Lebanon is a small country on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, bordered by Syria and Israel, with a history reaching back to the ancient Phoenicians who sailed from its coast. A land of mountains, coast, and famous cedar trees, it is one of the most religiously diverse nations in the Middle East, home to a mosaic of Muslim and Christian communities whose delicate balance is built into the very structure of its government. Once celebrated for the cosmopolitan glamour of Beirut, Lebanon has endured civil war, foreign intervention, and, in recent years, a severe economic collapse.
The Lebanese coast was the homeland of the Phoenicians, the great seafaring traders of antiquity whose cities, such as Byblos, Tyre, and Sidon, are among the oldest continuously inhabited in the world and who spread the alphabet across the Mediterranean. The region passed through many empires, Roman, Arab, Crusader, and Ottoman, the last ruling for four centuries. After the First World War it came under French mandate, which shaped the modern state, and Lebanon gained full independence in 1943, under a power-sharing arrangement among its religious communities.
Lebanon is a small but strikingly varied country, defined by two mountain ranges running parallel to the Mediterranean coast, between which lies the fertile Beqaa Valley. A narrow coastal strip holds most of the cities, including Beirut, while the Mount Lebanon range rises sharply behind, snow-capped in winter, its slopes once covered by the famous cedar forests that gave the country its emblem and supplied timber to the ancient world. This compact geography of sea, mountain, and valley gives Lebanon a range of climates and landscapes unusual for its size.
The flag of Lebanon has three horizontal bands, red over white over red, with a green cedar tree centred on the white band. The red bands are said to represent the blood shed in the struggle for independence and survival, and the white the snow of the mountains and peace. At the heart of the flag stands the cedar of Lebanon, an ancient and enduring symbol of the country, associated with holiness, eternity, and resilience, and famous since biblical times. The cedar makes the flag instantly recognisable.
Lebanon is one of the most religiously diverse countries in the Middle East, with no single faith holding a majority, and its identity and politics are profoundly shaped by this mosaic. The population is divided among a number of officially recognised communities, including Sunni and Shia Muslims, the Druze, and several Christian churches, above all the Maronite Catholics, along with others. This diversity is built directly into the state through a confessional system that distributes the presidency, premiership, and other offices among the communities, a delicate arrangement that has both preserved coexistence and fuelled conflict.
Lebanese cuisine is celebrated around the world as one of the finest of the Mediterranean and the Middle East. It is famous for its mezze, a spread of many small dishes including hummus, the parsley salad tabbouleh, the eggplant dip baba ghanoush, stuffed vine leaves, and pastries, eaten together at a leisurely table. Grilled meats, kibbeh of minced meat and bulgur, fresh vegetables, olive oil, and herbs are central, and flatbread accompanies everything. The cuisine, generous and convivial, is a great source of national pride and a key part of Lebanese identity at home and across its vast diaspora.
Agriculture, though now a modest part of the economy, has deep roots in Lebanon, favoured by its fertile coastal plains and the Beqaa Valley, the country's agricultural heartland. Lebanon grows a wide range of crops, including fruits such as apples, citrus, grapes, and olives, vegetables, and grains, and it is known for its wines, produced in the Beqaa since antiquity. The famous cedar forests, much reduced over the millennia, are now protected. Farming coexists with an economy historically built on banking, trade, and services, all severely strained by the country's recent crises.
The Phoenician civilisation and the ancient cities of the coast are Lebanon's proudest heritage, while its modern history has been turbulent. A devastating civil war from 1975 to 1990, drawing in foreign armies, shattered the country and its capital, once known as the Paris of the Middle East. Lebanon has endured occupations and conflicts involving its neighbours, and in recent years a catastrophic economic collapse and the enormous Beirut port explosion of 2020 have deepened its hardship, even as its resilient people and immense worldwide diaspora sustain its culture.
Lebanon has a population of around 5 to 6 million people, overwhelmingly Arab, divided among its many religious communities, a balance so sensitive that no official census has been taken since 1932. Arabic is the official language, with French and English widely spoken, reflecting the country's history and cosmopolitan character. The population is concentrated along the coast, above all in and around Beirut. Lebanon also hosts large numbers of refugees, and one of its defining features is its vast diaspora, with far more people of Lebanese descent living abroad than in the country itself.
