Lebanon LEB -ə-non, -nənArabic : لُبْنَان , romanized : Lubnān local pronunciation: [lɪbˈneːn] Republic of Lebanon , is a country in the Levant region of West Asia . It is bordered by Syria to the north and east, by Israel to the south, and by the Mediterranean Sea to the west; Cyprus lies a short distance away from the country's coastline. Lebanon's location at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian hinterlands has contributed to the country's rich history and shaped a unique cultural identity shaped by religious diversity . Lebanon has a population of more than five million people and covers an area of 10,452 square kilometres (4,036 sq mi). Lebanon's capital and largest city is Beirut , followed by Tripoli and Jounieh . While Arabic is the official language, French is also recognized in a formal capacity; Lebanese Arabic is the country's vernacular, though French and English play a relatively significant role in everyday life, with Modern Standard Arabic being limited to news and government matters.
The earliest evidence of human civilization in Lebanon dates back to 5000 BCE. From 3200 to 539 BC, what was to become Lebanon was part of Phoenicia , a maritime empire that stretched the Mediterranean Basin . In 64 BC, the Roman Empire conquered the region, and Lebanon soon became a major center for Christianity under the aegis of the Byzantine Empire . In the 7th century, the Muslim conquest of the Levant brought the region under the control of the Rashidun Caliphate . The 11th century saw the beginning of the Crusades and the establishment of Crusader states , which later fell to the Ayyubids and the Mamluks , who in turn ceded the territory to the Ottoman Turks in the aftermath of the Ottoman–Mamluk War of 1516–1517 . Under Ottoman ruler Abdulmejid I , the first Lebanese proto-state was established in the form of the Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate , created in the 19th century as a home for Maronite Christians under the Ottoman "Tanzimat " period.
Lebanon is a developing country , ranked 112th on the Human Development Index . It has been classified as an upper-middle-income state . The Lebanese liquidity crisis , coupled with nationwide corruption and recent disasters such as the 2020 Beirut explosion , have precipitated the collapse of Lebanon's currency and fomented political instability, widespread resource shortages, and high unemployment and poverty . The World Bank has defined Lebanon's economic crisis as one of the world's worst since the 19th century. Despite the country's small size, Lebanese culture is renowned both in the Arab world and globally, powered primarily by the Lebanese diaspora . Lebanon is a founding member of the United Nations and of the Arab League , and is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement , the Organization of Islamic Cooperation , the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie Group of 77 , among others. (Full article...
Modern distribution of Levantine
Levantine Arabic Shami (autonym : شامي šāmi اللهجة الشامية el-lahje š-šāmiyye Arabic variety spoken in the Levant , namely in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel and southern Turkey (historically only in the Adana , Mersin and Hatay provinces). With over 54 million speakers, Levantine is, alongside Egyptian , one of the two prestige varieties of spoken Arabic comprehensible all over the Arab world .
Levantine is not officially recognized in any state or territory. Although it is the majority language in Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria, it is predominantly used as a spoken vernacular in daily communication, whereas most written and official documents and media in these countries use the official Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), a form of literary Arabic only acquired through formal education that does not function as a native language . In Israel and Turkey, Levantine is a minority language .
The
Palestinian dialect is the
closest vernacular Arabic variety to MSA, with about 50% of common words. Nevertheless, Levantine and MSA are not mutually intelligible. Levantine speakers therefore often call their language
العامية
al-ʿāmmiyya , '
slang ', 'dialect', or 'colloquial'. However, with the emergence of social media, attitudes toward Levantine have improved. The amount of written Levantine has significantly increased, especially online, where Levantine is written using
Arabic ,
Latin , or
Hebrew characters .
Levantine pronunciation varies greatly along social, ethnic, and geographical lines.
Its grammar is similar to that shared by most vernacular varieties of Arabic.
Its lexicon is overwhelmingly Arabic, with a significant
Aramaic influence. (
Full article... )
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Religions in Lebanon
Arab states
This is a Good article , an article that meets a core set of editorial standards. The Roman Empire Republican state of ancient Rome . It is generally understood to mean the period and territory ruled by the Romans following Octavian 's assumption of sole rule under the Principate in 27 BC. It included territories in Europe , North Africa , and Western Asia and was ruled by emperors . The fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD conventionally marks the end of classical antiquity and the beginning of the Middle Ages .
