Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. No recent population census has been conducted, but 2007 estimates ranged from more than 1 million to 2.2 million as part of Greater Beirut. Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coast, Beirut is the country's largest and main seaport, it is one of the oldest cities in the world. The first historical mention of Beirut is found in the Amarna letters from the New Kingdom of Egypt, which date to the 15th century BC. Beirut is Lebanon's seat of government and plays a central role in the Lebanese economy, with most banks and corporations based in its Central District, Rue Verdun, Ryad el Soloh street, Achrafieh. Following the destructive Lebanese Civil War, Beirut's cultural landscape underwent major reconstruction. Identified and graded for accountancy, banking/finance and law, Beirut is ranked as a Beta World City by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network; the English name Beirut is an early transcription of the Arabic name Bayrūt.
The same name's transcription into French is Beyrouth, sometimes used during Lebanon's French occupation. The Arabic name derives from Phoenician Birut; this was a modification of the Canaanite and Phoenician word be'rot, meaning "the wells", in reference to the site's accessible water table. The etymology is shared by the biblical Beeroth which was, however, a different settlement somewhere near Jerusalem; the name is first attested in the 15th century BC, when it was mentioned in three Akkadian cuneiform tablets of the Amarna letters, letters sent by King Ammunira of "Biruta" to Amenhotep III or Amenhotep IV of Egypt. "Biruta" was mentioned in the Amarna letters from King Rib-Hadda of Byblos. The Greeks hellenized the name as Bērytós; when it attained the status of a Roman colony, it was notionally refounded and its official name was emended to Colonia Iulia Augusta Felix Berytus to include its imperial sponsors. Before, under the Seleucid Empire, the city had been refounded and known as Laodicea in honor of the mother of Seleucus the Great.
It was distinguished from several other places named in her honor by the longer names Laodicea in Phoenicia or Laodicea in Canaan. Beirut was settled more than 5,000 years ago and the area had been inhabited for far longer. Several prehistoric archaeological sites have been discovered within the urban area of Beirut, revealing flint tools of sequential periods dating from the Middle Paleolithic and Upper Paleolithic through the Neolithic to the Bronze Age. Beirut I was listed as "the town of Beirut" by Louis Burkhalter and said to be on the beach near the Orient and Bassoul hotels on the Avenue des Français in central Beirut; the site was discovered by Lortet in 1894 and discussed by Godefroy Zumoffen in 1900. The flint industry from the site was described as Mousterian and is held by the Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon. Beirut II was suggested by Burkhalter to have been south of Tarik el Jedideh, where P. E. Gigues discovered a Copper Age flint industry at around 100 metres above sea level; the site had been built on and destroyed by 1948.
Beirut III, listed as Plateau Tabet, was suggested to have been located on the left bank of the Beirut River. Burkhalter suggested that it was west of the Damascus road, although this determination has been criticized by Lorraine Copeland. P. E. Gigues discovered a series of Neolithic flint tools on the surface along with the remains of a structure suggested to be a hut circle. Auguste Bergy discussed polished axes that were found at this site, which has now disappeared as a result of construction and urbanization of the area. Beirut IV was on the left bank of the river and on either side of the road leading eastwards from the Furn esh Shebbak police station towards the river that marked the city limits; the area was covered in red sand. The site was found by Jesuit Father Dillenseger and published by fellow Jesuits Godefroy Zumoffen, Raoul Describes and Auguste Bergy. Collections from the site were made by Bergy and another Jesuit, Paul Bovier-Lapierre. A large number of Middle Paleolithic flint tools were found on the surface and in side gullies that drain into the river.
