Serie Nations and Countries
THE WORLD:
Geography, History and More
Lebanon
Danilo Antón
Lebanon is a small country in the Eastern Mediterranean region.
Its area is 10,452 km2 and the
population is approximately 4,500,000 inhabitants. The Lebanese geographical
environment is heterogeneous. It consists of a narrow coastal plain on the
Mediterranean Sea that has less than 3
kilometers wide and is very densely populated. From the plain, the relief rises
abruptly up to a very humid mountain range parallel to the coast with forests
of cedars and pines called Mount Lebanon exceeding 2,000 meters high and whose
highest peak is Qumat as Sawda 'of 3.088 meters. East of Mount Lebanon is the
Beqaa, an elongated valley 120 kilometers long and about 18 km wide average
which is the main agricultural region of the country. Finally, to the east
there is another mountain range called Anti-Lebanon, which marks the border
with Syria. The highest peaks ar Mount Hermon of 2,814 meters, and Ta'la't Musa
of 2.669 meters.
Despite its
smallness, the historical and geopolitical importance of the country far
exceeds its size and population. It is worth remembering that the Lebanese
diaspora in the world is much larger than the country's own population. It is
estimated that there are more than 14 million Lebanese descendants distributed
worldwide. Only in Brazil they are estimated at 6 million, there are more than
1 million in Argentina, 500,000 in the United States, 200,000 in Canada and 50,000
in Uruguay.
The Lebanese
territory is populated by semitic ethnic groups who came 3,500 years ago from the
South and founded several cities on the coast, Byblos, Sidon, Tyre (now
Beirut). These maritime merchants were called Phoenicians by the Greeks. It was
in Biblos, around 2000 BC, the first alphabet composed exclusively of
consonants was created. From the shores of Phoenicia came out commercial
expeditions and several commercial cities were founded in the Mediterranean sea,
among others Carthage, Genoa, Venice, Marseille, Cadiz, Cagliari, Palermo,
Malaga. Huelva, Tarragona and Tangier. Phoenicia
fell under Assyrian domination, (IX-VII centuries BC), Babylonian (VII-VI
centuries) Persian (VI-IV centuries B.C.), Greek (I IV centuries BC) and in 54
B.C. It became part of the Roman province of Syria. The Arab period began in
636 A.D. until 1516 when the Lebanese territory (Phoenicia) was controlled by
the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans granted partial-autonomy to Lebanon under the
rule of the Maans, a Druze feudal family and the Shibabs a Sunni family that
had converted to Christianity.
Mount Lebanon
After World
War Lebanon and Syria became a French mandate of the League of Nations until
1943 Lebanon unilaterally declared its independence.
From the
religious point of view the country is divided into numerous religions and
churches. The percentages have varied due to emigration and presence of
refugees, but in recent years Muslims have constituted almost 60% of the
population, of which 27% are Shi'a, predominantly Twelvers or Imanies Shiites
and Sunni the rest. There are also Alawite and Ismaili minorities. Christians,
principally composed by members of the Maronite Catholic church represent 30% of the population. This church, which was
founded by St. Maron in the late fourth century, is an Eastern Rite church that
is in full communion with the Apostolic See of Rome, without giving up their
structures and rithuals. In addition to
Muslims and Christians there are 5%
Druzes (a monotheistic religion that does not practice the five pillars of
Islam and the Christian Eucharist).
Beqaa valley
These
various religions had several confrontations throughout history. Lebanese addressed this situation whan
independence was declared with an unwritten agreement that distributed power between different ethnic and religious
communities. It was agreed that the president would be a Maronite, the
Parliament Speaker, Shiite, the Prime Minister, Sunni and the Deputy Prime Minister
corresponding to the Greek Orthodox religion.
After the Second
World War the region acquired a great instability due to the decolonization
processes that resulted in the separation of Syria and Lebanon. Both countries
became independent and in the same epoch Britain withdrew from Palestine. The
latter coincided with the creation of the state of Israel from the Jewish
settlements that had gradually established on Palestinian land. Conflicts
between Arabs and Jews in Israel were reflected in Lebanon who was forced to
receive a very large contingent of Palestinians. Moreover, the successive wars
between Israel and Arab countries indirectly involved the various Lebanese
groups, which alternately supported or fought against Israel.
