Lebanon

Lebanon is a country in the Middle East, in Western Asia, next to the Mediterranean Sea. It has borders with Israel to the south and Syria to the east and north. It also shares a maritime border with Cyprus to the northwest, away from the country's short distance.

History & Data
Lebanon was named Phoenicia under the Roman Empire. Some of the biggest temples in Antiquity were there at Heliopolis. In the 7th century Arabs conquered Phoenicia and imposed their religion Islam. But many areas in the mountains remained Christian as the "Maronites". However, the Christians who remained in the mountains became Arabized and started identifying themselves as "Arab Christians".

Lebanon has been independent since 22 November 1943. Its capital city is Beirut.

Lebanon has two chains of mountains. It has a long coastline. The area of Lebanon is 10,452 square kilometers (4,036 square miles).

The Cedar tree is the national symbol of Lebanon because many of them grow in the Lebanon Mountains.

 Population of Lebanon 
Around 5.2 million people live in Lebanon. 

Around 14 million Lebanese people live outside Lebanon. 

 The people of Lebanon 
About 51% of Lebanese people are Muslim and 44% are Christian with the remaining 5% being Druze. Within the Muslim population, Shias make up the majority with Sunnis being the minority.

The official language of Lebanon is Arabic and it is the most common language. French, English, and Armenian are also common languages.

Governorates and districts
Lebanon is divided into six governorates.  These are divided into 25 districts.USAID Lebanon. "USAID Lebanon—Definitions of Terms used" . Retrieved 17 December 2006. The districts are also divided into several municipalities. The governorates and their districts are listed below:

 Beirut Governorate
 The Beirut Governorate is not divided into districts and is limited to the city of Beirut
 Nabatieh Governorate (Jabal Amel)
 Bint Jbeil
 Hasbaya
 Marjeyoun
 Nabatieh
 Beqaa Governorate
 Baalbek
 Hermel
 Rashaya
 Western Beqaa (al-Beqaa al-Gharbi)
 Zahle
 North Governorate (al-Shamal)
 Akkar
 Batroun
 Bsharri
 Koura
 Miniyeh-Danniyeh
 Tripoli
 Zgharta
 Mount Lebanon Governorate (Jabal Lubnan)
 Aley
 Baabda
 Byblos (Jbeil)
 Chouf
 Keserwan
 Matn
 South Governorate (al-Janoub)
 Jezzine
 Sidon (Saida)
 Tyre (Sur)


Related pages
Lebanese Civil War
2020 Beirut explosion
List of rivers of Lebanon
Lebanon at the Olympics
Lebanon national football team
Heliopolis (Roman Phoenicia)

Notes

 References 


Category:Members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
Category:1943 establishments in Asia