Lebanon is a country located in the eastern side of the Mediterranean Sea. Some of its neighboring nations are, in the northern and eastern direction is Syria and in the southern direction is Israel. Lebanon is situated at crossroads on hinterlands of Arabia and the Mediterranean Sea.

The name Lebanon was derived from Ibn, the Semitic root word, which means “White”, denoting the Snow Clad Mt.Lebanon. In 47 B.C., upon landing, Julius Caesar, declared the land as “Lub” “Naan” denoting as “White land” in Semitic.

Lebanon is spread on a 4,036 sq mi (10,452 square kilometers) surface area, out of which 3,950 sq mi (10,230 square kilometers) are land. In the west, it has a 140mi (220km) coastline. A 233mi (375km) border sharing with Syria in the northern and eastern direction, a 49mi (79km)lengthy border in the southern direction with Israel.

The country is segregated into four characteristic regions, the Lebanon Mountain, the coastal plain, the Lebanon Mountains and the Beqaa valley. The Leontes is one of the primary rivers in the country. It is 90 miles (145 km) long and it originates in the Beqaa valley, in the western direction of the Baalbek and confluence into the Mediterranean Sea in Tyre’s northern direction.

Capital: Beirut

Independence: Recognized on 22 November 1943

Languages: Arabic (official), other reconinged languages are Armenian,French, etc.

Currency: Lebanese Pound (LBP)

Time zone: EET (UTC+2)


History

The most primitive human inhabitation in Lebanon existed some 70 centuries back. It is abode to Maritime culture, Phoenicians, which thrived some twenty-five centuries (in the period between (3000–539 BC). Subsequent to the Ottoman’s empire fall down, the 5 provinces, which form the present day Lebanon, were consented to France. The French widened Mt. Lebanon boundaries, which was mostly inhabited by Druze and Maronite Catholics, to take in more Muslims.

In 1943, the country got independence and it adopted confessionalism, a peculiar political system, which is a system of power distribution depending on religious communities. Bechara El Khoury, Riad El-Solh, who became the country first president and prime minister respectively are regarded as architects of present day Republic of Lebanon. They are considered as national heroes, instrumental in gaining independence. In 1946, the French armies vacated Lebanon.

Prior to the 1975-1990 Lebanese Civil war, the nation witnessed an era of comparative tranquil and affluence, motivated by tourism industry, banking and agriculture. Due to its financial influence and multiplicity, Lebanon in its heydays, was pet named as the “Switzerland of the east”. After the outbreak of the civil war, the country’s economy as well as its population had a severe beating. Nearly 150,000 Lebanese were killed and 2, 00,000 people were wounded. The civil war finally came to an end, after the signing of the Taif agreement.

In the civil war, the Palestine Liberation Organization utilized Lebanon to initiate attacks against Israel.The Israeli Defense force invaded Lebanon and occupied it on two occasions. In the second invasion, the PLO was expelled. The southern part of Lebanon remained under the control of Israel till 2000.