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Lebanon FAQs:

 

Capital: Beirut

Official languages: Arabic, French

Spoken languages: Arabic (Lebanese dialect), French, English, Armenian

Government: Confessionalist, democratic, parliamentary republic

Independence from France:
» Declared Nov. 26, 1941
» Recognized Nov. 22, 1943

Population: 2009 estimate 4,224,000

Ethnic groups:
95% Arab2, 4% Armenian, 1% other
Religions: Muslim 59.7% (Shi'a, 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, Copt, Protestant), other 1.3% note: 17 religious sects recognized

Currency: Lebanese pound (LBP)
Time zone: EET (UTC+2)
- Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Drives: on the right
Internet TLD: .lb

Area: 4,035 sq mi about 0.7 times the size of Connecticut
Climate: Mediterranean; mild to cool, wet winters with hot, dry summers; Lebanon mountains experience heavy winter snows
Terrain: narrow coastal plain; El Beqaa (Bekaa Valley) separates Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon Mountains
Natural resources: limestone, iron ore, salt, water-surplus state in a water-deficit region, arable land


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Program for Lebanon

 

The Landmine Problem

  • Lebanon is mine contaminated as a result of civil war and Israeli occupation.

  • The 2006 war between Israel and Lebanon added considerable contamination to Southern Lebanon.

  • Affected areas include substantial pieces of land used for agriculture, homes, and commercial businesses.


 

Humanitarian Demining Programs

MLI provided an initial six-pack of MDDs (mine-detection dogs) to Lebanon in 2001, with sponsorship from individual donors. As these dogs approached retirement age, the current President of Lebanon specially requested that MLI, with funding from private donors and in collaboration with the U.S. Department of State, send 12 replacement MDDs to Lebanon in 2008. These 12 dogs have now allowed for the original dogs to retire to loving homes.

 

MLI also launched CHAMPS International Lebanon in 2008. This program links schools in the United States with schools in Lebanon to promote goodwill, foster global citizenship, raise awareness about the landmine problem in Lebanon, and raise money to provide rehabilitation to young Lebanese landmine survivors.


** Sources of Additional Information
• Landmine Monitor Report 2008, Human Rights Watch/International Campaign to Ban Landmines