Part 419

Flag ----

Description: three horizontal bands of red (top), white (double width), and red with a green and brown cedar tree centered in the white band

Geography ---------

Location: Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Israel and Syria

Geographic coordinates: 33 50 N, 35 50 E

Map references: Middle East

Area: total area: 10,400 sq km land area: 10,230 sq km comparative area: about 0.8 times the size of Connecticut

Land boundaries: total: 454 km border countries: Israel 79 km, Syria 375 km

Coastline: 225 km

Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nm

International disputes: Israeli troops in southern Lebanon since June 1982; Syrian troops in northern, central, and eastern Lebanon since October 1976

Climate: Mediterranean; mild to cool, wet winters with hot, dry summers; Lebanon mountains experience heavy winter snows

Terrain: narrow coastal plain; Al Biqa' (Bekaa Valley) separates Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon Mountains lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m highest point: Jabal al Makmal 3,087 m

Natural resources: limestone, iron ore, salt, water-surplus state in a water-deficit region

Land use: arable land: 21% permanent crops: 9% meadows and pastures: 1% forest and woodland: 8% other: 61%

Irrigated land: 860 sq km (1990 est.)

Environment: current issues: 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 natural hazards: dust storms, sandstorms international agreements: party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution; signed, but not ratified - Desertification, Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation

Geographic note: Nahr al 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

People ------

Population: 3,776,317 (July 1996 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 36% (male 687,631; female 662,100) 15-64 years: 59% (male 1,049,689; female 1,163,255) 65 years and over: 5% (male 98,406; female 115,236) (July 1996 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.16% (1996 est.)

Birth rate: 27.93 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Death rate: 6.35 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.9 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.85 male(s)/female all ages: 0.95 male(s)/female (1996 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 36.7 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 69.99 years male: 67.49 years female: 72.62 years (1996 est.)