They included around 50 varied bifaces accredited to the Acheulean period, some with a lustrous sheen, now held at the Museum of Lebanese Prehistory. Henri Fleisch found an Emireh point amongst material from the site, which has now disappeared beneath buildings. Beirut V was discovered by Dillenseger and said to be in an orchard of mulberry trees on the left bank of the river, near the river mouth, to be close to the railway station and bridge to Tripoli. Levallois flints and bones and similar surface material were found amongst brecciated deposits; the area has now been built on. Beirut VI was a site discovered while building on the property of the Lebanese Evangelical School for Girls in the Patriarchate area of Beirut, it was notable for the discovery of a finely styled Canaanean blade javelin suggested to date to the early or middle Neolithic periods of Byblos and, held in the school library. Beirut VII, the Rivoli Cinema and Byblos Cinema sites near the Bourj in the Rue el Arz area, are two sites discovered by Lorraine Copeland and Peter Wescombe in 1964 and examined by Diana Kirkbride and Roger Saidah.
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Multilingualism
Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a community of speakers. It is believed. More than half of all Europeans claim to speak at least one language other than their mother tongue. Always useful to traders, multilingualism is advantageous for people wanting to participate in globalization and cultural openness. Owing to the ease of access to information facilitated by the Internet, individuals' exposure to multiple languages is becoming possible. People who speak several languages are called polyglots. Multilingual speakers have acquired and maintained at least one language during childhood, the so-called first language; the first language is acquired without formal education, by mechanisms about which scholars disagree. Children acquiring two languages from these early years are called simultaneous bilinguals. In the case of simultaneous bilinguals, one language is dominant. People who know more than one language have been reported to be more adept at language learning compared to monolinguals.
Multilingualism in computing can be considered part of a continuum between internationalization and localization. Due to the status of English in computing, software development nearly always uses it. All commercial software is available in an English version, multilingual versions, if any, may be produced as alternative options based on the English original; the definition of multilingualism is a subject of debate in the same way as that of language fluency. On one end of a sort of linguistic continuum, one may define multilingualism as complete competence and mastery in another language; the speaker would have complete knowledge and control over the language so as to sound native. On the opposite end of the spectrum would be people who know enough phrases to get around as a tourist using the alternate language. Since 1992, Vivian Cook has argued that most multilingual speakers fall somewhere between minimal and maximal definitions. Cook calls these people multi-competent. In addition, there is no consistent definition of.
For instance, scholars disagree whether Scots is a language in its own right or a dialect of English. Furthermore, what is considered a language can change for purely political purposes, such as when Serbo-Croatian was created as a standard language on the basis of the Eastern Herzegovinian dialect to function as umbrella for numerous South Slavic dialects, after the breakup of Yugoslavia was split into Serbian, Croatian and Montenegrin, or when Ukrainian was dismissed as a Russian dialect by the Russian tsars to discourage national feelings. Many small independent nations' schoolchildren are today compelled to learn multiple languages because of international interactions. For example, in Finland, all children are required to learn at least two foreign languages: the other national language and one alien language. Many Finnish schoolchildren select further languages, such as German or Russian. In some large nations with multiple languages, such as India, schoolchildren may learn multiple languages based on where they reside in the country.
In major metropolitan areas of Central and Eastern India, many children may be fluent in four languages. Thus, a child of Telugu parents living in Bangalore will end up speaking his or her mother tongue at home and the state language and English in school and life. In many countries, bilingualism occurs through international communications and English being the global lingua franca, which sometimes results in majority bilingualism when the countries have just one domestic official language; this is occurring in Germanic regions such as Scandinavia, the Benelux and among Germanophones, but it is expanding into some non-Germanic countries. Many myths and much prejudice has grown around the notions of bi- and multilingualism in some Western countries where monolingualism is the norm. Researchers from the UK and Poland have listed the most common misconceptions: that bi- or multilinguals are exceptions to the ‘default’ monolingual ‘norm’; that the children would be confused with having the ability to speak two languages and the “tip-of-the-tongue states” For instance, where one knows the meaning and the specific details of a word, but cannot retrieve a word.
