in a water-deficit
region
Land use:
arable land:
21%
permanent crops:
9%
meadows and pastures:
1%
forest and woodland:
8%
other:
61%
Irrigated land:
860 sq km (1989 est.)
Environment:
current issues:
deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; air and water pollution
natural hazards:
NA
international agreements:
party to - Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution;
signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Environmental
Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine
Life Conservation
Note:
Nahr al Litani only major river in Near East not crossing an
international boundary; rugged terrain historically helped isolate,
protect, and develop numerous factional groups based on religion,
clan, and ethnicity

@Lebanon, People

Population:
3,620,395 (July 1994 est.)
Population growth rate:
1.98% (1994 est.)
Birth rate:
27.89 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Death rate:
6.55 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Net migration rate:
-1.52 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
39.5 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
69.35 years
male:
66.92 years
female:
71.9 years (1994 est.)
Total fertility rate:
3.39 children born/woman (1994 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Lebanese (singular and plural)
adjective:
Lebanese
Ethnic divisions:
Arab 95%, Armenian 4%, other 1%
Religions:
Islam 70% (5 legally recognized Islamic groups - Alawite or Nusayri,
Druze, Isma'ilite, Shi'a, Sunni), Christian 30% (11 legally recognized
Christian groups - 4 Orthodox Christian, 6 Catholic, 1 Protestant),
Judaism NEGL%
Languages:
Arabic (official), French (official), Armenian, English
Literacy:
age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
total population:
80%
male:
88%
female:
73%
Labor force:
650,000
by occupation:
industry, commerce, and services 79%, agriculture 11%, government 10%
(1985)

@Lebanon, Government

Names:
conventional long form:
Republic of Lebanon
conventional short form:
Lebanon
local long form:
Al Jumhuriyah al Lubnaniyah
local short form:
none
Digraph:
LE
Type:
republic
Capital:
Beirut
Administrative divisions:
5 governorates (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah); Al Biqa, 'Al Janub,
Ash Shamal, Bayrut, Jabal Lubnan
Independence:
22 November 1943 (from League