1.
Lebanon
–
Lebanon, officially known as the Lebanese Republic, is a sovereign state in Western Asia. It is bordered by Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, Lebanons 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 country on the entire 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 culture that flourished for over a thousand years. In 64 BC, the region came under the rule of the Roman Empire, 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 religion, 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, the ties they established with the Latins have influenced the region into the modern era. The region eventually 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, which was populated by Maronites and Druze. Lebanon gained independence in 1943, establishing confessionalism, a unique, foreign troops withdrew completely from Lebanon on 31 December 1946. Lebanon has been a member of the Organisation internationale de la francophonie since 1973, despite its small size, the country has developed a well-known culture and has been highly influential in the Arab world. Before the Lebanese Civil War, the experienced a period of relative calm and renowned prosperity, driven by tourism, agriculture, commerce. At the end of the war, there were efforts to revive the economy. In spite of troubles, Lebanon has the highest Human Development Index and GDP per capita in the Arab world. The name of Mount Lebanon originates from the Phoenician root lbn meaning white, occurrences of the name have been found in different Middle Bronze Age texts from the library of Ebla, and 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. The borders of contemporary Lebanon are a product of the Treaty of Sèvres of 1920 and its territory was the core of the Bronze Age Phoenician city-states. After the 7th-century Muslim conquest of the Levant, it was part of the Rashidun, Umyayad, Abbasid Seljuk, with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, Greater Lebanon fell under French mandate in 1920, and gained independence under president Bechara El Khoury in 1943
2.
Jounieh
–
Jounieh is a coastal city about 16 km north of Beirut, Lebanon and is part of Greater Beirut. Above Jounieh, and on the way to Harissa, a hill named Bkerké. Residents of Jounieh and the towns are overwhelmingly Maronite Christians. Maameltein is a district of the city, ships and boats bring supplies and its grain trade is very popular. Thus a district of the villages, Sarba, Ghadir. Jounieh itself is not an area but mainly a commercial district whose workers come from neighboring towns. ”Jounieh was connected with neighboring areas by roads built for carriages. So it was connected with Bkerké and beyond it during the rule of Dawud Basha and it was connected to Ghazir between 1867 and 1868 despite the objection of Ghazir’s residents. Another road connected Jounieh to the Beirut Bridge during the rule of Rustum Basha, to the north it was connected by a carriage’s road until Batroun during the rule of Wasa Basha. According to the records of the Keserwan Governorate, the town of Ghadir, in 1914, had 433 corporations, the town of Sarba had 213 commercial institutions and its population was 1,714. In Harat Sakhr, there were 165 corporations and its population was 808, in Sahil ‘Alma, there were 21 corporations its population reached 187. Jounieh had seen noticeable prosperity after France and the Maronite Patriarchy supported the opening a port for ships which became the official port of Mount Lebanon. In 1913 and during the Mandate era, Jounieh suffered economic decline and recession as the French administration moved part of Jounieh’s administrative role to the Capital, also Jounieh came out of the First World War weakened by famine and economic stagnation. So several of its inhabitants were forced to move to the capital or to immigrate and its social and population development stopped, and its economic development weakened. The 1932 statistics showed 1,286 housed in Jounieh,371 in Sarba,434 in Ghadir,350 houses in Harat Sakhr and this affected the building industry and records in the town hall showed very limited number of permits given from 1922-1940. The only active sectors in that period were schools, small crafts, and planting of trees, sugar cane. This situation stayed the same until the rule of President Fuad Chehab who outfitted the city all that it needed to become modern. Jounieh then awakened from its slumber with projects for roads, lighting, modern planning, a stadium, a tourist port, a government house, President Chehab used a number of experts and engineers headed by the French engineer Ekochar. The talk became of “Monte Carlo of the East” and Jounieh stood out as a bride of the Lebanese coast, in 1959, it started to attract banks, the first which were the Lebanese Commerce Bank and the Lebanese Federal Bank
3.
