tion; 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, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer
Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping,
Marine Life Conservation

Geography - 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

@Lebanon:People

Population: 3,578,036 (July 2000 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 28% (male 508,936; female 489,122)
15-64 years: 65% (male 1,115,457; female 1,226,448)
65 years and over: 7% (male 108,706; female 129,367) (2000 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.38% (2000 est.)

Birth rate: 20.26 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Death rate: 6.42 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.91 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.84 male(s)/female
total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 29.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 71.25 years
male: 68.87 years
female: 73.74 years (2000 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.08 children born/woman (2000 est.)

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

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

Religions: Muslim 70% (5 legally recognized Islamic groups - Shi'a,
Sunni, Druze, Isma'ilite, Alawite or Nusayri), Christian 30% (11
legally recognized Christian groups - 4 Orthodox Christian, 6
Catholic, 1 Protestant), Jewish NEGL%

Languages: Arabic (official), French, English, Armenian widely
understood

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 86.4%
male: 90.8%
female: 82.2% (1997 est.)

@Lebanon:Government

Country name:
conventional long form: Lebanese Republic
conventional short form: Lebanon
local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Lubnaniyah
local short form: Lubnan

Data code: LE

Government type: republic

Capital: Beirut

Administrative divisions: 5 governorates (mohafaz