Lebanon: An Overview

A Country in Crisis and Children without a Future

Lebanon is situated on the Mediterranean Sea north of Israel and surrounded by Syria.  It is roughly the size of Connecticut, and has a population of 7.5 million.  Modern Lebanon was founded in the early eighteenth century with Maronite Catholics, Druze, and Muslims focusing on economic and cultural development.  During this period of stability, the American University of Beirut was founded.  After WWI, the League of Nations mandated the five provinces that make up present-day Lebanon to the direct control of France.  In 1943, elections were held and the new Lebanese government abolished the mandate and the French were forced to accept the independence of the country.  Lebanon enjoyed relative prosperity and stability until the mid-sixties but has been embroiled in skirmishes with the Israelis and with internal civil strife off and on since that time.   Now, according to the World Bank, Lebanon is facing one of the world’s worst economic and financial crises in the last 150 years.  Members of the middle class are struggling to survive and the banking system has collapsed.  Electric power, gas, and basic food and medicine are in short supply for the Lebanese people.