Population. – The territorial extension (10,170 km 2) and the administrative division into four districts have remained unchanged since 1948 (see table). The population is almost equally divided between Christians (mostly Maronites and Greek Orthodox) and Muslims. In the four main cities (Beirut, Sidon, Tripoli and Zahle) it is estimated that around one third of the total population currently resides. The exact number of Arab refugees from Palestine after the creation of the state of Israel is not known; in 1950 they were valued at just under 73,000 units. In recent years, Beirut has become one of the largest cities and certainly the greatest commercial and financial center of the countries of the Near East.
Economic resources. – Despite the fact that the considerable extension of the relief limits the cultivable areas to the coastal strip and to the fertile internal depression (al-Biqā ‛), agriculture remains the main economic resource of the country. The areas destined for cultivation amount to 270,000 ha, equal to 26.5% of the territorial surface, but another 400,000 ha are considered potentially productive. The forest area amounts to approximately 80,000 ha.
According to insidewatch, the main products are wheat (70,000 ha), of which over 600,000 q per year are produced, barley and corn. However, cereals do not fully meet the internal needs, and wheat must be largely imported. Of particular importance are the arborescent crops, and in the first place the vine (22,000 ha and 750,000 q of grapes, destined for vinification and drying) and citrus fruits, which figure in second place in Lebanese exports. Banana production, which has marked a significant increase in recent years, is also gaining importance among the export items, along with apples and pears. The olive tree suffered serious damage in the winter of 1955-56, however it supplies, with sesame, an abundant raw material to the oil industry.
Breeding has little relative importance in Lebanon, which relies above all on cattle (96,000) and goats (420,000). Sericulture, in significant decline, feeds a mainly artisanal industry.
Industrial development is hampered by energy shortages. However, two dams are being built on the Litani and Oronte rivers, intended to power two large power plants. The country’s industrial activities are concentrated for the most part in Beirut. The textile industries (silk and cotton mills) and clothing industries (knitwear, hosiery, shoe factories) predominate. Other plants produce consumer goods (cigarettes in Bikfeiva and Hammana, brewery in Beirut). Tripoli and Sidon, terminal stations of the pipelines from Iraq and the Persian Gulf, have important oil refineries.
Beirut is the largest Syrian seaport, equipped with a free zone, warehouses and refrigeration systems. Khaldé airport, near the capital, is one of the largest international airports in the eastern Mediterranean.
History. – The Lebanon saw its independence and sovereignty fully confirmed at home and abroad with its acceptance as a member of the UN (1945) and with the withdrawal, which took place in 1946, of the Franco-English troops who had installed themselves in the country during the second world war. Internal political life is characterized by a still antiquated social structure, by a disordered public administration, which we tried to reform with a decree of 13 July 1959, by the liveliness of the struggles between the parties, by the contrasts between the two Muslim and Christian groups. and the struggles between the very few but influential families who hold effective power. The Constitutional Party obtained a majority in the House in the first elections of 1947 and in the subsequent elections of 1951 and July 1953. A serious extra-parliamentary crisis of a revolutionary nature disturbed the political life of the country in 1952 and led to the resignation of the Head of State, Shukri el-Khūrī, who was succeeded, on September 23, 1952, by Camillo Shamoun. However, the crisis returned to the constitutional framework having obtained a legitimacy sanction from the parliamentary majority. A new crisis opened in May 1958 and, to parry a possible slide to the left with consequences in oil supplies and avoid violence, the USA sent landing troops of their Mediterranean forces to Beirut, then withdrawn in October 1959, while the Karami cabinet which sanctioned the pacification of the country. which was succeeded, on September 23, 1952, by Camillo Shamoun. However, the crisis returned to the constitutional framework having obtained a legitimacy sanction from the parliamentary majority. A new crisis opened in May 1958 and, to parry a possible slide to the left with consequences in oil supplies and avoid violence, the USA sent landing troops of their Mediterranean forces to Beirut, then withdrawn in October 1959, while the Karami cabinet which sanctioned the pacification of the country. which was succeeded, on September 23, 1952, by Camillo Shamoun. However, the crisis returned to the constitutional framework having obtained a legitimacy sanction from the parliamentary majority. A new crisis opened in May 1958 and, to parry a possible slide to the left with consequences in oil supplies and avoid violence, the USA sent landing troops of their Mediterranean forces to Beirut, then withdrawn in October 1959, while the Karami cabinet which sanctioned the pacification of the country.
Relations are good with the USA, which have also set up a university in Beirut and largely provided economic aid and technical assistance. Lebanon collaborated closely with the UN and its organizations, so much so that in 1948 the UNESCO General Assembly was held in Beirut. Relations with the Arab States are good, even if the Baghdād Pact created difficulties for Lebanon from 1954-55 which, a member of the League of Arab States, tried to implement a policy of pacification and mediation between the countries of the two. groups. Relations with the RAU are particularly close, confirmed by a joint declaration by the two Presidents on 25 March 1959 and reaffirmed with the signing of an economic agreement in Cairo on 6 June 1959. Lebanon, who concluded an armistice treaty with Israel on March 23, 1949, welcomes within its borders numerous refugees from Palestine, who constitute a serious economic and political problem. The plan proposed by the UN Secretary General, Hammarskjold, which provided for the definitive settlement of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, was rejected, on August 26, 1959, by the Lebanese Chamber, which called for the return of refugees to Palestine.