tural hazards:
dust storms, sandstorms

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

Environment - international agreements:
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

Geography - note:
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

People Lebanon

Population:
3,826,018 (July 2005 est.)

Age structure:
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.)

Median age:
total: 27.34 years
male: 26.28 years
female: 28.43 years (2005 est.)

Population growth rate:
1.26% (2005 est.)

Birth rate:
18.88 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Death rate:
6.24 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 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: 0.83 male(s)/female
total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
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.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 72.63 years
male: 70.17 years
female: 75.21 years (2005 est.)

Total fertility rate:
1.92 children born/woman (2005 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.1% (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
2,800 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
less than 200 (2003 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Lebanese (singular and plural)
adjective: Lebanese

Ethnic groups:
Arab 95%, Armenian 4%, other 1%

Religions:
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,