Cultural Diversity
Lebanon is the only Middle Eastern country where Christians constitute a large portion of the population. However, no official census has been taken since the 1932 census (when Christians constituted a slight majority)-reflecting the political sensitivity in Lebanon over religious balance.
Recent estimates suggest that around 60 to 70 percent of the resident population is Muslim (Shia, Sunni and Druze), while the rest belongs to various Christian communions (the Maronite sect of the Roman Catholic Church, Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic, Armenian Catholic and Orthodox, as well as other Christian minorities.) Shia Muslims make up the single largest sect.
The official language is Arabic, although French is widely spoken as well and considered official -- a testament to the colonial legacy. The Armenian minority speaks Armenian.
The Lebanese people are mostly of Arab origin, although a substantial Armenian population is also present. Also, some people in Lebanon claim Phoenecian origins -- a reference to the cultural and ethnic group that lived in Lebanon prior to the influx of Arabs. As well, there are some 300,000 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon registered with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinians in the Near East (UNRWA), and about 180,000 stateless people resident in the country (mostly Kurds and Syrians). Palestinians and stateless people are not accorded the legal rights enjoyed by the rest of the population.
Note: With no official figures available, it is estimated that 600,000-900,000 persons fled the country during the initial years of civil strife (1975-1976). Although some returned, the continuing instability until 1990, sparked further waves of emigration, casts even more doubt on population figures. Higher emigration rates among Christians have, in addition to higher birth rates in the Muslim population, reduced the percentage of Christians residing in the country. Faced with worrisome economic, social and political pr ospects, educated young people continues to emigrate, making "brain-drain" (the leaving of one country to work in another) one of Lebanon's most imminent problems.
Human Development
In terms of health and welfare, the infant mortality rate in Lebanon is 22.59 deaths per 1,000 live births. The total fertility rate os 1.88 children born per woman. Life expectancy at birth for the total population is 73.41 years of age (70.91 for males and 76.04 for females), according to recent estimates. In terms of population trends, the population growth rate is 1.2 percent, while the birth rate is 18.08 births per 1,000 people and the death rate is 6.1 deaths per 1,000 people.
The literacy rate for the total population is 87.4 percent, with males registering at 93.1 percent, and females at 82.2 percent.
About 8.2 percent of GDP in this country is spent on health expenditures; about 1.8 percent of GDP in this country is spent on education. Access to water and sanitation in this country is regarded to be good, although there may be notable obstacles in certain rural areas.
A notable measure of human development is the Human Development Index (HDI), which is formulated by the United Nations Development Program. The HDI is a composite of several indicators, which measure a country's achievements in three main arenas of human development: longevity, knowledge and education, as well as economic standard of living. In a ranking of 177 countries, the HDI placed Lebanon in the medium human development category, at 88th place. The country, however, was omitted from the United Nation's latest HDI ranking.
Note: Although the concept of human development is complicated and cannot be properly captured by values and indices, the HDI, which is calculated and updated annually, offers a wide-ranging assessment of human development in certain countries, not based solely upon traditional economic and financial indicators.