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Republic of Lebanon
Overview
Situated in southwest Asia on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean sea, Lebanon stretches over a surface area estimated at 10 452 square kilometres. The population number more than four million of whom three million two hundred and seventy seven people carry the Lebanese nationality.
In spite of its small size, Lebanon features several characteristics that make it rank among the world’s most distinguished countries. Its geographical location makes it the Arab Mashreq’s window to the rest of the world and grants it vital importance in the world of commerce, services and communication. Its mild climate draws Arab and western tourists alike, and the richness of its history as well as the religious diversity of its people (18 denominations and sects) make Lebanon a crossroads of Arab and western civilizations, made only stronger by the presence of large Lebanese communities in various parts of the world.
Lebanon has adopted a liberal economic system based on openness to all countries, drawing benefits from its geographical location and demographic composition. Thus, the sectors of trade and services employ 65.1% of the Lebanese manpower as against 25.9% for the industrial and building sectors, and 9% in agricultural activity. All these sectors contribute to the country’s GDP at degrees that vary between 75% for commerce and services, including a highly developed banking sector, 15% for industry and 10% for agriculture. The gross national product per capita is estimated at US$ 4,326 per year.
Starting 1990, Lebanon embarked on a rebuilding odyssey that has only confirmed its capacity to rise from the ashes like a phoenix, healing its wounds and looking up to a future that is worthy of its glorious past and that fulfils the expectations nurtured by the Lebanese people after fifteen years of fierce destructive wars and after the pullout of Israeli occupation forces whose repeated aggressions left behind only ruins and desolation that were too overwhelming in such a small country, in surface area and in population, as Lebanon.
Lebanon, renowned throughout the ages for its leading cultural role, is keen on enriching its cultural presence by consolidating its presence in international fora, and by organising important conferences. Among the most recent of these were the Arab States Summit (March 2002), and the World Francophony Summit (October 2002). Lebanon is also keen on promoting theatre activity and organising artistic and book exhibitions, organising yearly cultural festivals such as the Baalabak and Bait Eddine festivals. The country is also endeavouring to create public libraries throughout its territory and has launched this year a project for restoring and reviving the national library after being totally torn apart in wartime.
Political System in Lebanon
The political system in Lebanon is a parliamentary democracy where the citizens elect the national assembly which, in turns, elects a president for the country whose mandate lasts for six non-renewable years. The Lebanese constitution was amended several times between 1926, year in which the Greater Lebanon was proclaimed with its current frontiers, 1943 date at which the independence of Lebanon was proclaimed, and 1989 when the latest amendment was operated. This amendment, called the Taef Amendment after the Saudi town of Taef where the national assembly met that year to put an end to the violent events that disrupted Lebanon from 1975 to 1989. None of these amendments, however, altered the nature of the political system in Lebanon which remained a parliament-based democracy made up of :
- A legislative branch made up of parliament members elected by the people every four years.
- An executive power represented in the Cabinet in charge of the political and administrative management of the country.
- The judiciary branch, completely independent from all other powers, and enjoying full autonomy.
Education
As early as the eighteenth century, more than two hundred and fifty years ago, Lebanon proclaimed the right of all to education. This proclamation was made during the rally held at the Louisa convent in 1736 and which called upon all officials in charge of educational matters to decree compulsory, free education for all children, no exception made, and particularly for girls. The rally also called for creating schools in all Lebanese towns and villages.
An educational survey reveals that schools, institutes and universities’community counts more than one third of the inhabitants of Lebanon. In 2000, the number of pupils and students in all educational branches and at all schooling levels, in private and public institutions, universities or colleges, was 1.055.536. Staff working in the educational field numbered 97 000 persons, a figure that reveals that education employs 35.7% of the country’s Lebanese inhabitants.
In early 1990s and following the end of the military conflict in the country, a planning process was initiated to achieve social and economic revival. This was followed by the drawing up, in 1994, of an educational revival plan of which the high importance constitutes a critical stage in the educational renewal undertaking of Lebanon. Through this plan were delineated the educational objectives of Lebanon in accordance with the modern international conceptions of education. Flowing from this plan, a new educational structure was set up in 1995, a national literacy board was created in 1995, the curricula of general pre-university education were devised in 1997, compulsory schooling was proclaimed in 1998, and a technical and professional educational structure was drawn up in 2000.
The new general pre-university system, brought into action in the academic year 1999-2000 aspires to build the Lebanese individual as both an individual and a productive and good citizen living within a free democratic society, law-committed and nation-conscious, a citizen who believes in the founding principles of his homeland. The new structure also responds to the needs of edifying a modern and solidary society of which the members live in harmony in an environment of freedom, justice, democracy and equality.
