East Timor (2006) | Lebanon (2005) | |
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Administrative divisions | 13 administrative districts; Aileu, Ainaro, Baucau, Bobonaro (Maliana), Cova-Lima (Suai), Dili, Ermera, Lautem (Los Palos), Liquica, Manatuto, Manufahi (Same), Oecussi (Ambeno), Viqueque | 6 governorates (mohafazat, singular - mohafazah); Beyrouth, Beqaa, Liban-Nord, Liban-Sud, Mont-Liban, Nabatiye |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 36.3% (male 196,293/female 189,956)
15-64 years: 60.6% (male 328,111/female 315,401) 65 years and over: 3.1% (male 16,072/female 16,944) (2006 est.) |
0-14 years: 26.7% (male 520,270/female 499,609)
15-64 years: 66.4% (male 1,216,738/female 1,324,031) 65 years and over: 6.9% (male 120,176/female 145,194) (2005 est.) |
Agriculture - products | coffee, rice, corn, cassava, sweet potatoes, soybeans, cabbage, mangoes, bananas, vanilla | citrus, grapes, tomatoes, apples, vegetables, potatoes, olives, tobacco; sheep, goats |
Airports | 8 (2006) | 8 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2006) |
total: 5
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 5
914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 2 (2006) |
total: 3
914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
Area | total: 15,007 sq km
land: NA sq km water: NA sq km |
total: 10,400 sq km
land: 10,230 sq km water: 170 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly larger than Connecticut | about 0.7 times the size of Connecticut |
Background | The Portuguese began to trade with the island of Timor in the early 16th century and colonized it in mid-century. Skirmishing with the Dutch in the region eventually resulted in an 1859 treaty in which Portugal ceded the western portion of the island. Imperial Japan occupied East Timor from 1942 to 1945, but Portugal resumed colonial authority after the Japanese defeat in World War II. East Timor declared itself independent from Portugal on 28 November 1975 and was invaded and occupied by Indonesian forces nine days later. It was incorporated into Indonesia in July 1976 as the province of East Timor. An unsuccessful campaign of pacification followed over the next two decades, during which an estimated 100,000 to 250,000 individuals lost their lives. On 30 August 1999, in a UN-supervised popular referendum, an overwhelming majority of the people of East Timor voted for independence from Indonesia. Between the referendum and the arrival of a multinational peacekeeping force in late September 1999, anti-independence Timorese militias - organized and supported by the Indonesian military - commenced a large-scale, scorched-earth campaign of retribution. The militias killed approximately 1,400 Timorese and forcibly pushed 300,000 people into West Timor as refugees. The majority of the country's infrastructure, including homes, irrigation systems, water supply systems, and schools, and nearly 100% of the country's electrical grid were destroyed. On 20 September 1999 the Australian-led peacekeeping troops of the International Force for East Timor (INTERFET) deployed to the country and brought the violence to an end. On 20 May 2002, East Timor was internationally recognized as an independent state. | Lebanon has made progress toward rebuilding its political institutions since 1991 and the end of the devastating 15-year civil war. Under the Ta'if Accord - the blueprint for national reconciliation - the Lebanese have established a more equitable political system, particularly by giving Muslims a greater say in the political process while institutionalizing sectarian divisions in the government. Since the end of the war, the Lebanese have conducted several successful elections, most of the militias have been weakened or disbanded, and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) have extended central government authority over about two-thirds of the country. Hizballah, a radical Shia organization, retains its weapons. During Lebanon's civil war, the Arab League legitimized in the Ta'if Accord Syria's troop deployment, numbering about 16,000 based mainly east of Beirut and in the Bekaa Valley. Damascus justified its continued military presence in Lebanon by citing Beirut's requests and the failure of the Lebanese Government to implement all of the constitutional reforms in the Ta'if Accord. Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in May 2000, however, encouraged some Lebanese groups to demand that Syria withdraw its forces as well. The passage of UNSCR 1559 in early October 2004 - a resolution calling for Syria to withdraw from Lebanon and end its interference in Lebanese affairs - further emboldened Lebanese groups opposed to Syria's presence in Lebanon. Syria finally withdrew the remainder of its forces from Lebanon in April of 2005. |
