forest and woodland 8%; other 61%; includes irrigated 7%

_#_Environment: rugged terrain historically helped isolate, protect,
and develop numerous factional groups based on religion, clan, ethnicity;
deforestation; soil erosion; air and water pollution; desertification

_#_Note: Nahr al Litani only major river in Near East
not crossing an international boundary

_*_People
_#_Population: 3,384,626 (July 1991), growth rate 1.4% (1991)

_#_Birth rate: 28 births/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Death rate: 7 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Net migration rate: - 7 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Infant mortality rate: 48 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

_#_Life expectancy at birth: 66 years male, 71 years female (1991)

_#_Total fertility rate: 3.6 children born/woman (1991)

_#_Nationality: noun--Lebanese (sing., pl.); adjective--Lebanese

_#_Ethnic divisions: Arab 95%, Armenian 4%, other 1%

_#_Religion: Islam 75%, Christian 25%, Judaism NEGL%; 17 legally
recognized sects--4 Orthodox Christian (Armenian Orthodox, Greek
Orthodox, Nestorean, Syriac Orthodox), 7 Uniate Christian (Armenian
Catholic, Caldean, Greek Catholic, Maronite, Protestant, Roman Catholic,
Syrian Catholic), 5 Islam (Alawite or Nusayri, Druze, Ismailite,
Shia, Sunni), and 1 Jewish

_#_Language: Arabic and French (both official); Armenian, English

_#_Literacy: 80% (male 88%, female 73%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)

_#_Labor force: 650,000; industry, commerce, and services 79%,
agriculture 11%, goverment 10% (1985)

_#_Organized labor: 250,000 members (est.)

_*_Government
_#_Note: Between early 1975 and late 1976 Lebanon was torn by civil
war between its Christians--then aided by Syrian troops--and its Muslims
and their Palestinian allies. The cease-fire established in October
1976 between the domestic political groups generally held for about six
years, despite occasional fighting. Syrian troops constituted as the Arab
Deterrent Force by the Arab League have remained in Lebanon. Syria's
move toward supporting the Lebanese Muslims and the Palestinians and
Israel's growing support for Lebanese Christians brought the two sides
into rough equilibrium, but no progress was made toward national
reconciliation or political reforms--the original cause of the war.

Continuing Israeli concern about the Palestinian presence in
Lebanon led to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in June 198