LEBONIN HISTORY

Lebanon is located in the Middle East and it is about the size of Yorkshire. The bible called it the land of milk and honey. The capital of Lebanon is Beirut and they called it the Paris of the East. Most the population is young and 60% of the Lebanese are under 25 years old. There are five countries which surround Lebanon; they are Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Israel and Cyprus.

In 1943 after the independence from France, Christians held the power and Muslims had little say in the running of their country. In 1948 after the Arab-Israel war, over 100,000 Palestinians poured into Lebanon, and this felled resentment amongst Lebanon’s Christians. After that in 1975 when members of a radical Christian group the Phalange, attacked and killed a bus full of Palestinians In downtown Beirut. So Syria sent in 20,000 troops to root out and quash radical Muslim groups on the invitation of the Maronite Christian led government and also there were 2000 Palestinians were killed. The Israeli army invaded the city in 1982, and they killed many thousands in the fighting. After 7 years Lebanese leaders offering an equal balance between Christians and Muslims in a new Lebanese parliament. This conflict costs many human lives and was destructive to the economic, high number of people were died and 300,000 were wounded and nearly a quarter of population left the country, Beirut economic was paralyzed for years.

After all this hard conflict, there are signs of social and economic recovery in Beirut. The government wants to turn Beirut into global financial center and most money is pouring in from businessmen the Gulf States. Also the government is inviting to foreigners to invest in rebuilding. Nowadays many tourists from the gulf and other countries love to spend time in Beirut. There are some current problems in the country. It is difficult to build your own future when 300,000 of young people have left. Also the unemployment remains very high.

Bibliography

"Eye on Lebanon." Global Eye. Spring 2006. Royal Geographical Society. 10 Apr. 2008 .