Birth rate | 26.99 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) | 18.88 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $107.7 million
expenditures: $73 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (2004 est.) |
revenues: $4.895 billion
expenditures: $6.642 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.) |
Capital | name: Dili
geographic coordinates: 8 35 S, 125 36 E time difference: UTC+9 (14 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Beirut |
Climate | tropical; hot, humid; distinct rainy and dry seasons | Mediterranean; mild to cool, wet winters with hot, dry summers; Lebanon mountains experience heavy winter snows |
Coastline | 706 km | 225 km |
Constitution | 22 March 2002 (based on the Portuguese model) | 23 May 1926; amended a number of times, most recently Charter of Lebanese National Reconciliation (Ta'if Accord) of October 1989 |
Country name | conventional long form: Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste
conventional short form: East Timor local long form: Republika Demokratika Timor Lorosa'e [Tetum]; Republica Democratica de Timor-Leste [Portuguese] local short form: Timor Lorosa'e [Tetum]; Timor-Leste [Portuguese] former: Portuguese Timor |
conventional long form: Lebanese Republic
conventional short form: Lebanon local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Lubnaniyah local short form: Lubnan |
Death rate | 6.24 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) | 6.24 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Debt - external | $0 | $15.84 billion (2004 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Grover Joseph REES
embassy: Avenida de Portugal, Praia dos Conqueiros, Dili mailing address: US Department of State, 8250 Dili Place, Washington, DC 20521-8250 telephone: (670) 332-4684 FAX: (670) 331-3206 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Jeffrey D. FELTMAN
embassy: Awkar, Lebanon mailing address: P. O. Box 70-840, Antelias, Lebanon; PSC 815, Box 2, FPO AE 09836-0002 telephone: [961] (4) 542600, 543600 FAX: [961] (4) 544136 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Constancio PINTO
chancery: 4201 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: 202 966-3202 FAX: 202 966-3205 consulate(s) general: New York |
chief of mission: Ambassador Dr. Farid ABBOUD
chancery: 2560 28th Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 939-6300 FAX: [1] (202) 939-6324 consulate(s) general: Detroit, New York, and Los Angeles |
Disputes - international | UN Mission of Support in East Timor (UNMISET) has maintained about 1,000 peacekeepers in East Timor since 2002; East Timor-Indonesia Boundary Committee continues to meet, survey, and delimit the land boundary, but several sections of the boundary especially around the Oekussi enclave remain unresolved; Indonesia and East Timor contest the sovereignty of the uninhabited coral island of Pulau Batek/Fatu Sinai, which prevents delimitation of the northern maritime boundaries; many refugees who left East Timor in 2003 still reside in Indonesia and refuse repatriation; Australia and East Timor agreed in 2005 to defer the disputed portion of the boundary for 50 years and to split hydrocarbon revenues evenly outside the Joint Petroleum Development Area covered by the 2002 Timor Sea Treaty; dispute with Australia has hampered creation of a southern maritime boundary with Indonesia | intense international pressure prompts the removal of Syrian troops and intelligence personnel from Lebanon; Lebanese Government claims Shab'a Farms area of Israeli-occupied Golan Heights; the roughly 2,000-strong UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has been in place since 1978 |
Economic aid - recipient | $153 million (2004 est.) | $2.2 billion received (2003), out of the $4.2 billion in soft loans pledged at the November 2002 Paris II Aid Conference |
