黎巴嫩(Lebanon)
正式名称黎巴嫩共和国（Republic of Lebanon）
地中海东岸国家，与叙利亚及以色列为邻。面积10,230平方公里。人口约3,628,000（2001）。首都︰贝鲁特。黎巴嫩人口的种族构成包括腓尼基人、希腊人、亚美尼亚人和阿拉伯人。语言︰阿拉伯语（官方语）、法语和英语。宗教：伊斯兰教（逊尼派与什叶派）、基督教（马龙派和希腊正教）。货币︰黎巴嫩镑（￡L）。黎巴嫩境内多山，包括位於中部地区的黎巴嫩山脉，以及沿东部边界延伸的前黎巴嫩山脉和赫尔蒙（Hermon）山。低平的沿海平原沿着地中海伸展。利塔尼河（Litani River）向南流经肥沃的贝卡谷。该国境内原先大部分覆盖着茂密的森林（黎巴嫩的雪松很有名），但现在的森林覆盖率只约占国土的8%。农业无法自给自足，必须仰赖食物进口。该国作为中东地区金融中心的传统角色，近几年来因内乱和外国的干预而遭到破坏。政府形式为共和国，一院制。国家元首为总统，政府首脑是总理。
今黎巴嫩的大部分领土与古代的腓尼基一致，腓尼基人约在西元前3000年左右定居於该地区。西元6世纪，一群逃避叙利亚迫害的基督教徒定居於今黎巴嫩北部，并建立起马龙派教会。阿拉伯部族後来也在黎巴嫩南部定居，到11世纪建立德鲁士教派。中世纪时为十字军城邦的一部分，後来为马木路克人统治。1516年鄂图曼土耳其人取得控制权。1842年鄂图曼土耳其人结束了德鲁士教派谢哈布（Shihab）家族对当地的统治，使马龙派与德鲁士教派之间的关系恶化，导致1860年德鲁士人大肆屠杀马龙派教徒。法国进行干预，迫使鄂图曼苏丹在鄂图曼帝国境内设立一个自治省作为山地基督教区，称为黎巴嫩山省。第一次世界大战後，黎巴嫩由法国军队管辖。1946年正式独立。1948～1949年的以阿战争结束後，超过二十万名的巴勒斯坦难民在黎巴嫩南部安顿下来。1970年巴勒斯坦解放组织（PLO）将其总部迁移到黎巴嫩，并开始向以色列北部发动攻击。由基督教徒控制的黎巴嫩政府试图遏止巴解组织，而巴解组织为此在穆斯林与基督教徒的冲突中支持黎巴嫩的穆斯林，到1975年爆发为内战。1976～1982年叙利亚和联合国部队试图维持停火，但1982年以色列军队入侵黎巴嫩，声称要把巴勒斯坦军队赶出黎巴嫩南部。1985年以色列部队从黎巴嫩撤出，而黎巴嫩国内宗教间的冲突仍未解决。以色列部队卷土重来，但於1996年达成停火协议。1997年以色列士兵和黎巴嫩的真主党军队爆发冲突，协议破裂。黎巴嫩与以色列进行了多次争辩的谈判，以色列军队於2000年突然自黎巴嫩撤出。
English version：
Lebanon
Country, eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It is bounded by Syria and Israel. Area: 3,950 sq mi (10,230 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 3,112,000. Capital: Beirut. The Lebanese are ethnically a mixture of Phoenician, Greek, Armenian, and Arab elements. Languages: Arabic (official), French, English. Religions: Islam (Sunnite and Shiite), Christianity (Maronite, Greek Orthodox). Currency: Lebanese pound. Its mountains include the Lebanon Mtns. in the central region and the Anti-Lebanon and Mount Hermon ranges along the eastern border; a low coastal plain stretches along the Mediterranean. The Litani River flows southward through the fertile Bekaa Valley. Originally much of the country was forested (the cedars of Lebanon were famous), but forests now cover only about 8% of the terrain. Lebanon is not agriculturally self-sufficient and must rely on food imports. Its traditional role as the financial center of the Middle East has been undermined by civil strife and foreign intervention in recent decades. It is a republic with one legislative house; its chief of state is the president, and the head of government is the prime minister. Much of present-day Lebanon corresponds to ancient Phoenicia, which was settled c. 3000 BC. In the 6th century AD, Christians fleeing Syrian persecution settled in northern Lebanon and founded the Maronite Church. Arab tribesmen settled in southern Lebanon and by the 11th century had founded the Druze faith. Part of the medieval crusader states, Lebanon was later ruled by the Mamluks. In 1516 the Ottoman Turks seized control; the Turks ended the local rule of the Druze Shihab princes in 1842. Poor relations between religious groups resulted in the massacre of Maronites by Druze in 1860. France intervened, forcing the Ottomans to form an autonomous province for the Christian area known as Mount Lebanon. Following World War I, it was administered by the French military, but by 1946 it was fully independent. After the Arab-Israeli War of 1948-49, over 200,000 Palestinian refugees settled in southern Lebanon. In 1970 the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) moved its headquarters to Lebanon and began raids into northern Israel. The Christian-dominated Lebanese government tried to curb them, and in response the PLO sided with Lebanon's Muslims in their conflict with Christians, sparking a civil war by 1975. In 1976-82 Syrian and UN troops tried to maintain a cease-fire. In 1982 Israeli forces invaded in an effort to drive Palestinian forces out of southern Lebanon; Israeli troops withdrew in 1985, leaving the conflict unresolved. Israeli troops returned, but a cease-fire was agreed to in 1996. It was broken when Israeli soldiers and Lebanon's Hizbullah forces clashed in 1997. Following numerous contentious talks between Lebanon and Israel, Israeli troops abruptly withdrew from Lebanon in 2000.