Claim: Lebanon is a country that experienced a period of violence.

The Lebanese Civil War -LRB- الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية - Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah -RRB- was a multifaceted civil war in Lebanon , lasting from 1975 to 1990 and resulting in an estimated 120,000 fatalities . As of 2012 , approximately 76,000 people remain displaced within Lebanon . There was also an exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon as a result of the war .   Before the war , Lebanon was multisectarian , with Sunni Muslims and Christians being the majorities on the coastal cities , Shia Muslims being mainly based in the south and the Beqaa to the east , with the mountain populations being in their majority Druze and Christian . The government of Lebanon had been run under a significant influence of the elites among the Maronite Christians . The link between politics and religion had been reinforced under the mandate of the French colonial powers from 1920 to 1943 , and the parliamentary structure favored a leading position for the Christians . However , the country had a large Muslim population and many pan-Arabist and left-wing groups opposed the pro-western government . The establishment of the state of Israel and the displacement of a hundred thousand Palestinian refugees to Lebanon during the 1948 and 1967 exoduses contributed to shifting the demographic balance in favor of the Muslim population . The Cold War had a powerful disintegrative effect on Lebanon , which was closely linked to the polarization that preceded the 1958 political crisis , since Maronites sided with the West while leftist and pan-Arab groups sided with Soviet-aligned Arab countries .   Fighting between Maronite and Palestinian forces -LRB- mainly from the Palestine Liberation Organization -RRB- began in 1975 , then Leftist , pan-Arabist and Muslim Lebanese groups formed an alliance with the Palestinians . During the course of the fighting , alliances shifted rapidly and unpredictably . Furthermore , foreign powers , such as Israel and Syria , became involved in the war and fought alongside different factions . Peace keeping forces , such as the Multinational Force in Lebanon & UNIFIL , were also stationed in Lebanon .   The 1989 Taif Agreement marked the beginning of the end of the fighting . In January 1989 , a committee appointed by the Arab League began to formulate solutions to the conflict . In March 1991 , parliament passed an amnesty law that pardoned all political crimes prior to its enactment . In May 1991 , the militias were dissolved , with the exception of Hezbollah , while the Lebanese Armed Forces began to slowly rebuild as Lebanon 's only major non-sectarian institution . Religious tensions between Sunnis and Shias remained after the war .