Rome had expanded its rule to most of the Mediterranean and beyond. However, it was severely destabilized in civil wars and political conflicts which culminated in the victory of Octavian over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, and the subsequent conquest of the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt. In 27 BC, the Roman Senate granted Octavian overarching power (imperium Augustus accession as the first Roman emperor of a monarchy with Rome as its sole capital. The vast Roman territories were organized in senatorial provinces, governed by proconsuls who were appointed by lot annually, and imperial provinces, which belonged to the emperor but were governed by legates .
The
first two centuries of the Empire saw a period of unprecedented stability and prosperity known as the
Pax Romana (
lit. ' Roman Peace ' ). Rome reached its
greatest territorial expanse under
Trajan (
r. 98–117 AD– ); a period of increasing trouble and decline began under
Commodus (180–192). In the 3rd century, the Empire underwent a
crisis that threatened its existence, as the
Gallic and
Palmyrene Empires broke away from the Roman state, and a series of
short-lived emperors led the Empire. It was reunified under
Aurelian (
r. 270–275).
Diocletian set up two different imperial courts in the
Greek East and Latin West in 286;
Christians rose to power in the 4th century after the
Edict of Milan . The imperial seat moved from Rome to
Byzantium in 330, renamed
Constantinople after
Constantine the Great . The
Migration Period , involving
large invasions by Germanic peoples and by the
Huns of
Attila , led to the decline of the
Western Roman Empire . With the
fall of Ravenna to the
Germanic Herulians and the
deposition of Romulus Augustus in 476 AD by
Odoacer , the
Western Roman Empire finally collapsed. The
Eastern Roman Empire survived for another millennium with
Constantinople as its sole capital, until
the city's fall in 1453. (
Full article... )
The following are images from various Lebanon-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1 Beirut in 1950 (from
History of Lebanon )
Image 2 Map showing power balance in Lebanon, 1983: Green – controlled by Syria, purple – controlled by Christian groups, yellow – controlled by Israel, blue – controlled by the United Nations (from
History of Lebanon )
Image 3 A building in
Ghazieh , near
Sidon ,
bombed by the
Israeli Air Force (IAF), 20 July 2006 (from
History of Lebanon )
Image 4 Aftermath of the 4 August 2020 Beirut explosion (from
History of Lebanon )
Image 5 Portrait of Elie Hobeika (from
History of Lebanon )
Image 6 Protesters in
Beirut .
Mohammad Al-Amin Mosque , 20 October 2019 (from
History of Lebanon )
Image 8 The
Green Line that separated West and East Beirut, 1982 (from
History of Lebanon )
Image 9 City of
Zahlé at the eastern edge of the
Mount Lebanon Range in eastern Lebanon (from
Culture of Lebanon )
Image 10 Sidewalk Cafes are a trademark of the BCD (from
Culture of Lebanon )
Image 11 Rue Maarad is a main street in the central district (from
Culture of Lebanon )
Image 12 An array of Lebanese cuisine. (from
Culture of Lebanon )
Image 15 Lebanon Parliament 2018 (from
Politics of Lebanon )
Image 16 Aerial photo of
Beirut ,
Lebanon 's capital (from
Culture of Lebanon )
Image 17 Fairuz playing guitar (from
Culture of Lebanon )
Image 18 Csontváry Kosztka, Tivadar - Pilgrimage to the Cedars of Lebanon (from
Culture of Lebanon )
Image 19 Map of the Shebaa farms (from
History of Lebanon )
Image 20 A selection of Lebanese dishes from Cafe Nouf Restaurant in London (from
Culture of Lebanon )
Image 21 A map of Mount Lebanon c. AD 1180 (from
History of Lebanon )
Image 22 Portrait of Fakhreddine while he was in Tuscany, stating "Faccardino grand emir dei Drusi" translated as "Fakhreddine: great emir of the Druze" (from
History of Lebanon )
Image 24 Christian Church and
Druze Khalwa in
Shuf Mountains : Historically; the
Druzes and the Christians in the Shuf Mountains lived in complete harmony. (from
History of Lebanon )
Image 25 Palm trees at the seafront in
Corniche Beirut (from
Culture of Lebanon )
Image 27 Map showing power balance in Lebanon, 1976:
Dark Green – controlled by Syria;
Purple – controlled by
Maronite groups;
Light Green – controlled by
Palestinian militias (from
History of Lebanon )
Image 28 Flag as drawn and approved by the members of the Lebanese parliament during the declaration of independence in 1943 (from
History of Lebanon )
Image 29 Anti-Syrian protesters heading to Martyrs' Square in Beirut on foot and in vehicles, 13 March 2005 (from
History of Lebanon )
Image 30 The Grand Serail also known as the Government Palace is the headquarters of the
prime minister of Lebanon (from
Politics of Lebanon )
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