Those bilingual individuals tend to have fewer vocabularies and weaker in “verbal fluency tasks” than the monolingual counterpartThese are all harmful convictions which have long been debunked, yet still persist among many parents. One view is that of the linguist Noam Chomsky in what he calls the human language acquisition device—a mechanism which enables an individual to recreate correctly
Said Akl
Said Akl was a Lebanese poet, writer and language reformer. He was considered one of the most important modern Lebanese poets, he is most famous for proposing the creation of the Lebanese language, distinct from Arabic with its own Latin-based alphabet system made up of 36 letters. Some of his poems were written in this Lebanese language, his writings include prose both in Lebanese dialect and in classical Arabic language. He has written theatre pieces and authored lyrics for many popular songs. Akl was born in 1912 to a Maronite family in the city of Ottoman Lebanon. After losing his grandfather at the age of 14, he had to drop out of school because of laziness and worked as a teacher and as a journalist, he studied theology and Islamic history, becoming a university instructor and subsequently lecturing in a number of Lebanese universities and policy institutes. He died in Beirut, Lebanon at the age of 102 or 103. During his early years, Akl was an adherent of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party led by Antun Saadeh being expelled by Saadeh due to irreconcilable ideological disputes.
Akl adopted a powerful doctrine of the authentic millennial character of Lebanon resonating with an exalted sense of Lebanese dignity. His admiration to the Lebanese history and culture was marked by strong enmity towards an Arab identity of Lebanon, he was quoted saying, “I would cut off my right hand just not to be an Arab”. In 1968 he stated. For Akl Lebanon was the cradle of culture and the inheritor of the Oriental civilization, well before the arrival of the Arabs on the historical stage, he emphasized the Phoenician legacy of the Lebanese people. He is known for his radical Lebanese nationalistic sentiments; this party was a non-sectarian party. During the Lebanese Civil War, Akl served as the spiritual leader of the Lebanese Nationalist movement Guardians of the Cedars, led by Étienne Saqr. Akl was an ideologue for promotion of the Lebanese language as independent of Arabic language. Although acknowledging the influence of Arabic, he argued that Lebanese language was if not more influenced by Phoenician languages and promoted the use of the Lebanese dialect written in a modified Latin alphabet, rather than the Arabic one.
His designed alphabet for the Lebanese language using the Latin alphabet in addition to a few newly designed letters and some accented Latin letters to suit the Lebanese phonology. The proposed Lebanese alphabet designed by Akl contained 36 letters; the proposed alphabet was as follows: Starting in the 1970s Akl offered a prize to whoever authored the best essay in Lebanese Arabic. Since the Said Akl awards have been granted to many Lebanese intellectuals and artists, he published his poetry book Yara using his proposed Lebanese alphabet, thus becoming the first book to be published in this form. In years, he published his poetry book Khumasiyyat in the same alphabet. Akl published the tabloid newspaper Lebnaan using the Lebanese dialect, it was published in two versions, لبنان using Lebanese dialect written in traditional Arabic alphabet, the other Lebnaan in his proposed Lebanese Latin-based alphabet. Akl has numerous writings ranging from theatrical plays, epics and song lyrics, his first published work was released in a theatrical play written in Arabic.
His works are written in literary Arabic, or French. He is known for writing lyrics of many well-known songs, including "Zahrat al Madaen" sung by Fairuz. 1935: Bin Yifta' – 1937: Al Majdaliyyah – 1944: Qadmos – 1950: Rindalah – 1954: Mushkilat al Nukhba – 1960: Amal minik...? La! – (in Arabic!أجمل منك...؟ لا 1960: Lubnaan in haka – 1961: Ka's el Kamr 1961: Yarak 1961: Ajraas al Yasmeen 1972: Kitab al Ward 1979: Qasaed min Daftari 1974: Kama al A'mida 1978: Khumasiyyat In 1981 he published poems in French AnthemsAkl proposed the lyrics for an anthem for the pan-Syrian Syrian Social Nationalist Party, but this was rejected by its founder Antun Saadeh, who proposed another anthem for the party that he had written in prison. When asked about what he wrote, Akl denied writing it, said that it was a certain Wadih Khalil Nasrallah who wrote the lyrics. Akl wrote the anthem of Jam ` iyyat al Uruwwa al Wuthqa. SongwritingAkl has written poems that were turned into pan-Arab anthem songs with music from the Rahbani Brothers and sung by the Lebanese diva Feyrouz.
