ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief historical background and a description of major events in Lebanon. It also provides basic political, economic, and social data arranged in the following categories: polity, economy, population, purchasing power parities, life expectancy, ethnic groups, capital, political rights, civil liberties, and status. The chapter discusses the progress and decline of political rights and civil liberties in Lebanon. Syria's continuing presence in Lebanon dominated Lebanese political life throughout 2001. Reconciliation between Christian Maronites and Muslim Druze, based on a shared antipathy for Syria, and a sharp crackdown on anti-Syria demonstrators underscored the deep divisions within the Lebanese political hierarchy. Lebanon's economy worsened in 2001, creating further difficulties for Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's already enormous task of reforming a severely depressed economy in need of foreign investment. While Lebanon enjoys greater press freedoms than its patron, Syria, the government has not abated its crackdown on independent broadcasting, which flourished during the civil war.
