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 Location:
Middle East, bordering the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, between Israel
and Syria.
Geographic coordinates:
33 50 N, 35 50 E
Area: total: 10,452
sq. km
Land boundaries: total
: 454 km border countries: Israel 79 km, Syria 375 km
Coastline: 225 km
Maritime claims:
territorial sea : 12 NM
Climate:
Mediterranean; mild to cool, wet winters with hot, dry summers;
Lebanon mountains experience heavy winter snows
Terrain: narrow
coastal plain; Al Biqa' (Bekaa Valley) separates Lebanon and
Anti-Lebanon Mountains
Elevation extremes:
lowest point : Mediterranean Sea 0m highest point: Jabal al Makmal
3,087m
Natural resources:
limestone, iron ore, salt, water-surplus state in a water-deficit
region
Land use: arable land
: 21% permanent crops: 9% permanent pastures: 1% forests and woodland:
8% other: 61% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 860
sq. km (1993 est.)
Environment - current issues:
deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; air pollution in Beirut
from vehicular traffic and the burning of industrial wastes; pollution
of coastal waters from raw sewage and oil spills
Environment - international
agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban,
Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution signed, but not ratified:
Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation
Geography - 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
People
Population: 3,449,578
(July 1997 est.)
Age structure: 0-14
years: 30% (male 531,171; female 511,522) 15-64 years: 64% (male
1,036,728; female 1,150,847) 65 years and over: 6% (male 100,682;
female 118,628) (July 1997 est.)
Population growth rate:
1.62% (1997 est.)
Birth rate: 22.74
births/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Death rate: 6.56
deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Net migration rate: 0
migrant(s)/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years:
0.9 male(s)/female 65 years and over : 0.85 male(s)/female total
population: 0.94 male(s)/female (1997 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
32.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1997 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population : 70.35 years male: 67.82 years female : 73 years
(1997 est.)
Total fertility rate:
2.32 children born/woman (1997 est.)
Nationality: noun:
Lebanese (singular and plural) adjective: Lebanese
Ethnic groups: Arab
55%, Levantine 40%, Armenian 4%, other 1%
Religions: Christian
and Muslim. Christian (11 legally recognized Christian groups - 6
Catholic, 4 Orthodox , 1 Protestant), Islam (5 legally recognized
Islamic groups - Alawite or Nusayri, Druze, Isma'ilite, Shi'a, Sunni),
Judaism.
Languages: Lebanese
(spoken), Arabic (official), French (official), English, Armenian,
Literacy: definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 92.4% male: 94.7%
female: 90.3% (1995 est.)
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