These include "Zahrat al Madaen" about Jerusalem, "Ghannaytou Makkah" about Mecca and "Saailiini ya Sham" about Damascus, "Ruddani ila biladi"
Lebanon
Lebanon known as the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus is west across the Mediterranean Sea. Lebanon's location at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian hinterland facilitated its rich history and shaped a cultural identity of religious and ethnic diversity. At just 10,452 km2, it is the smallest recognized sovereign state on the mainland Asian continent; the earliest evidence of civilization in Lebanon dates back more than seven thousand years, predating recorded history. Lebanon was the home of the Canaanites/Phoenicians and their kingdoms, a maritime culture that flourished for over a thousand years. In 64 BC, the region came under the rule of the Roman Empire, became one of the Empire's leading centers of Christianity. In the Mount Lebanon range a monastic tradition known as the Maronite Church was established; as the Arab Muslims conquered the region, the Maronites held onto their identity.
However, a new religious group, the Druze, established themselves in Mount Lebanon as well, generating a religious divide that has lasted for centuries. During the Crusades, the Maronites re-established contact with the Roman Catholic Church and asserted their communion with Rome; the ties they established with the Latins have influenced the region into the modern era. The region was ruled by the Ottoman Empire from 1516 to 1918. Following the collapse of the empire after World War I, the five provinces that constitute modern Lebanon came under the French Mandate of Lebanon; the French expanded the borders of the Mount Lebanon Governorate, populated by Maronites and Druze, to include more Muslims. Lebanon gained independence in 1943, establishing confessionalism, a unique, Consociationalism-type of political system with a power-sharing mechanism based on religious communities. Bechara El Khoury, President of Lebanon during the independence, Riad El-Solh, first Lebanese prime minister and Emir Majid Arslan II, first Lebanese minister of defence, are considered the founders of the modern Republic of Lebanon and are national heroes for having led the country's independence.
Foreign troops withdrew from Lebanon on 31 December 1946, although the country was subjected to military occupations by Syria that lasted nearly thirty years before being withdrawn in April 2005 as well as the Israeli military in Southern Lebanon for fifteen years. Despite its small size, the country has developed a well-known culture and has been influential in the Arab world, powered by its large diaspora. Before the Lebanese Civil War, the country experienced a period of relative calm and renowned prosperity, driven by tourism, agriculture and banking; because of its financial power and diversity in its heyday, Lebanon was referred to as the "Switzerland of the East" during the 1960s, its capital, attracted so many tourists that it was known as "the Paris of the Middle East". At the end of the war, there were extensive efforts to revive the economy and rebuild national infrastructure. In spite of these troubles, Lebanon has the 7th highest Human Development Index and GDP per capita in the Arab world after the oil-rich economies of the Persian Gulf.
Lebanon has been a member of the United Nations since its founding in 1945 as well as of the Arab League, the Non-Aligned Movement, Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation and the Organisation internationale de la francophonie. The name of Mount Lebanon originates from the Phoenician root lbn meaning "white" from its snow-capped peaks. Occurrences of the name have been found in different Middle Bronze Age texts from the library of Ebla, three of the twelve tablets of the Epic of Gilgamesh; the name is recorded in Ancient Egyptian as Rmnn, where R stood for Canaanite L. The name occurs nearly 70 times in the Hebrew Bible, as לְבָנוֹן. Lebanon as the name of an administrative unit was introduced with the Ottoman reforms of 1861, as the Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate, continued in the name of the State of Greater Lebanon in 1920, in the name of the sovereign Republic of Lebanon upon its independence in 1943; the borders of contemporary Lebanon are a product of the Treaty of Sèvres of 1920. Its territory was the core of the Bronze Age Phoenician city-states.
