50 Fun Facts About Lebanon

What is the capital and largest city of Lebanon?

Greater Beirut holds about 2.4 million people, nearly half the country, and has been inhabited for more than 5,000 years.

From 3200 to 539 BC the land of Lebanon was part of which seafaring civilisation?

Its colonies included Carthage and Cádiz, and Cyrus the Great absorbed its cities into the Achaemenid Empire in 539 BC.

The Phoenicians are credited with inventing what?

It inspired the Greek alphabet and, through it, the Latin one.

Which ancient Lebanese city gave Greek its word for papyrus?

The Greeks knew it as the port through which Egyptian papyrus arrived, and the word for book, and the Bible, followed.

According to the Bible, which king of Tyre supplied cedar logs for Solomon's Temple?

Tyre is also the legendary birthplace of Europa, Cadmus and Carthage's founder Dido.

Alexander the Great absorbed the Phoenician city-states after besieging which city in 332 BC?

The city, added whole to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1984, was described by Ernest Renan as "a city of ruins, built out of ruins".

Which Roman general annexed the region into the Roman Republic in 64 BC?

The land became part of the imperial province of Phoenice.

Baalbek is famous for the ruins of Roman temples dedicated to Bacchus and which chief god?

The Romans called the city Heliopolis, "Sun City", and UNESCO listed the site in 1984.

The Christian community that takes its name from a hermit named Maron traces him to when?

His followers moved into the mountains to escape persecution and later gave their allegiance to the Pope in Rome.

The Druze religion emerged in the 11th century from a branch of what?

Druze feudal families ruled the southern mountain until the early 14th century.

Which Druze emir, executed by the Ottomans in 1635, is remembered as a founder of the Lebanese entity?

Sultan Murad IV sent a punitive expedition against him in 1633; the Shihab clan later ruled Mount Lebanon until 1830.

The Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate of 1861–1918 was created as an autonomous homeland for which community?

It followed the 1860 civil war in which around 10,000 Christians were killed by the Druze.

Roughly how many people in the capital and Mount Lebanon starved to death in the WWI famine?

The Ottoman army's direct control disrupted supplies and confiscated animals.

Greater Lebanon was established under French mandate on 1 September of which year?

The Lebanese Republic itself was proclaimed on 1 September 1926 with a French-inspired constitution.

On what date in 1943 did France release the imprisoned Lebanese government and accept independence?

The government had unilaterally abolished the mandate two weeks earlier; 22 November remains Independence Day.

Under Lebanon's unwritten National Pact of 1943, the president must belong to which community?

The prime minister must be Sunni and the speaker of parliament Shia; the deputies of each are Greek Orthodox.

How many religious groups are officially recognised by the Lebanese state?

Four are Muslim, twelve Christian, one Druze and one Jewish, and each has its own family law and courts.

Lebanon's parliament has how many seats, split equally between Christians and Muslims?

They are shared proportionately among the 18 denominations and 26 regions.

Why has Lebanon not conducted a national census since 1932?

One private study put Sunnis and Shia at about 27% each and Maronites at 21%.

Lebanon was once 'the Switzerland of the Middle East' for its banks and what else?

Beirut, meanwhile, was "the Paris of the Middle East".

Lebanon's civil war lasted from 1975 until which year?

The Taif Agreement set out a Syrian withdrawal timetable and a formula for de-confessionalising politics.

Which country militarily occupied Lebanon from 1976 to 2005?

Israel occupied the south from 1985 to 2000; Syrian troops left after the 2005 Cedar Revolution.

Hezbollah emerged in the early 1980s with financial support and training from which country?

It was receiving about $3–5 million a month from Iran by the late 1980s and is called the world's most heavily armed non-state actor.

Which former prime minister was assassinated by a car bomb on 14 February 2005?

The killing triggered mass protests that forced Syrian troops out of Lebanon by 26 April.

The 2006 Lebanon War between Israel and Hezbollah was ended by which UN Security Council resolution?

