Lebanon
Mountains and Mediterranean, a mosaic of faiths
Lebanon is a small, mountainous country on the eastern Mediterranean, famed for its cedar forests, its cosmopolitan capital, and a delicate mosaic of religious communities packed into a sliver of coast and highland. Once celebrated as the Switzerland of the Middle East and a Paris of the East in Beirut, it has endured civil war, occupation, and economic collapse while retaining a vibrant culture, a storied cuisine, and a far-flung diaspora that outnumbers the resident population.
Two parallel mountain ranges define the country, the snow-capped Mount Lebanon range rising steeply from the coast to Qurnat as Sawda, and the Anti-Lebanon along the Syrian border, with the fertile Bekaa Valley between them. The climate is Mediterranean, with snow on the heights and citrus on the coast. Banking, tourism, services, and remittances historically drove the economy, which has been gutted by a severe financial crisis since 2019.
Phoenician city-states, Roman temples at Baalbek, and centuries of Ottoman rule preceded a French mandate and independence in 1943, under a power-sharing system dividing offices among religious sects. A civil war from 1975 to 1990, Syrian and Israeli interventions, the rise of Hezbollah, and the 2020 Beirut port explosion followed. War returned in March 2026, when Hezbollah fired on Israel and Israeli forces advanced into the south, where they still hold ground. US-mediated talks link withdrawal to Hezbollah disarmament, which Beirut has pledged.