As part of the Levant, it was part of numerous succeeding empires throughout ancient history, including the Egyptian, Babylonian, Achaemenid Persian, Hellenistic and Sasanid Persian empires. After the 7th-century Muslim conquest of the Levant, it was part of the Rashidun, Abbasid Seljuk and Fatimid empires; the crusader state of the County of Tripoli, founded by Raymond IV of Toulouse in 1102, encompassed most of present-day Lebanon, falling to the Mamluk Sultanate in 1289 and to the Ottoman Empire in 1517. With the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, Greater Lebanon fell under French mandate in 1920, gained independence under president Bechara El Khoury in 1943. Lebanon's history since independence has been marked by alternating periods of political stability and prosperity based on Beirut's position as a regional center for finance and trade, interspersed with political turmoil and
Economics
Economics is the social science that studies the production and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents. Microeconomics analyzes basic elements in the economy, including individual agents and markets, their interactions, the outcomes of interactions. Individual agents may include, for example, firms and sellers. Macroeconomics analyzes the entire economy and issues affecting it, including unemployment of resources, economic growth, the public policies that address these issues. See glossary of economics. Other broad distinctions within economics include those between positive economics, describing "what is", normative economics, advocating "what ought to be". Economic analysis can be applied throughout society, in business, health care, government. Economic analysis is sometimes applied to such diverse subjects as crime, the family, politics, social institutions, war and the environment; the discipline was renamed in the late 19th century due to Alfred Marshall, from "political economy" to "economics" as a shorter term for "economic science".
At that time, it became more open to rigorous thinking and made increased use of mathematics, which helped support efforts to have it accepted as a science and as a separate discipline outside of political science and other social sciences. There are a variety of modern definitions of economics. Scottish philosopher Adam Smith defined what was called political economy as "an inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations", in particular as: a branch of the science of a statesman or legislator a plentiful revenue or subsistence for the people... to supply the state or commonwealth with a revenue for the publick services. Jean-Baptiste Say, distinguishing the subject from its public-policy uses, defines it as the science of production and consumption of wealth. On the satirical side, Thomas Carlyle coined "the dismal science" as an epithet for classical economics, in this context linked to the pessimistic analysis of Malthus. John Stuart Mill defines the subject in a social context as: The science which traces the laws of such of the phenomena of society as arise from the combined operations of mankind for the production of wealth, in so far as those phenomena are not modified by the pursuit of any other object.
Alfred Marshall provides a still cited definition in his textbook Principles of Economics that extends analysis beyond wealth and from the societal to the microeconomic level: Economics is a study of man in the ordinary business of life. It enquires how he uses it. Thus, it is on the one side, the study of wealth and on the other and more important side, a part of the study of man. Lionel Robbins developed implications of what has been termed "erhaps the most accepted current definition of the subject": Economics is a science which studies human behaviour as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses. Robbins describes the definition as not classificatory in "pick out certain kinds of behaviour" but rather analytical in "focus attention on a particular aspect of behaviour, the form imposed by the influence of scarcity." He affirmed that previous economists have centred their studies on the analysis of wealth: how wealth is created and consumed. But he said that economics can be used to study other things, such as war, that are outside its usual focus.
This is because war has as the goal winning it, generates both cost and benefits. If the war is not winnable or if the expected costs outweigh the benefits, the deciding actors may never go to war but rather explore other alternatives. We cannot define economics as the science that studies wealth, crime and any other field economic analysis can be applied to; some subsequent comments criticized the definition as overly broad in failing to limit its subject matter to analysis of markets. From the 1960s, such comments abated as the economic theory of maximizing behaviour and rational-choice modelling expanded the domain of the subject to areas treated in other fields. There are other criticisms as well, such as in scarcity not accounting for the macroeconomics of high unemployment. Gary Becker, a contributor to the expansion of economics into new areas, describes the approach he favours as "combin assumptions of maximizing behaviour, stable preferences, market equilibrium, used relentlessly and unflinchingly."
One commentary characterizes the remark as making economics an approach rather than a subject matter but with great specificity as to the "choice process and the type of social interaction that analysis involves." The same source reviews a range of definitions included in principles of economics textbooks and concludes that the lack of agreement need not affect the subject-matter that the texts treat. A
Business
Business is the activity of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products. Put, it is "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit, it does not mean it is a company, a corporation, partnership, or have any such formal organization, but it can range from a street peddler to General Motors."Having a business name does not separate the business entity from the owner, which means that the owner of the business is responsible and liable for debts incurred by the business. If the business acquires debts, the creditors can go after the owner's personal possessions. A business structure does not allow for corporate tax rates; the proprietor is taxed on all income from the business. The term is often used colloquially to refer to a company. A company, on the other hand, is a separate legal entity and provides for limited liability, as well as corporate tax rates. A company structure is more complicated and expensive to set up, but offers more protection and benefits for the owner.
