civil war and by Israeli air strikes carried out during the periodic warfare of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Manufacturing
Leading industries in Lebanon include the manufacture of food products; cement, bricks, and ceramics; wood and wood products; and textiles. Many of the country’s industries were harmed by the civil war, and its effects on the textile industry were especially severe. Although some of the country’s large complexes were unharmed, Beirut’s industrial belt was razed; in addition, Israel’s occupation of the Lebanese south led to an influx of Israeli goods that also harmed Lebanese industries. The construction industry has fueled much of the postwar economy, though it frequently experienced downturns because of recurrent damage to infrastructure in the early 21st century and regional instability in the 2010s.
Finance
During the first 10 years of the civil war, the finance sector of Lebanon’s economy, including banking and insurance, showed an impressive expansion, and the monetary reserves of Lebanon continued to rise despite political uncertainties. The strength of the Lebanese pound and of the balance-of-payments position reflected large inflows of capital, mostly from Lebanese living abroad (whose numbers rose considerably during and after the civil war) and from the high level of liquidity of commercial banks. By 1983, however, inflows from Lebanese living abroad had begun to decrease, and the value of the Lebanese pound fell dramatically.
As a result, two major challenges for post-civil war Lebanon were to secure enough capital to finance its reconstruction program and to reestablish the value of the Lebanese pound through a program of economic stabilization. Lebanon was forced to rely on capital bond issues in the European market as well as domestic borrowing through the issue of treasury bills, which resulted in a rise in the level of both domestic and international indebtedness. By 2018 Lebanon had the third largest debt-to-GDP ratio in the world.
