POPULATION
4,140,289 (July 2012 est.)
GDP PER CAPITA
$15,700 (2011 est.)
RELIGIONS
Muslim 59.7% (Shia, Sunni, Druze, Isma'ilite, Alawite or Nusayri), Christian 39% (Maronite Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Melkite Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Syrian Catholic, Armenian Catholic, Syrian Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Chaldean, Assyrian, Coptic, Protestant), other 1.3% note: 17 religious sects recognized
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ALSO IN MIDDLE EAST, NORTH AFRICA, AND THE CAUCASUS
Algeria
Armenia
Bahrain
Egypt
Iran
Iraq
Israel
Jordan
Libya
Saudi Arabia
Syria
Tunisia
Turkey
Yemen
Lebanon
With a rich and complex history, shaped by its religious diversity and challenging international environment, Lebanon has stood at a crossroads of culture since ancient times, and remains home to prominent Christian and Muslim communities. After years of rule under the Ottomans and French, Lebanese leaders secured their independence in 1943 and established a power-sharing system that distributed high-level government offices among Maronite Christians, as well as Sunni and Shi’a Muslims. However, the system eventually faltered and a sectarian war broke out in 1975. Lebanon was dragged into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and demographic realities of the country's significant Muslim population increasingly clashed with the Maronites’ dominant political position. The war was pacified following the Taif Accord and Syrian intervention in 1990, but Syrian forces remained in the country until 2005. Today, the ongoing civil strife in Syria has significantly affected Lebanon's domestic politics and economy as Syrian citizens have sought refuge in Lebanon to escape the violence.
ESSAYS ON LEBANON
Colonization and the Origins of Religious Pluralism
Ancient Lebanon was a center for trade, linking Europe and the Mediterranean to the Middle East and beyond. Christianity spread across the territory in the Roman period, beginning in the first century of the Common Era. When the Byzantine Empire gained control of the territory at the turn of the fourth century, many locals adhered to a distinctive set of beliefs that brought them closer to Catholicism and became known as the Maronite Church, which was established in the fifth century. In the seventh century, the Muslim Umayyad Empire seized the territory from the Byzantines, and over the next four centuries Sunni Islam became the dominant religion in the region. A degree of religious tolerance, however, allowed Maronites, along with other Christians and dissident Muslim communities such as the Shi’a and Druze, to maintain a strong presence in the territory. In the eleventh century, the Crusades reestablished ties between the Lebanese Maronite and Catholic communities and those in Western Europe. As part of the Ottoman Empire, Lebanon emerged as a major center for trade since the Ottomans granted significant autonomy to local vassals, and non-Muslim religious communities were permitted to govern their own affairs. The First World War brought an end to Ottoman rule, and the French secured a mandate from the League of Nations to govern Lebanon. In 1932, French colonial authorities organized the first and only census in Lebanese history, finding that the majority of the population was Christian (although the results were contested). The German invasion of France during World War II preoccupied the French, allowing Lebanon to secure its independence in 1943.
From Independence to Civil War
After Lebanon achieved independence in 1943, two Lebanese leaders, Bishara al-Khury (a Maronite Christian) and Riyad al-Sulh (a Sunni Muslim) crafted an unwritten agreement known as the National Pact. Based on the findings in the 1932 census, the 1943 National Pact set a 6-5 ratio of Christians to Muslims in the legislature, while the office of president would be held by a Maronite Christian, the office of prime minister by a Sunni Muslim, and the office of speaker of parliament by a Shi’a Muslim. This Pact assured that Christians would not be overwhelmed by the Muslim communities in Lebanon and neighboring Arab countries, and the agreement functioned relatively well for two decades, aided by a period of economic prosperity. However, as the Maronite population began to decrease relative to the Muslim population, disaffected Muslim activists demanded a new census and a more equitable distribution of government offices. In addition, the growing number of Palestinian refugees contributed to rising domestic tensions, particularly after the leaders of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) made Lebanon their base of operations in the late 1960s. Tensions brought upon by the PLO’s operations, conflict with Israel, and sectarian strife between the PLO and Maronite Militias finally culminated in the Lebanese Civil War that erupted in 1975 and lasted for fifteen years. The war increasingly featured foreign interventions, particularly by Syria and Israel, as Syrian forces intervened in the conflict and secured control over the area around Beirut, but the continuing presence of the PLO led Israel to occupy the south of the country and to sponsor local militias to act as its proxies.