Economy - overview | In late 1999, about 70% of the economic infrastructure of East Timor was laid waste by Indonesian troops and anti-independence militias, and 300,000 people fled westward. Over the next three years, however, a massive international program, manned by 5,000 peacekeepers (8,000 at peak) and 1,300 police officers, led to substantial reconstruction in both urban and rural areas. By the end of 2005, all refugees either returned or resettled in Indonesia. Non-petroleum GDP growth was held back in 2003 by extensive drought and the gradual winding down of the international presence but recovered somewhat in 2004. The country faces great challenges in continuing the rebuilding of infrastructure, strengthening the infant civil administration, and generating jobs for young people entering the work force. The development of oil and gas resources in nearby waters has begun to supplement government revenues ahead of schedule and above expectations - the result of high petroleum prices - but the technology-intensive industry does little to create jobs for the unemployed, because there are no production facilities in Timor and the gas is piped to Australia. The parliament in June 2005 unanimously approved the creation of a Petroleum Fund to serve as a repository for all petroleum revenues and preserve the value of East Timor's petroleum wealth for future generations. | The 1975-91 civil war seriously damaged Lebanon's economic infrastructure, cut national output by half, and all but ended Lebanon's position as a Middle Eastern entrepot and banking hub. In the years since, Lebanon has rebuilt much of its war-torn physical and financial infrastructure by borrowing heavily - mostly from domestic banks. In an attempt to reduce the ballooning national debt, the HARIRI government began an austerity program, reining in government expenditures, increasing revenue collection, and privatizing state enterprises. In November 2002, the government met with international donors at the Paris II conference to seek bilateral assistance in restructuring its massive domestic debt at lower rates of interest. Substantial receipts from donor nations stabilized government finances in 2003, but did little to reduce the debt, which stood at nearly 180% of GDP. In 2004 the HARIRI government issued Eurobonds in an effort to manage maturing debt, and the KARAMI government has continued this practice. However, privatization of state-owned enterprises had not occurred by the end of 2004, as promised during the Paris II conference. |
Electricity - consumption | NA kWh | 8.591 billion kWh (2002) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2003) | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2003) | 1.09 billion kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production | NA kWh | 8.066 billion kWh (2002) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Timor Sea, Savu Sea, and Banda Sea 0 m
highest point: Foho Tatamailau 2,963 m |
lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m
highest point: Qurnat as Sawda' 3,088 m |
Environment - current issues | widespread use of slash and burn agriculture has led to deforestation and soil erosion | deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; air pollution in Beirut from vehicular traffic and the burning of industrial wastes; pollution of coastal waters from raw sewage and oil spills |
Environment - international agreements | NA | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Marine Life Conservation |
Ethnic groups | Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian), Papuan, small Chinese minority | Arab 95%, Armenian 4%, other 1% |
Exchange rates | the US dollar is used | Lebanese pounds per US dollar - 1,507.5 (2004), 1,507.5 (2003), 1,507.5 (2002), 1,507.5 (2001), 1,507.5 (2000) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Kay Rala Xanana GUSMAO (since 20 May 2002); note - the president plays a largely symbolic role but is able to veto legislation, dissolve parliament, and call national elections; he formerly used the name Jose Alexandre GUSMAO
head of government: Prime Minister Jose RAMOS-HORTA (since 10 July 2006); First Deputy Prime Minister Estanlislau Maria Alexio da SILVA (since 10 July 2006); Second Deputy Prime Minister Rui Maria do ARAUJO (since 10 July 2006) cabinet: Council of Ministers elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 14 April 2002 (next to be held in May 2007) election results: Kay Rala Xanana GUSMAO elected president; percent of vote - Kay Rala Xanana GUSMAO 82.7%, Francisco Xavier do AMARAL 17.3% |
chief of state: President Emile LAHUD (since 24 November 1998)
head of government: Prime Minister Fuad SINIORA (since 30 June 2005); Deputy Prime Minister Elias MURR (since April 2005) cabinet: Cabinet chosen by the prime minister in consultation with the president and members of the National Assembly elections: president elected by the National Assembly for a six-year term; election last held 15 October 1998 (next election date NA); note - on 3 September 2004 the National Assembly voted 96 to 29 to extend Emile LAHUD's six-year term by three years; the prime minister and deputy prime minister appointed by the president in consultation with the National Assembly; by agreement, the president is a Maronite Christian, the prime minister is a Sunni Muslim, and the speaker of the legislature is a Shia Muslim election results: for 15 October 1998 election: Emile LAHUD elected president; National Assembly vote - 118 votes in favor, 0 against, 10 abstentions |