Forms of business ownership vary by jurisdiction, but several common entities exist: Sole proprietorship: A sole proprietorship known as a sole trader, is owned by one person and operates for their benefit. The owner may hire employees. A sole proprietor has unlimited liability for all obligations incurred by the business, whether from operating costs or judgments against the business. All assets of the business belong to a sole proprietor, for example, a computer infrastructure, any inventory, manufacturing equipment, or retail fixtures, as well as any real property owned by the sole proprietor. Partnership: A partnership is a business owned by two or more people. In most forms of partnerships, each partner has unlimited liability for the debts incurred by the business; the three most prevalent types of for-profit partnerships are general partnerships, limited partnerships, limited liability partnerships. Corporation: The owners of a corporation have limited liability and the business has a separate legal personality from its owners.
Corporations can be either government-owned or owned, they can organize either for profit or as nonprofit organizations. A owned, for-profit corporation is owned by its shareholders, who elect a board of directors to direct the corporation and hire its managerial staff. A owned, for-profit corporation can be either held by a small group of individuals, or publicly held, with publicly traded shares listed on a stock exchange. Cooperative: Often referred to as a "co-op", a cooperative is a limited-liability business that can organize as for-profit or not-for-profit. A cooperative differs from a corporation in that it has members, not shareholders, they share decision-making authority. Cooperatives are classified as either consumer cooperatives or worker cooperatives. Cooperatives are fundamental to the ideology of economic democracy. Limited liability companies, limited liability partnerships, other specific types of business organization protect their owners or shareholders from business failure by doing business under a separate legal entity with certain legal protections.
In contrast, unincorporated businesses or persons working on their own are not as protected. Franchises: A franchise is a system in which entrepreneurs purchase the rights to open and run a business from a larger corporation. Franchising in the United States is widespread and is a major economic powerhouse. One out of twelve retail businesses in the United States are franchised and 8 million people are employed in a franchised business. A company limited by guarantee: Commonly used where companies are formed for non-commercial purposes, such as clubs or charities; the members guarantee the payment of certain amounts if the company goes into insolvent liquidation, but otherwise, they have no economic rights in relation to the company. This type of company is common in England. A company limited by guarantee may be without having share capital. A company limited by shares: The most common form of the company used for business ventures. A limited company is a "company in which the liability of each shareholder is limited to the amount individually invested" with corporations being "the most common example of a limited company."
This type of company is common in many English-speaking countries. A company limited by shares may be a publicly traded company or a held company A company limited by guarantee with a share capital: A hybrid entity used where the company is formed for non-commercial purposes, but the activities of the company are funded by investors who expect a return; this type of company may no longer be formed in the UK, although provisions still exist in law for them to exist. A limited liability company: "A company—statutorily authorized in certain states—that is characterized by limited liability, management by members or managers, limitations on ownership transfer", i.e. L. L. C. LLC structure has been called "hybrid" in that it "combines the characteristics of a corporation and of a partnership or sole proprietorship". Like a corporation, it has limited liability for members of the company, like a partnership, it has "flow-through taxation to the members" and must be "dissolved upon the death or bankruptcy of a member".