Some 1,191 Lebanese and 160 Israelis died in the 34-day conflict.

The August 2020 explosion at Lebanon's main port was caused by how much stored ammonium nitrate?

More than 200 people were killed, and Prime Minister Hassan Diab's cabinet resigned six days later.

What is Lebanon's highest point, at 3,088 m?

It is the highest peak in the whole Levant; its Syriac name means "Martyrs' Peak".

What tree is Lebanon's national emblem, shown in green on its flag?

The Cedars of God forest near Bsharri is a remnant of the vast ancient forests; over 600,000 trees have been replanted since 2011.

How big is the white central stripe on Lebanon's flag compared with each red stripe?

The green tree at its centre touches both red stripes.

The name of Mount Lebanon comes from a Phoenician root meaning what?

It apparently refers to the range's snow-capped peaks, where snow can linger until early summer.

Lebanon's geography famously lets visitors do what in a single day?

Heavy mountain snow sits within sight of the Mediterranean beaches.

The Jeita Grotto north of the capital is a system of two caves running nearly how far?

The lower cave, rediscovered in 1836, can only be visited by boat along its underground river.

Into how many governorates is Lebanon divided?

They are subdivided into 25 districts.

Which country hosts the largest Lebanese diaspora, at an estimated 5–7 million people?

Over half the diaspora is Christian, reflecting the big waves of emigration before 1943.

Roughly what share of Lebanese are considered francophone?

Another 15% are partial francophones, and 70% of secondary schools teach in French as a second language.

Lebanese-American author Kahlil Gibran, born in Bsharri, is best known for which 1923 book?

He is the third best-selling poet of all time, behind only Shakespeare and Laozi.

Which Lebanese singer, born Nouhad Haddad, is nicknamed "The Bird of the East"?

The Rahbani brothers, Assi and Mansour, wrote her early songs at the national radio station.

Kibbeh, one of Lebanon's national dishes, is a pie of finely minced lamb and what?

The other national dish, tabbouleh, is a salad of parsley, tomatoes and the same cracked wheat.

Lebanese restaurant meals traditionally open with a spread of small dishes called what?

Grilled meat or fish follows, and meals end with Arabic coffee and fresh fruit.

Arak, the Levantine spirit, gets its licorice taste from which ingredient?

It is distilled from grapes and typically bottled at around 53% alcohol.

The ruins of Anjar, a UNESCO site in the Beqaa Valley, were built by which caliphate?

The modern town of 2,400 people is almost entirely Armenian.

The Kadisha Valley, home to the Cedars of God, has a name meaning what in Aramaic?

Christian monks in its monasteries venerated the cedars for centuries.

Lebanon's central bank devalued the pound by what percentage on 1 February 2023?

The World Bank has called the country's crisis one of the world's worst since the 19th century.

In 1958, how many US Marines were briefly sent to Lebanon at President Chamoun's request?

The landing came amid the region's Nasserist upheavals.

Lebanon's National Pact assigns the post of prime minister to which community?

The system is meant to reflect the country's 18 recognised sects and deter conflict.

How many Syrian refugees were in Lebanon by late 2014, according to UNHCR?

The figure had been about 250,000 in early 2013; registration was suspended in 2015 at the government's request.

Under the National Pact, the speaker of Lebanon's parliament must come from which community?

The deputy speaker and deputy prime minister posts go to Greek Orthodox Christians.

Which 145-km river, Lebanon's longest, rises in the Beqaa Valley and reaches the sea north of Tyre?

Lebanon has 16 rivers, none of them navigable; 13 rise on Mount Lebanon.

The 1989 accord that set a timetable for Syrian withdrawal is named after which Saudi city?

The war finally ended at the close of 1990, after 16 years.

Which former army commander was elected Lebanon's president in January 2025 after a two-year vacancy?

Nawaf Salam, ex-president of the International Court of Justice, formed a 24-minister government the next month.