Exports | $10 million; note - excludes oil (2005 est.) | NA |
Exports - commodities | coffee, sandalwood, marble; note - potential for oil and vanilla exports | authentic jewelry, inorganic chemicals, miscellaneous consumer goods, fruit, tobacco, construction minerals, electric power machinery and switchgear, textile fibers, paper |
Exports - partners | Indonesia 100% (2005) | Syria 24.9%, UAE 10%, Turkey 6.9%, Switzerland 6.7%, Saudi Arabia 5.3% (2004) |
Fiscal year | 1 July - 30 June | calendar year |
Flag description | red, with a black isosceles triangle (based on the hoist side) superimposed on a slightly longer yellow arrowhead that extends to the center of the flag; there is a white star in the center of the black triangle | three horizontal bands consisting of red (top), white (middle, double width), and red (bottom) with a green cedar tree centered in the white band |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 8.5%
industry: 23.1% services: 68.4% (2001) |
agriculture: 12%
industry: 21% services: 67% (2000) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $5,000 (2004 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 1.8% (2005 est.) | 4% (2004 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 8 50 S, 125 55 E | 33 50 N, 35 50 E |
Geography - note | Timor comes from the Malay word for "East"; the island of Timor is part of the Malay Archipelago and is the largest and easternmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands | Nahr el Litani only major river in Near East not crossing an international boundary; rugged terrain historically helped isolate, protect, and develop numerous factional groups based on religion, clan, and ethnicity |
Heliports | 9 (2006) | - |
Highways | - | total: 7,300 km
paved: 6,198 km unpaved: 1,102 km (1999 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
Illicit drugs | NA | cannabis cultivation dramatically reduced to 2,500 hectares in 2002; opium poppy cultivation minimal; small amounts of Latin American cocaine and Southwest Asian heroin transit country on way to European markets and for Middle Eastern consumption |
Imports | $202 million (2004 est.) | NA |
Imports - commodities | food, gasoline, kerosene, machinery | petroleum products, cars, medicinal products, clothing, meat and live animals, consumer goods, paper, textile fabrics, tobacco |
Imports - partners | - | Italy 11.2%, France 10.3%, Syria 9.8%, Germany 8.6%, China 5.8%, US 5.5%, UK 4.6% (2004) |
Independence | 28 November 1975 (date of proclamation of independence from Portugal); note - 20 May 2002 is the official date of international recognition of East Timor's independence from Indonesia | 22 November 1943 (from League of Nations mandate under French administration) |
Industrial production growth rate | 8.5% | NA |
Industries | printing, soap manufacturing, handicrafts, woven cloth | banking, food processing, jewelry, cement, textiles, mineral and chemical products, wood and furniture products, oil refining, metal fabricating |
Infant mortality rate | total: 45.89 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 52.03 deaths/1,000 live births female: 39.44 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.) |
total: 24.52 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 27.19 deaths/1,000 live births female: 21.71 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 1.4% (2005) | 2% (2004 est.) |
International organization participation | ACP, ARF, AsDB, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, MIGA, OPCW, PIF (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WToO | ABEDA, ACCT, AFESD, AMF, FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, LAS, MIGA, NAM, OAS (observer), OIC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNRWA, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO (observer) |
Irrigated land | 1,065 sq km (est.) | 1,200 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court of Justice - constitution calls for one judge to be appointed by National Parliament and rest appointed by Superior Council for Judiciary; note - until Supreme Court is established, Court of Appeals is highest court | four Courts of Cassation (three courts for civil and commercial cases and one court for criminal cases); Constitutional Council (called for in Ta'if Accord - rules on constitutionality of laws); Supreme Council (hears charges against the president and prime minister as needed) |