From 1976
to 2005, Lebanon was occupied by the Syrian army who only withdrew following an
impressive demonstration of 1 million people who demanded the withdrawal of
these troops. The withdrawal became effective on March 14, 2005.
Political
and religious organizations
In Lebanon there
are various political movements that
generally have religious connotations.
The Amal
Movement (abbreviation for Afwaj al-Mouqawma Al-Lubnaniyya) or Movement of
Hope, is a Shiite political party founded in the early 1970s, from the Movement
of the Disinherited, vindicating the rights of all religious groups Lebanon to
be respected and in particular denouncing that the Shiite communities were the
poorest in the country.
Hezbollah
(Party of Allah) is a Lebanese Shiite militant Islamic group with a
paramilitary wing : the Jihad Council. It emerged from the Amal Movement
but with an Islamic fundamentalist approach. It has political support from Iran
and Syria and developed an important military force, which is said to be more
powerful than the Lebanese army itself. It has been described as a state within
the state. It has parliamentary seats, a radio and television station, social
services and even deployment beyond the country's borders. In the 2006 war Hezbollah
fought Israel.
The
Lebanese Phalangist or Kataeb party is the main Christian movement in the
country. As Hezbollah it has its own militia that has been involved in most of
the internal conflicts since 1936.
Meanwhile
Sunnis are generally integrated into the institutional pollitical life of the
country. An example of this is Jamaa Islamiya which left aside the claims of
building an Islamic state in the country and participated in parliamentary
activity. Another group with similar trends is Jam'iyat al-Mashari
'al-Khayriya, also known as Al Ahbash.
Other Sunni
organizations seeking to create an Islamic state but without the use of
violence, such as Tabligh wa Dawa, also known as Tablighi Jamaat.
All Shiite
groups, Christians and Sunni organizations that advocate violence are not faced
with the radical group Al Qaeda and ISIS and many of them have suffered several
attacks that have cost the lives of several leaders of these groups.
Refugees Palestinian refugee camp
Some
450,000 Palestinian refugees are registered in the United Nations World Refugee
Agency (UNRWA) in Lebanon of which 53% live in 12 refugee camps. Because they
are not citizens of another country the Palestinians in Lebanon do not have the
same rights as foreigners living and working in Lebanon. Of all Palestinian
refugees in the Middle East, Lebanese refugees are the ones that fare worst.
Recently, due to the war in Syria, many Palestinian refugees who lived in Syria
moved to Lebanon in search of security by adding their economic and demographic
load to the country
Since the
war began in Syria in 2011 refugees from that country have arrived to settle in
Lebanon. There are an estimated 1.5 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon of which
1,050,000 are registered with UNRWA. 53% of them are children ..The Lebanese
government has not established refugee camps but rather preferred to have them
distributed nationwide. Many of those (18%)
live in makeshift camps in border provinces. Currently only 29% have residence
permits. Most Syrian refugees (89%) live below the poverty line.
Syrian refugee camp
Because of
the war in Syria and the crisis of refugees Lebanon has faced humanitarian
crisis, economic instability and increased sectarian violence. In general,
Lebanon has maintained an open-door policy. However, because the influx of
refugees has increased exponentially since August 2013, economic and social
impact has been very large. Reduced economic growth, rising poverty and
unemployment, strained public services, increased social fragmentation and
political tensions. There has also been a resurgence of sectarian violence with
numerous reports of bombings, assassinations and isolated battles between the
army and militias.
The future
The immediate
future and stability of Lebanon rely heavily on the evolution of the Syrian
conflict, the will of the international community to provide adequate
humanitarian assistance, and refraining sectarian tensions. In the long term,
the problems of Lebanon are the problems of the region. They have been getting
worse in most Middle Eastern countries, and will not be easy for a multi-religious
small country, historically conflictual, inserted in an area of great
geopolitical instability, to stay apart from the influences of its neighbors
and powers interested in controlling this strategically situated Republic.