The responsibility for education in Lebanon is shouldered jointly by the private and the public sectors. The Lebanese society endeavours to consolidate formal education and develop its role. The Lebanese state also grants a priority status to educational expenditure which represents 39.4% of the total national expenditure.
Higher Education
Higher education in Lebanon was launched by two pioneering institutions, namely the American university in Beirut in 1866 and Saint Joseph University in 1875. The second half of the twentieth century witnessed an expansion of higher education institutions and institutes to reach the number of forty tertiary institutions in 2002. These institutions grant university degrees such as B.A., Masters and Ph.D. According to the 1999 statistics, the number of students attending these institutions reached 101,449 of whom 58.88% attending the University of Lebanon.
The University of Lebanon was created in 1953 and comprises currently 15 faculties and institutes. It is considered the only official university in Lebanon, caters to 70,940 students and, according to the statistics of the academic year 2000-2001, employs 2,500 lecturers and 2,400 staff members. In view of this importance, it plays a leading role at the national level and dispenses education to all social classes in return for a token registration fee.
The role of Lebanese universities acquires further importance through the dispensing of continuous education and through scientific research. This importance bypasses the frontiers of Lebanon with the country’s universities catering to the educational and scientific needs of many Arab countries and producing capacities that achieve a distinguished presence and participate in the cultural and scientific edification of these countries.
Scientific and Educational Research in Lebanon
Early in the 1960s, Lebanon realised the importance of the transformation occurring in the nature of scientific and educational research and its impact on the development and advancement of society. It thus created the National Council for Scientific Research in 1962, and the National Centre for Research and Development in 1972. These institutions, considered as financially and administratively independent national institutions, were entrusted with missions that entailed the devising of national scientific and educational policies aimed at the promotion of research and the achievement of an optimal development of the country’s educational and scientific resources. Other objectives of these institutions comprised serving public interests, expressing an opinion on all issues considered part and parcel of the state’s scientific and educational policy, encouraging and co-ordinating research in its various fields according to a well defined action plan, and organising and supervising these research activities.
University institutions serve also as research facilities for the various disciplines of knowledge in addition to their being educational institutions. Many of them have contributed, through their affiliated hospital and applied sciences faculties in providing a field for the enrichment and development of research.
Culture
With its myriad civilizational and cultural facets, Lebanon used to be, and shall always, remain the crucible of various civilizations and diverse cultures as clearly illustrated by the relics, vestiges and memory sites pervading Lebanon, along with the numerous churches built under the Roman rule and mosques erected with the advent of the Arab and Islamic civilizations in 634 when the capital Beirut changed from a small deserted village to a town that rose around the Great Ummari Mosque. This mosque was built as a focal point from which the town spread in many directions, conforting the Islamic principle that there shall be no coercion in religion.
Beirut continued to serve as a capital of culture. From its universities and institutes graduated pioneering figures who carried the banner of knowledge and consciousness and led the way a time when the Arab Mashreq was readying to embark on the age of renaissance. From the printing houses of Lebanon, a country that witnessed in 1610 the birth in Dir Mar Qazhaya of the first publisher ever in the east, books spread and became within reach of each and every one. In this country prospered publishing houses and Arab and international book exhibitions that consecrated the right of every citizen to learn and to culture. From its fora flew the first sparks of nationalistic awareness of which the reverberations played the greatest part in triggering the struggle for and independence from the shackles of colonialism.
Lebanon, the country of culture and nationalistic patriotic thought embraced the creations of its sons and all those who chose self-expression through writing and speech. It became the Mecca of Arab thinkers, authors and poets who enriched it with their creative works in poetry, prose , art and thought. Lebanon exported leading intellectual and artistic figures who attained prestigious status at the Arab world and international level.
In order to consolidate its distinguished cultural position, Lebanon restored its national museum in 1995 after its destruction during the years of war, created a national orchestra in 1998, and revived the national copyright institution in 1995 to become a living memory of Lebanon’s intellectual and cultural production.
Lebanon pursues its endeavours to produce Arab culture through creations in the Arabic language. Its privileged position and the attribute of freedom that serves it as a shield enable the country to be a platform for continued interaction and communication with the world’s culture, enriching the Arab and Islamic thought and providing it with a window on universal thought trends.
Monuments and Heritage
Each spot within the territory of Lebanon is considered a tourist attraction. The geological diversity of Lebanon which boasts of beaches, mountains and valleys all gathered within a small perimeter, makes this country highly interesting in terms of tourism. In fact, tourism in Lebanon is an ancestral and inherited industry that the Lebanese people practised out of inspiration from the breathtaking beauty of the land, which fostered in them the art of hospitality. The Lebanese took a keen interest in their heritage and were the first, among many civilized countries, to adopt a landmark as a symbol for their country, placing the cedar tree in the heart of their flag.