Labor force | NA | 2.6 million
note: in addition, there are as many as 1 million foreign workers (2001 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: NA%
industry: NA% services: NA% |
agriculture NA, industry NA, services NA |
Land boundaries | total: 228 km
border countries: Indonesia 228 km |
total: 454 km
border countries: Israel 79 km, Syria 375 km |
Land use | arable land: 8.2%
permanent crops: 4.57% other: 87.23% (2005) |
arable land: 16.62%
permanent crops: 13.98% other: 69.4% (2001) |
Languages | Tetum (official), Portuguese (official), Indonesian, English
note: there are about 16 indigenous languages; Tetum, Galole, Mambae, and Kemak are spoken by significant numbers of people |
Arabic (official), French, English, Armenian |
Legal system | UN-drafted legal system based on Indonesian law remains in place but will be replaced by civil and penal codes based on Portuguese law; these have passed and are expected to be promulgated in early 2006 | mixture of Ottoman law, canon law, Napoleonic code, and civil law; no judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | unicameral National Parliament (number of seats can vary, minimum requirement of 52 and a maximum of 65 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms); note - for its first term of office, the National Parliament is comprised of 88 members on an exceptional basis
elections: (next to be held in May 2007); direct elections for national parliament were never held; elected delegates to the national convention adopted a constitution and named themselves legislators instead of having elections; hence the exceptional numbers for this term of the national parliament election results: percent of vote by party - FRETILIN 57.37%, PD 8.72%, PSD 8.18%, ASDT 7.84%, UDT 2.36%, PNT 2.21%, KOTA 2.13%, PPT 2.01%, PDC 1.98%, PST 1.78%, independents/other 5.42%; seats by party - FRETILIN 55, PD 7, PSD 6, ASDT 6, PDC 2, UDT 2, KOTA 2, PNT 2, PPT 2, UDC/PDC 1, PST 1, PL 1, independent 1 |
unicameral National Assembly or Majlis Alnuwab (Arabic) or Assemblee Nationale (French) (128 seats; members elected by popular vote on the basis of sectarian proportional representation to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held in four rounds on 29 May, 5, 12, 19 June 2005 (next to be held 2009) election results: percent of vote by group - NA; seats by group - Future Movement Bloc 36; Democratic Gathering 15; Development and Resistance Bloc 15; Loyalty to the Resistance 14; Free Patriotic Movement 14; Lebanese Forces 6; Qornet Shewan 5; Popular Bloc 4; Tripoli Independent Bloc 3; Syrian National Socialist Party 2; Kataeb Reform Movement 2; Tachnaq Party 2; Democratic Renewal Movement 1; Democratic Left 1; Nasserite Popular Movement 1; Ba'th Party 1; Kataeb Party 1; independent 5 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 66.26 years
male: 63.96 years female: 68.67 years (2006 est.) |
total population: 72.63 years
male: 70.17 years female: 75.21 years (2005 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 58.6% male: NA% female: NA% (2002) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 87.4% male: 93.1% female: 82.2% (2003 est.) |
Location | Southeastern Asia, northwest of Australia in the Lesser Sunda Islands at the eastern end of the Indonesian archipelago; note - East Timor includes the eastern half of the island of Timor, the Oecussi (Ambeno) region on the northwest portion of the island of Timor, and the islands of Pulau Atauro and Pulau Jaco | Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Israel and Syria |
Map references | Southeast Asia | Middle East |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: NA
exclusive economic zone: NA continental shelf: NA exclusive fishing zone: NA |
territorial sea: 12 nm |
Merchant marine | - | total: 44 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 198,602 GRT/248,313 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 4, cargo 26, livestock carrier 8, refrigerated cargo 1, roll on/roll off 2, vehicle carrier 3 foreign-owned: 6 (Austria 1, Greece 5) registered in other countries: 40 (2005) |
Military branches | East Timor Defense Force (Forcas de Defesa de Timor-L'este, FDTL): Army, Navy (Armada) (2005) | Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF): Army, Navy, and Air Force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $4.4 million (FY03) | $540.6 million (2002) (2004) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA | 3.1% (FY99) (2004) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 28 November (1975) | Independence Day, 22 November (1943) |
