Lebanon » Overview

Lebanon’s advantageous geographical location on the edge of the Mediterranean and at the crossroads between Europe and the Middle East has shaped its historical, cultural and political identity. The earliest evidence of civilisation in Lebanon dates back over 7,000 years. Following this period the area became a stronghold of the powerful seafaring civilization, the Phoenicians, who flourished for over 2,500 years and founded important coastal trading ports like Tyre, Tripoli and Byblos.

The Turks took control of the area in the 16th century during the major expansion of the Ottoman Empire and remained there until the end of WWI. Lebanon was created in its present boundaries in 1920 under the French Mandate, which administered the country until Lebanon gained independence and became a republic in 1943.

For several decades Lebanon’s diverse religious groups existed in relative harmony and the country developed a thriving economy, while Beirut become one of the most fashionable cities in the Mediterranean welcoming thousands of visitors per year.

However, in the early 1970s large numbers of PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) fighters expelled from Jordan sought refuge in Lebanon, which in 1975 led to civil war with a coalition of Christian groups like the Phalange against the PLO, the Druze and Muslim militias. After the war began in 1975, the capital Beirut was split across the 'Green Line', dividing the city between the Christian-dominated east of the city and the Muslim west.

In 1982 the presence of the PLO in Lebanon ultimately led to an Israeli invasion of the country. Following much international criticism they eventually retreated to a self-declared security zone in Southern Lebanon controlled by the Israeli Defence Forces and locally recruited Christian militia called the South Lebanon Army. However, this area became the scene of an intense guerrilla war with Hezbollah and the fighting and killing continued despite repeated peacekeeping efforts by the international community.

In the rest of the country, the Syrian army proved to be the ultimate broker of a political settlement to the civil war. A peace plan, brokered by a committee of Saudi Moroccan and Algerian diplomats began in November 1989 with the election of a National Assembly and a Charter for National Reconciliation, known as the Taif Accord. An outline timetable for Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon followed.

Peace finally returned to Lebanon in 1990, while Palestinian refugees remained in camps in Lebanon after the end of the civil war. But fighting continued in southern Lebanon between Israel and Shia militia until the period of Israeli occupation ended in 2000. With a more stable political environment, the lengthy process of rebuilding Beirut began in earnest and the country was poised to make a comeback.

But this relative period of calm was short lived. On 14 February 2005 former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri was assassinated in a bomb attack that killed 19 others and injured over 200 in downtown Beirut. In Lebanon it was widely believed Syria was involved in the attack, which sparked mass protests demanding the departure of Syrian troops. Following much international and domestic pressure, Syrian troops were finally withdrawn from Lebanon later that year and elections for the Lebanese National Assembly followed soon after.  

Since 2006 Lebanon has been embroiled political crisis. A major conflict erupted between Lebanon and Israel, which resulted in heavy fighting and large-scale loss of life on both sides of the border. A ceasefire finally came into place, following intervention from the US Security Council. Later that year, several Shia members of parliament resigned over plans to set up a tribunal into the death of Rafiq Hariri and the government collapsed.

In 2009 Rafiq Hariri’s son, Saad Hariri was elected prime minister of the country and formed a national unity government. But the relative stability that ensued did not last when there were suggestions that Hezbollah may have been involved in Hariri’s death and in January 2011, the government collapsed. A new government led by Najib Mikati was formed in June.