Lebanon - Introduction
Lebanon is a country located on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea in Southwest Asia. In Arabic Lebanon is known as Lubnan. The country’s name came from an old Semitic word “laban”, meaning white, which refers to the heavy snow in the mountains.
Lebanon was once considered as the “Paris of the East”, with its ancient cities, Roman ruins, country charm, Islamic architecture, along with high mountains with luxurious ski resorts, a coastal location with a climate that has influenced the country’s history, peoples and their economy.
The coast of Lebanon was settled more than 7000 years ago. The Phoenicians developed the first alphabet and colonized the western Mediterranean. In the early AD centuries, the Christian population was the majority, and had little Islamic culture. After World War I (1914-1918), the Ottoman Empire was defeated and France ruled Lebanon under a League of Nations mandate. After World War II (1939-1945) Lebanon became an independent republic and its economy grew for three decades. However, hostility between religious groups such as Christians and Muslims, followed by domestic tensions, foreign influences made way for the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990) which cause serious damage to Lebanon.
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