Nationality | noun: Timorese
adjective: Timorese |
noun: Lebanese (singular and plural)
adjective: Lebanese |
Natural hazards | floods and landslides are common; earthquakes, tsunamis, tropical cyclones | dust storms, sandstorms |
Natural resources | gold, petroleum, natural gas, manganese, marble | limestone, iron ore, salt, water-surplus state in a water-deficit region, arable land |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Pipelines | - | oil 209 km (2004) |
Political parties and leaders | Associacao Social-Democrata Timorense or ASDT [Francisco Xavier do AMARAL]; Christian Democratic Party of Timor or PDC [Antonio XIMENES]; Christian Democratic Union of Timor or UDC [Vicente da Silva GUTERRES]; Democratic Party or PD [Fernando de ARAUJO]; People's Party of Timor or PPT [Jacob XAVIER]; Revolutionary Front of Independent East Timor or FRETILIN [Francisco Guterres Lu OLO]; Social Democrat Party of East Timor or PSD [Mario CARRASCALAO]; Socialist Party of Timor or PST [Pedro da COSTA]; Sons of the Mountain Warriors (also known as Association of Timorese Heroes) or KOTA [Clementino dos Reis AMARAL]; Timor Democratic Union or UDT [Joao CARRASCALAO]; Timor Labor Party or PTT [Paulo Freitas DA SILVA]; Timorese Nationalist Party or PNT [Abilio ARAUJO] | Ba'th Party [leader NA]; Democratic Gathering [Walid JUNBLATT]; Democratic Left [leader NA]; Development and Resistance Bloc [Nabih BARRI, Amal leader/speaker]; Free Patriotic Movement [Michel AWN]; Future Movement Bloc [Sa'ad HARIRI]; Kataeb Party [leader NA]; Kataeb Reform Movement [leader NA]; Lebanese Forces [leader NA]; Loyalty to the Resistance [Mohammad RA'AD]; Nasserite Popular Movement [leader NA]; Popular Bloc [leader NA]; Qornet Shewan [leader NA]; Syrian National Socialist Party [leader NA]; Tripoli Independent Bloc [leader NA] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Popular Council for the Defense of the Democratic Republic of East Timor or CPD-RDTL [Antonio-Aitahan MATAK] is largest political pressure group; dissatisfied veterans of struggle against Indonesia, led by one-time government advisor Cornelio GAMA (also known as L-7), also play an important role in pressuring government | NA |
Population | 1,062,777
note: other estimates range as low as 800,000 (July 2006 est.) |
3,826,018 (July 2005 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 42% (2003 est.) | 28% (1999 est.) |
Population growth rate | 2.08% (2006 est.) | 1.26% (2005 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | Beirut, Chekka, Jounie, Tripoli |
Radio broadcast stations | AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA | AM 20, FM 22, shortwave 4 (1998) |
Railways | - | total: 401 km
standard gauge: 319 km 1.435-m narrow gauge: 82 km 1.050-m note: rail system became unusable because of damage during the civil war in the 1980s; short sections are operable (2004) |
Religions | Roman Catholic 90%, Muslim 4%, Protestant 3%, Hindu 0.5%, Buddhist, Animist (1992 est.) | 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: seventeen religious sects recognized |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.95 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2006 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.83 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
Suffrage | 17 years of age; universal | 21 years of age; compulsory for all males; authorized for women at age 21 with elementary education |
Telephone system | NA | general assessment: telecommunications system severely damaged by civil war; rebuilding well underway
domestic: primarily microwave radio relay and cable international: country code - 961; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 1 Atlantic Ocean) (erratic operations); coaxial cable to Syria; microwave radio relay to Syria but inoperable beyond Syria to Jordan; 3 submarine coaxial cables |
Telephones - main lines in use | NA | 678,800 (2002) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | NA | 775,100 (2002) |
Television broadcast stations | NA | 15 (plus 5 repeaters) (1995) |
Terrain | mountainous | narrow coastal plain; El Beqaa (Bekaa Valley) separates Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon Mountains |
Total fertility rate | 3.53 children born/woman (2006 est.) | 1.92 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 50% estimated; note - unemployment in urban areas reached 20%; data do not include underemployed (2001 est.) | 18% (1997 est.) |