End of the Civil War and the Contemporary Period
The US brokered a ceasefire between Syria, the PLO, and Israel in 1981. However, fighting resumed in 1982 when Israel responded to continuing incursions by invading Lebanon, expelling the PLO leadership, and reoccupying the south of the country. In this context, Shi’a groups from south Lebanon created Hezbollah- a religio-political movement with a powerful, Iranian-backed militia committed to the expulsion of Israeli forces from Lebanon as well as Israel's destruction in its entirety. After several bombings at the US Embassy and a bombing at the Marine base in Beirut, the US withdrew its military personnel from Lebanon in 1984. The 1989 Ta’if Accord, backed by the Syrian military, guaranteed Muslims and Christians equal power in government, while retaining the pre-war distribution of the three leading government offices. Despite the ceasefire, reintegrating sectarian organizations and militias proved difficult, and some groups, particularly Hezbollah, retained their autonomy and military capacity. Israeli forces remained in south Lebanon as a security buffer until 2000. The assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005, which many believe was orchestrated by Hezbollah, led to escalating protests against the presence of Syrian troops that had been stationed in Lebanon's since the outbreak of civil war in 1975. The events, sometimes called the Cedar Revolution, eventually led to Syria’s withdrawal from Lebanon in 2005 and reorganized the domestic political landscape. The role of religious groups, particularly militant Islamist groups such as Hezbollah and Fatah al-Islam, in the political system continues to be a contentious issue, especially when taking into account the legitimacy issues facing the current Lebanese government.
Contemporary Affairs
Lebanese politics remain unstable, characterized by shifting coalitions among sectarian groups and divisions over Lebanon’s international alignment. In 2006, Hezbollah seized two Israeli soldiers in a border raid. In response, Israel launched a series of air strikes and invaded Lebanon, causing significant casualties and infrastructural damage. During the month-long conflict, Hezbollah continued to launch rockets into northern Israel and to engage with the Israeli Defense Forces, surviving the confrontation and retaining much of its political and military capacity. In 2009, President Michel Sulayman formed a new unity government with Sa’ad Hariri, the son of Rafik Hariri, as Prime Minister. Hezbollah and its allies toppled the government when it refused to oppose the investigation of Rafik Hariri’s assassination by an international tribunal. In 2011, the investigation indicted four senior Hezbollah members for their role in the assassination, but the prosecutions stalled amidst accusations of political motives and threats of renewed violence. The growing civil strife in Syria has led to a large influx of Sunni refugees into Lebanon, which many fear may destabilize the delicate political balance. In 2012 the UN estimated that there are over 200,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon, many of whom live in extremely impoverished conditions. The Lebanese government officially maintains a neutral position in the civil war, though Hezbollah has pledged support to the Assad regime.
Religious Freedom in Lebanon
Lebanon is home to a diverse set of religious traditions including Sunnis, Shi’as, Druze, Jews, Maronites, Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholics. However, the size of each group is contested and unverified, and political offices are distributed among the largest communities on the basis of the 1943 National Pact and the 1989 Ta’if Accord. The constitution guarantees religious freedom for all citizens, regardless of affiliation, and officials respect religious freedom in practice. However, the state only officially recognizes 18 religious communities, each of which administers its own familial and personal status laws including marriage, divorce, and inheritance. Other denominations, such as the Baha’is, Buddhists, Hindus, and unregistered Protestants, do not receive official recognition and their members must occasionally register as belonging to recognized groups. Although the Lebanese government does not perform civil marriages, it recognizes civil ceremonies performed in other countries. Additionally, the government requires citizens to indicate their religious affiliation on their national identity cards and on other documents that are used for employment applications and university registration. The Ta’if Accord declared its intent to abandon the confessional political system, but little effort has been made to carry out reforms. The small Jewish community has been subjected to harassment, and Jewish leaders report that their synagogues and cemeteries have been vandalized in downtown Beirut.
Religion in the Lebanese Constitution
The Lebanese Constitution, first adopted in 1926, allows for the freedom of conscience under Article 9, as long as the public order is not disturbed. Specifically, the article respects the equal rights and duties of all citizens, regardless of religious affiliation or preference and grants each religious group the right to administer its own personal status laws. Article 10 allows for free religious education, as long as public order and the dignity of other religions and creeds are respected. There is no official state religion in Lebanon, and political offices are distributed on the basis of confessional affiliation. The constitution was amended by the 1943 National Pact, which set a 6-5 ratio of Christians to Muslims in the legislature and divided top government posts between Maronites, Sunnis, and Shi'as. The constitution was further amended by the Ta’if Accord of 1989, which created an equal number of seats for both Christians and Muslim in the Chamber of Deputies, and called for an equitable distribution of cabinet positions that has yet to be fulfilled.
