eserves of foreign exchange & gold:
$16.35 billion (2003)

Debt - external:
$20.79 billion (2003 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:
$3.5 billion (pledges 1997-2001); $4.2 billion in soft loan pledges
November 2002 Paris II Aid Conference (2002)

Currency:
Lebanese pound (LBP)

Currency code:
LBP

Exchange rates:
Lebanese pounds per US dollar - 1,507.5 (2003), 1,507.5 (2002),
1,507.5 (2001), 1,507.5 (2000), 1,507.84 (1999)

Fiscal year:
calendar year

Communications Lebanon

Telephones - main lines in use:
678,800 (2002)

Telephones - mobile cellular:
775,100 (2002)

Telephone system:
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

Radio broadcast stations:
AM 20, FM 22, shortwave 4 (1998)

Radios:
2.85 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations:
15 (plus 5 repeaters) (1995)

Televisions:
1.18 million (1997)

Internet country code:
.lb

Internet hosts:
6,998 (2004)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
22 (2000)

Internet users:
400,000 (2002)

Transportation Lebanon

Railways:
total: 401 km
standard gauge: 319 km 1.435-m
note: rail system was unusable because of damage during the civil
war in the 1980s; short sections are operable (2003)
narrow gauge: 82 km 1.050-m

Highways:
total: 7,300 km
paved: 6,198 km
unpaved: 1,102 km (1999 est.)

Pipelines:
oil 209 km (2004)

Ports and harbors:
Antilyas, Batroun, Beirut, Chekka, El Mina, Ez Zahrani, Jbail,
Jounie, Naqoura, Sidon, Tripoli, Tyre

Merchant marine:
total: 49 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 198,602 GRT/248,313 DWT
registered in other countries: 52 (2004 est.)
foreign-owned: Greece 7, India 1, Netherlands 4, Saint Vincent and
the Grenadines 1, Spain 1, Syria 2
by type: bulk 5, cargo 23, chemical tanker 1, combination bulk 1,
container 2, liquefied gas 1, livestock carrier 8, refrigerated
cargo 1, roll on/roll off 4, vehicle carrier 3

Airports:
8 (2003 est.)

Airports - with paved runways:
total: 5
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
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