Western Asia · LBN

Lebanon

The story · 11 chapters

How it was drawn

Phoenician ports and a mountain refuge for many faiths, ruled by empires for millennia. France drew Greater Lebanon in 1920, and it became independent in 1943.

Play the story Take the first lesson

Through the ages

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Lebanon fought or stood against, from the first to today.

Neo-Assyrian Empire877 BC to 677 BC
From the ninth century BC Assyrian kings reach the Mediterranean and demand tribute from the Phoenician cities. Revolts are punished: Sennacherib drives the king of Tyre and Sidon into exile in 701 BC, and Esarhaddon destroys Sidon in 677 BC.
Neo-Babylonian Empire586 BC to 573 BC
Nebuchadnezzar II besieges island Tyre for thirteen years, from about 586 to 573 BC. The city cannot be stormed from the land, and it ends by accepting Babylonian overlordship.
Macedonian Empire332 BC
Tyre refuses to let Alexander the Great into its island temple. He besieges it for seven months in 332 BC, builds a causeway from the mainland, storms the city and sells much of its population into slavery.
Mamluk Sultanate1268 to 1291
The Mamluks of Egypt destroy the crusader states. Baybars takes Antioch in 1268, Qalawun takes Tripoli in 1289, and after Acre falls in 1291 Tyre, Sidon and Beirut are abandoned to them.
Ottoman Empire1613 to 1635
Alarmed by Fakhr al-Din II's growing power, the Ottomans send an army in 1613, forcing him into exile in Tuscany until 1618. A second campaign defeats him in 1633, and he is executed in Istanbul in 1635.
Egypt of Muhammad Ali1831 to 1840
Ibrahim Pasha's Egyptian army conquers Syria and Lebanon in 1831 and 1832. Heavy taxes and conscription spark revolts, and in 1840 British, Austrian and Ottoman forces bombard Beirut and force the Egyptians out.
France1920 to 1946
France rules Lebanon under a League of Nations mandate. When it arrests the president and ministers in November 1943 after they end the mandate, protests force their release, and the last French troops leave in 1946.
IsraelSince 1948Still open
Lebanon joins the 1948 war and signs an armistice in 1949. Israel invades in 1978 and 1982 and occupies the south until 2000. It fights Hezbollah in 2006 and again in 2023 and 2024. The two states have never made peace.
Palestine Liberation Organization1969 to 1982
The 1969 Cairo Agreement lets Palestinian fighters operate from Lebanon. After Black September in Jordan, the PLO moves its base to Beirut and becomes a main party in the civil war, until Israel's 1982 siege forces its fighters out.
Syria1976 to 2005
Syrian troops enter Lebanon in 1976 and stay for 29 years, dominating its politics after the civil war. Syria withdraws in April 2005 after the killing of Rafik Hariri, and the two countries open embassies for the first time in 2008.

Today

Lebanon now

As a result of its location at the crossroads of three continents, the area that is modern-day Lebanon is rich in cultural and religious diversity. This region was subject to various foreign conquerors for much of its history, including the Romans, Arabs, and Ottomans. Following World War I, France acquired a mandate over the northern portion of the former Ottoman Empire province of Syria. From it the French demarcated the region of Lebanon in 1920, and it gained independence in 1943.

Capital: Beirut
Government: parliamentary democratic republic
Head of government: Nawaf Salam
Head of state: Joseph Aoun
Languages: Arabic

Through time

Then and now

Population5.8 million2023 · 1.3 million in 1950
Life expectancy77.8 years2023 · 59.9 years in 1950
GDP per person$10,3412022 · $3,872 in 1950
Living in cities91%2025 · 32% in 1950
Literacy92%2019 · 48% in 1950
Political regimeElectoral autocracy2025 · Electoral autocracy in 1950
Military alliancesNone of these2024 · None of these in 1950
Military spending2.5% of GDP2025
War deaths5.9 per 100,0002025

Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.

Relations

Close partners and tensions

Close partners

Iran, Islamic Rep.
Syrian Arab Republic

Tensions

Iceland
Israel

Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 23 October 2026.

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Lebanon fought or stood against, from the first to today.

Neo-Assyrian Empire877 BC to 677 BC

From the ninth century BC Assyrian kings reach the Mediterranean and demand tribute from the Phoenician cities. Revolts are punished: Sennacherib drives the king of Tyre and Sidon into exile in 701 BC, and Esarhaddon destroys Sidon in 677 BC.

Neo-Babylonian Empire586 BC to 573 BC

Nebuchadnezzar II besieges island Tyre for thirteen years, from about 586 to 573 BC. The city cannot be stormed from the land, and it ends by accepting Babylonian overlordship.

Macedonian Empire332 BC

Tyre refuses to let Alexander the Great into its island temple. He besieges it for seven months in 332 BC, builds a causeway from the mainland, storms the city and sells much of its population into slavery.

Mamluk Sultanate1268 to 1291

The Mamluks of Egypt destroy the crusader states. Baybars takes Antioch in 1268, Qalawun takes Tripoli in 1289, and after Acre falls in 1291 Tyre, Sidon and Beirut are abandoned to them.

Ottoman Empire1613 to 1635

Alarmed by Fakhr al-Din II's growing power, the Ottomans send an army in 1613, forcing him into exile in Tuscany until 1618. A second campaign defeats him in 1633, and he is executed in Istanbul in 1635.

Egypt of Muhammad Ali1831 to 1840

Ibrahim Pasha's Egyptian army conquers Syria and Lebanon in 1831 and 1832. Heavy taxes and conscription spark revolts, and in 1840 British, Austrian and Ottoman forces bombard Beirut and force the Egyptians out.

France1920 to 1946

France rules Lebanon under a League of Nations mandate. When it arrests the president and ministers in November 1943 after they end the mandate, protests force their release, and the last French troops leave in 1946.

IsraelSince 1948Still open

Lebanon joins the 1948 war and signs an armistice in 1949. Israel invades in 1978 and 1982 and occupies the south until 2000. It fights Hezbollah in 2006 and again in 2023 and 2024. The two states have never made peace.

Palestine Liberation Organization1969 to 1982

The 1969 Cairo Agreement lets Palestinian fighters operate from Lebanon. After Black September in Jordan, the PLO moves its base to Beirut and becomes a main party in the civil war, until Israel's 1982 siege forces its fighters out.

Syria1976 to 2005

Syrian troops enter Lebanon in 1976 and stay for 29 years, dominating its politics after the civil war. Syria withdraws in April 2005 after the killing of Rafik Hariri, and the two countries open embassies for the first time in 2008.

Lebanon now

Capital

Beirut

Government

parliamentary democratic republic

Head of government

Nawaf Salam

Head of state

Joseph Aoun

Languages

Arabic

Then and now

Population5.8 million2023 · 1.3 million in 1950

Life expectancy77.8 years2023 · 59.9 years in 1950

GDP per person$10,3412022 · $3,872 in 1950

Living in cities91%2025 · 32% in 1950

Literacy92%2019 · 48% in 1950

Political regimeElectoral autocracy2025 · Electoral autocracy in 1950

Military alliancesNone of these2024 · None of these in 1950

Military spending2.5% of GDP2025

War deaths5.9 per 100,0002025