The government of Lebanon endeavours to protect and preserve historical sites in a drive to enhance awareness about the historical and cultural identity. Among the measures taken to protect this heritage is limiting and banning building and expansion activities around or in the immediate vicinity of landmarks, banning the export and trading of historical relics, and preventing unauthorised excavations and the pillaging of monuments, all in implementation of the Convention on the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, adopted by UNESCO in 1972 in its 17th session, and through which UNESCO seeks to identify this heritage in the first place, both cultural and natural, and establish lists of exceptionally important monuments and sites in its Member States.
To this end, and after ratifying the above convention in 1983, the Lebanese State initiated co-ordination with UNESCO to place some historical and archaeological sites with exceptional universal value on the world heritage lists. These sites are:
- The ruins of the Phoenician-Crusades town of Jubail : registered in 1983.
- The ruins of the Umayyad town of Anjar, registered in 1983.
- The ruins of the Roman town of Baalabak : registered in 1983.
- The ruins of the town of Sur which stands testimony to the passage of the Roman, Phoenician, Byzantine and Arab civilisations: registered in 1984.
- The Qadisha Valley site and the God’s Cedar Wood, site of monasteries since the emergence of Christianity : registered in 1998.
Lebanon is currently in the process of compiling files on many other historical sites that have a universal value for future inclusion in the World Heritage list. However, the richness of Lebanon is not limited to its material attributes, but transcends it to the oral heritage and cultural traditions inherited by generations such as folk music, expressive dance, traditional dress and folklore.
Handicrafts
Lebanon has a prestigious and rich past of handicrafts. In a message to Solomon, Ahiram, king of Sur wrote: "To you I am dispatching a skilled craftsman whose father is from Sur. He is skilful in the crafts of gold, silver, bronze, stone, wood and dyeing of all sorts, he can carve anything and invent anything".
Since the bronze age, through the Roman rule on to date, craftsmanship continues to provide a livelihood to many Lebanese families. In addition to their role in showcasing the cultural heritage and to being a significant factor in consolidating man's attachment to his environment, handicrafts also serve as an essential source of income for many families or as a means of improving the said income. Classified per their field, the most prominent crafts in Lebanon are the mineral, textile, rattan and hosiery, pottery, glass blowing, ceramics, skin tanning and agricultural crafts.
Information and Communication
Freedom of opinion is a cornerstone of the prevailing democratic system in Lebanon. Audio-visual media and written press are most influential means in shaping public opinion and influencing society. Though written press was the first in chronological order to lay the bases of free expression in Lebanon, other information channels are increasingly consolidating their presence, particularly modern communication tools such as the Internet.
Strong in the belief that the press is the pulpit of freedom for people, Lebanon ensured that all matters related to its press be in order when it established the press union in 1948 though this union had been operating under different forms and names since 1911.
Lebanon was also the first to produce opinion papers. The newspaper "Hadiqat Al Akhbar" was published as early as 1858 by Khalil Al Khuri and continued to be the sole publication until 1870 when it was joined first by Al Jinane and then by Al Tabeeb magazine in 1884.
At present, there are twenty-five political publications in Lebanon of which fourteen are daily newspapers. Non-political publications total 158, the number of television channels nine and radio station sixteen.
The use of the Internet as a communication channel is on a steady rise with Internet users estimated in Lebanon at 10% of the total population.
International Presence
Lebanon has marked a strong presence on the Arab and international arenas. It is a member state of the following organizations:
The Arab League (founding member 1945), United Nations Organization (founding member 1945), UNESCO 1946, UNICEF, International Labour Organization –ILO-, World Health Organization –WHO, United Nations Relief and Works Agency -UNRWA-, Food and Agriculture Organization -FAO-, Arab Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization -ALECSO- 1985, International Francophony Organization, Organization of the Islamic Conference –OIC-, and lastly the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization -ISESCO-.
Being open to the world and desirous to achieve interaction with other countries and peoples, Lebanon adheres and responds to the various international concepts that consecrate the principles of freedom and tolerance and urge for the respect of all human rights. This it strives to achieve by ratifying conventions, agreements and protocols of which the most important follow, along with the year of their ratification by Lebanon:
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948.
- International Copyright Convention, 1959.
- Convention Against Discrimination in Education, 1964.
- Convention for the Eradication of all Types of Racial Discrimination, 1971.
- International Pact for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1972.
- International Pact on Civil and Political Rights, 1972.
- Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, 1983.
- Convention on Children's Rights, 1991.
- Convention against all Forms of Discrimination against Women, 1997.
- Convention of Prevention of Torture, 2000.
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