Lebanon Genealogy

The country of Lebanon is located in Western Asia. Lebanon is between the Mediterranean Sea and Syria. While Syria also borders Lebanon on the north, Israel borders on the south.  The primary language is Arabic, with many also speaking French.  Other common languages include Aremenian, Greek, Hebrew, and English. STATISTICS (taken from World Health Statistics, 2007*): Total population: 3,577,000 Gross national income per capita (PPP international $): 5,740 Life expectancy at birth m/f (years): 68/73 Healthy life expectancy at birth m/f (years, 2002): 59/62 Probability of dying under five (per 1 000 live births): 30 Probability of dying between 15 and 60 years m/f (per 1 000 population): 195/135 Total expenditure on health per capita (Intl $, 2004): 817 Total expenditure on health as % of GDP (2004): 11.6 *Figures are for 2005 unless indicated. Timeline: 3000-539 BC - Phoenicians, a maritime culture 220 AD - Roman Rule 1110-1124 - Invasion of the Crusaders 1124 - Lebanon Surrendered to the Crusaders 1124-1880 - Catholic influence since the time of the Crusaders 1880 - Combined with Syria under the Ottoman Empire World War I - Collapse of the Ottoman Empire results in the five Lebanese provices being mandated to France. 1943 - Lebanon gained Independence, establishing Confessionalism 1946 - French troops withdrew 1948 - Arab-Israeli War 1949-1975 - Years of Prosperity, based on financial power and tourism 1975-1990 - Lebanese Civil War 1990-2004 - Reconstruction 2005 - Cedar Revolution, in which Prime Minister is assassinated 2006 - Month-long War between Israel and Hezbollah 2007 - Nahr al-Bared Conflict 2008 - Doha Agreement, Reconstruction 2008-2010 - Re-establishment of financial power and tourism 2011 - Government Collapse Getting started with Lebanon research Unfortunately, because of damage to civil infrastructure during wartime and current political unrest, Lebanese research can be difficult to obtain. However, there is a movement among Lebanese people in a variety of communities to organize historical records and collaborate on genealogy work. See below, under Research for a few helpful links. Jurisdictions Lebanon is divided into six governorates and further subdivided into twenty-five districts.  The districts themselves are also divided into several municipalities, each enclosing a group of cities or villages: Beirut Governorate (city of Beirut only) Nabatieh Governorate (Jabal Amel) Bint Jbeil Hasbaya Marjeyoun Nabatieh Beqaa Governorate Baalbek Hermel Rashaya Western Beqaa (al-Beqaa al-Gharbi) Zahle North Governorate (al-Shamal) Akkar Batroun Bsharri Koura Miniyeh-Danniyeh Tripoli Zgharta Mount Lebanon Governorate (Jabal Lubnan) Aley Baabda Byblos (Jbeil) Chouf Keserwan Matn South Governorate (al-Janoub) Jezzine Sidon (Saida) Tyre (Sur) Research Tools The following websites and organizations are helpful in Lebanon research: Lebanon Genealogy Forum Lebanese Research Lebanese Newspapers Lebanon Historical Society Lebanese Gazeteer Help Wanted In order to make this wiki a better research tool, we need your help! Many tasks need to be done. You can help by: Expand an articleor short page Create a new article Categorize articles Add external links to articles Add internal links to articles Other...