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Lebanon

Country name:

conventional long form: Lebanese Republic
conventional short form: Lebanon
local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Lubnaniyah
local short form: Lubnan
former: Greater Lebanon

Government type:

republic

Capital:

name: Beirut
geographic coordinates: 33 52 N, 35 30 E
time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during
Standard Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last
Sunday in October

Administrative divisions:

8 governorates (mohafazat, singular - mohafazah); Aakar,
Baalbek-Hermel, Beqaa, Beyrouth, Liban-Nord, Liban-Sud, Mont-Liban,
Nabatiye

Independence:

22 November 1943 (from League of Nations mandate under French
administration)

National holiday:

Independence Day, 22 November (1943)

Constitution:

23 May 1926; amended a number of times, most recently Charter of
Lebanese National Reconciliation (Ta'if Accord) of October 1989

Legal system:

mixture of Ottoman law, canon law, Napoleonic code, and civil law;
no judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory
ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage:

21 years of age; compulsory for all males; authorized for women at
age 21 with elementary education

Executive branch:

chief of state: President Michel SULAYMAN (as of 25 May 2008)
head of government: Prime Minister Fuad SINIORA (since 30 June
2005); Deputy Prime Minister Elias MURR (since April 2005)
cabinet: Cabinet chosen by the prime minister in consultation with
the president and members of the National Assembly
elections: president elected by the National Assembly for a six-year
term (may not serve consecutive terms); election last held 25 May
2008 (next to be held in 2014); the prime minister and deputy prime
minister appointed by the president in consultation with the
National Assembly
election results: Michel SULAYMAN elected president; National
Assembly vote - 118 for, 6 abstentions, 3 invalidated

Legislative branch:

unicameral National Assembly or Majlis Alnuwab (Arabic) or Assemblee
Nationale (French) (128 seats; members elected by popular vote on
the basis of sectarian proportional representation to serve
four-year terms)
elections: last held in four rounds on 29 May, 5, 12, 19 June 2005
(next to be held in spring 2009)
election results: percent of vote by group - NA; seats by group -
Future Movement Bloc 36; Democratic Gathering 15; Development and
Resistance Bloc 15;