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
Lebanon

Population:

3,971,941 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 26% (male 526,994/female 505,894)
15-64 years: 66.8% (male 1,275,021/female 1,380,131)
65 years and over: 7.1% (male 128,002/female 155,899) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 28.8 years
male: 27.6 years
female: 30 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

1.154% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

17.61 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate:

6.06 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate:

NA (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:

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: 0.82 male(s)/female
total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 22.59 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 25.08 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 19.97 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 73.41 years
male: 70.91 years
female: 76.04 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate:

1.87 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

0.1% (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

2,800 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

fewer than 200 (2003 est.)

Nationality:

noun: Lebanese (singular and plural)
adjective: Lebanese

Ethnic groups:

Arab 95%, Armenian 4%, other 1%
note: many Christian Lebanese do not identify themselves as Arab but
rather as descendents of the ancient Canaanites and prefer to be
called Phoenicians

Religions:

Muslim 59.7% (Shia, 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: 17 religious sects recognized

Languages:

Arabic (official), French, English, Armenian

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 87.4%
male: 93.1%
female: 82.2% (2003 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):

total: 13 years
male: 13 years
female: 13 years (2006)

Education expenditures:

2.7% of GDP (2006)

Governme