[Sharan]

Probably the first few thoughts that come to one's mind about Lebanon would be the nation's perpetual Civil War, troubled relationship with its neighbours, assinations of prominent leaders, its battles with militant organisations like The Hezbollah, etc.

Well they are'nt precisely the traits of a Nation whose Citizens enjoy Peace & Tranquility.On the contrary, Hundreds & Thousands of Lebanese have been killed in the last few Decades.

Lebanon, is bordered on the West by The Mediterranean Sea, on the North & East by Syria, an On the South By Israel.
Its rather, multiethnic, multilinguistic, state is corrobrated by the fact that
About 70% of the population is Muslim and about 30% is Christian, and each is divided into a number of sects, including the Druze.

Arabic is the offical language.However, English, French, & Armenian are also spoken by certain sections of people.

The Economy of the country is not something to boast about.
The cost of Imports annually, is known to be higher than the exports.
The illicit narcotic trade has also dented its economy.

The ethnic and religious groups have generally had a colossal impact on the successive governments.
Its been a tradition almost, that the President is Christian, the Prime minister a Sunni Muslim and the Speaker of the Parliament a Shiite Muslim.Essentially representing the major religions of the country.

With growing resentment among various sections of the population especially owing to the rather very fragile fabric of secularism in that state civil unrest of brewing especially in the mid 1970's. Vulnerability to internal feud has always been palpable given the fact that various groups such as The Palestine liberation organisation, and other shiite groups were always posing belligerently.

The civil war, which seemed rather imminent eventually would happen in 1975. Syrian forces were sent in to stall the advancing palestinian and muslim forces at the behest of the Lebanese President.

Close to 50000 thousand lebanese were killed and almost twice that number were wounded, maimed and disabled.
A Rickety truce was agreed upon in 1976, which would eventually break leading to further fatalities and destruction.

Israel moved in to capture the south lebanon as a consequence of the continuing palestinian attacks on it, but would withdraw by early 1978.
In 1981 fighting continued between Christian and Syrian forces, and Beirut was subjected to Israeli air raids in reprisal for PLO attacks. In June, 1982, Israeli forces invaded Lebanon, primarily to eliminate Palestinian guerrilla bases. Nearly 7,000 Palestinians were forced to leave Lebanon, which was accomplished under the supervision of a Multinational Force (MNF) comprised of U.S. and European-allied troops, who left immediately afterward.

Bashir Gemayel was elected president of Lebanon, but he was killed three weeks later by a bomb. In the wake of his death, Christian forces entered the Palestinian refugee camps in Israeli-controlled areas and massacred some 1,000 civilians, provoking an international outcry.

The multinational force left Lebanon in 1984. Israel completed its withdrawal in mid-1985 but left soldiers to work in conjunction with the Christian South Lebanese Army (SLA) to maintain a security (buffer) zone.

The tumultuous state of lebanon would continue with René Moawad's assination, he was the newly President in 1989.He was succeeded by Elias Hrawi.

In the backdrop of all these man made catastrophes, the country's economy, infrastructure, the tourism industry, etc, were crumpling.

In 1995, President Hrawi's term in office was extended by three years by a constitutional amendment.
In Feb., 2005, Hariri was assassinated in a Beirut car bombing only adding to the spate of assinations of prominent political leaders.

Parliamentary elections in May–June resulted in a majority for the anti-Syrian coalition; Fouad Siniora, a former finance minister and an ally of Hariri, became prime minister.

OnJuly 12, 2006, following an operation executed by Hezbollah militants on Israeli territory, Israel launched a massive military operation against the Lebanon-based Hezbollah. The fighting quickly escalated into 33 days of "open war" and ultimately led to the death of 1,191 Lebanese and 44 Israeli civilians.Over the course of the war 4,409 were injured in Lebanon and nearly a million were displaced. Fighting came to end on 14th August, three days after UN Security Council Resolution 1701—which called for an immediate cessation of hostilities—was passed.

One can only hope and pray that the fragile truce that has been brokered by The U.N. can stand the test of time.