POPULATION 3,677,780
SHIITE MUSLIM 41 percent
SUNNI MUSLIM 27 percent
MARONITE 16 percent
DRUZE 7 percent
GREEK ORTHODOX 5 percent
GREEK CATHOLIC 3 percent
OTHER 1 percent

Country Overview

Introduction

The Lebanese Republic, located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, is bordered by Israel on the south and Syria on the north and east. Modern Lebanon is characterized by its diversity of ethnic and religious groups, most of which have inhabited the country since the seventh century C.E. Muslim Shiites and Sunnis moved to Lebanon in the seventh century. In the second half of the seventh century Maronite Christians fled to Mount Lebanon from Syria. Other groups include Greek Orthodox, Christian Melchites (later known as Greek Catholics), and the Druze, a splinter Muslim group that fled to Lebanon in the eleventh century.

In modern Lebanon religion is a mark of a person's identity and a major reference point in social interaction. Sectarian communities...