An unlimited company with or without a share capital: A hybrid entity, a company where the liability of members or shareholders for the debts of the company are not limited. In this case, the doctrine of a veil of incorporation does not apply. Less common types of companies are: Companies formed by letters patent: Most corpor
Aley
Aley, is a major Druze city in Lebanon. It is fourth largest city in Lebanon; the city is located on 15 km uphill from Beirut on the freeway to Damascus. Aley has the nickname'Bride of the Summer' due to its cooler climate during the summer tourism season. Other nicknames include:'Capital of the Mountains'; the permanent residents of Aley are predominantly Druze people, it may be the city with the largest Druze population in the world. There are residents of the Melkite, Eastern Orthodox, Maronite Christian minorities. Many seasonal residents from Arab Persian Gulf countries, own summer homes here to escape the extreme heat and humidity of the Persian Gulf Region; the word "Aley" derivatives from Aramaic, means "high place," referring to the City's high altitude above sea level. Aley gained prominence upon the completion of the Beirut–Damascus Railway in the mid-1890s; the railroad provided the residents of Beirut easy means of transportation to the mountains, this made Aley a popular destination to spend the summer months and enjoy its pleasant climate.
It was the site of a serious accident on 12 April 1904, when part of the locomotive exploded and the train fell backwards down the 7% grade, killing 8 and injuring another 21. The city was for a while the summer capital of the Ottoman governors of Mount Lebanon. Kamil Pasha made Aley his capital and organised a Diwan, where he executed a large number of Lebanese and Arab martyrs who sought independence from the Ottomans. A Jewish community once frequented this multi-cultural city, they maintained a synagogue in Souk Aley, but it has since been abandoned. In 2001, the municipality of Aley began renovating the downtown area its historic souk, the city revived its role in Lebanon's tourism. Aley is a major tourist destination in the Middle East, its location and climate made it a favorable venue for shopping and dining for wealthy Arabs from Persian Gulf states. This resort city with its increasing number of tourists and visitors has become the most flourishing resort in Mount Lebanon, thus has garnered its historical name as "The Bride of Summers".
The "Souk Aley" is a long historical boulevard lined with palm trees. In addition to these, there are tens of antique shops and retail boutiques along the street, which forms the heart of Aley. Aley hosts a well-known casino and many public swimming pools like the Piscine Aley, Country Club and Heritage. There's many hotels like the Highland and the Golden Tulip that has a bowling arena and a public swimming pool and spa. There's malls in Aley like the Aley Center, many Lebanese and international restaurants. In 1910 Aley received the founders of the American University of Beirut, they built castles and lived there for several years. During the 1960s several artists performed in the hotels and the casinos of Aley such as Umm Kulthum, Mohammed Abdel Wahab and Farid Al Atrash. Aley is the capital of the Aley District and it has 18 municipality members. In 2009 the municipality joined the Yasa in a safety program to reduce the rate of accidents; the city contains 14 schools, 10 private. The largest and most important of these schools is the Universal College of Aley, considered one of the best schools in the country.
It was built in 1907 by Mr. Shebl Khoury. There are 2 universities in the city: the Lebanese University-Faculty of Economic Science and Business Administrations, the Modern University of Business and Science. There's the Balamand University located in Souk Al Gharb in the suburbia of Aley. Aley has 4 hospitals: The National Hospital of Aley, Al Iman Hospital, Chehayeb International Hospital and Al Ouyoun Hospital, which specializes in ophthalmology
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United States: University of North Carolina (Established 1789 in North Carolina)
Canada: École Polytechnique de Montréal (Established 1873 in Montreal)
France: Université Catholique de Lille (Established 1875 in Lille)[7]
Switzerland: Unievrsité de Lausanne (Established 1537 in Lausanne)
Italy: Politecnico di Milano (Established 1863 in Milano)
Germany: Bremen University of Applied Sciences (Established 1982 in Bremen)
Spain: Universitat Politècnica de València (Established 1971 in Valencia)
Bulgaria: The University of Sofia (St. Kliment Ohridski) (Established 1888 in Sofia)
Poland: Collegium Civitas (Established 1997 in Warsaw)
Portugal: University of Coimbra (Established 1290 in Coimbra)
Ukraine: Lviv Polytechnic National University (Established 1844 in Lviv)
Lebanon: Lebanese University (Established 1951 in Beirut)
Jordan: The Hashemite University (Established 1995 in Zarqa)
Algeria: University of Algiers (Established 1909 in Algiers)
Egypt: Assiut University (Established 1957 in Assiut)