Maronite Christians in Lebanon
–
Maronite Christianity in Lebanon refers to adherents of the Maronite Church in Lebanon, which is the largest Christian denomination in the country. The Lebanese Maronite Christians are believed to constitute about 22% of the population of Lebanon. Lebanons constitution was intended to guarantee representation for each of the nations ethno-religious groups. Under the terms of an agreement known as the National Pact between the various political and religious leaders of Lebanon, the president of the country must be a Maronite. There is no distinct pattern that shows that one community carries significantly more Phoenician than another, according to Catholic tradition, the first Bishop was Saint Peter before his travels to Rome. The third Bishop was the Apostolic Father Ignatius of Antioch, Antioch became one of the five original Patriarchates after Constantine recognized Christianity. Many of his followers also lived a monastic lifestyle, following the death of Maron in 410 AD, his disciples built a monastery in his memory and formed the nucleus of the Maronite Church. The Maronites held fast to the beliefs of the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD, when the Monophysites of Antioch slew 350 monks, the Maronites sought refuge in the mountains of Lebanon. Correspondence concerning the event brought the Maronites papal and orthodox recognition, a monastery was built around the shrine of St. Maro after the Council of Chalcedon. This doctrine, monothelitism, was meant as a compromise between supporters of Chalcedon, such as the Maronites, and opponents, such as the Jacobites, monothelitism was actually endorsed by Pope Honorius I of the Catholic Church to win back the Monophysites. Instead, this new doctrine caused greater controversy, and was declared a heresy at the Sixth Ecumenical Council in 680-681, in 687 AD, the Emperor Justinian II agreed to evacuate many thousand Maronites from Lebanon and settle them elsewhere. The chaos and utter depression which followed led the Maronites to elect their first Patriarch, John Maroun and this, however, was seen as a usurpation by the Orthodox churches. This situation was mirrored in other Christian communities in the Byzantine Empire, the Maronites belong to the Maronite Syriac Church of Antioch is an Eastern Catholic Syriac Church that had affirmed its communion with Rome since 1180 A. D. The Maronite Patriarch is traditionally seated in Bkerke, north of Beirut, Lebanese Maronite Christians are concentrated in the north Beirut, northern part of Mount Lebanon Governorate, southern part of North Governorate, parts of Beqaa Governorate and South Governorate. The last Census in Lebanon in 1932 put the numbers of Maronites at 29% of the population, a study done by the Central Intelligence Agency in 1985 put the numbers of Maronites at 16% of the population. Lebanese Maronites constitutes 21% of Lebanons population of approximately 4.3 million, which means they amount to 903,000 as of 2012
4.
Harissa-Daraoun
–
Harissa-Daraoun is a municipality that consists of two villages, Harissa and Daraoun, in the Keserwan District of the Mount Lebanon Governorate of Lebanon. The municipality is located 27 km north of Beirut and its average elevation is 550 meters above sea level and its total land area is 435 hectares. Harissa is accessible from the city of Jounieh either by road or by a nine-minute journey by a gondola lift. Harissa is home to an important Lebanese pilgrimage site, Our Lady of Lebanon and it attracts both pilgrims and tourists who want to enjoy views of the bay of Jounieh. Daraoun contains three schools, one public and two private, that enrolled a total of 457 students as of 2008, while Harissa had one school with 242 students during that same time period. There were eight companies with five employees operating in Daraoun as of 2008. Daraouns inhabitants are predominantly Maronite Catholics, while Harissa has a population of Melkite and Maronite Catholics. Harissa is a key Christian pilgrimage site with a dedicated to Our Lady of Lebanon. In 1904, Patriarch Elias Hoyek, on the 50th anniversary of the proclamation of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception, the shrine belongs to the Maronite Patriarchate who entrusted its administration to the Congregation of Maronite Lebanese Missionaries since its foundation in 1904. The original church was built by Sleiman Yakoub Hokayim from Batrun. When it was inaugurated in 1908 the Patriarch dedicated Lebanon to the Virgin Mary, Oh Mary, Queen of mountains and seas, on this day the Maronite Patriarch and all the Lebanese Bishops celebrate the Divine Liturgy in the open air at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon. Our Lady of Lebanon is one of the most important shrines in the honoring the Virgin Mary. The shrine is highlighted by a huge, 15-ton bronze statue of the Immaculate Conception and it is 8.5 m high, and has a diameter of five meters. The Virgin Mary stretches her hands towards Beirut, the shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon draws millions of faithful both Christians and Muslims from all over the world. The 50th jubilee in 1954 was also the anniversary of the establishment of the Immaculate Conception. During these Jubilee celebrations, Pope Pius XII sent his representative, Cardinal Angelo Roncalli to Lebanon, Pope John Paul II visited Our Lady of Lebanon in 1997. The Congregation of Maronite Lebanese Missionaries, responsible for the administration, works at reinforcing relations among all local Churches, Christian communities and apostolic movements. ] The pilgrimage site there is a large, 15-ton bronze statue of Virgin Mary, known as Our Lady of Lebanon or Notre Dame du Liban, with her arms stretched
5.
Beirut
–
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. No recent population census has been done but in 2007 estimates ranged from more than 1 million to slightly less than 2 million as part of Greater Beirut. Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanons Mediterranean coast, Beirut is the countrys largest and it is one of the oldest cities in the world, inhabited more than 5,000 years ago. The first historical mention of Beirut is found in the ancient Egyptian Tell el Amarna letters dating from the 15th century BC, the Beirut River runs south to north on the eastern edge of the city. Beirut is Lebanons seat of government and plays a role in the Lebanese economy, with most banks and corporations based in its Central District, Badaro, Rue Verdun, Hamra. Following the destructive Lebanese Civil War, Beiruts cultural landscape underwent major reconstruction, identified and graded for accountancy, advertising, banking/finance and law, Beirut is ranked as a Beta World City by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. In May 2015, Beirut was officially recognized as one of the New7Wonders Cities together with Vigan, Doha, Durban, Havana, Kuala Lumpur, and La Paz. Beirut I, or Minet el Hosn, was listed as Beyrouth ville by Louis Burkhalter and said to be on the beach near the Orent, 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, or Umm el Khatib, 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, Furn esh Shebbak or Plateau Tabet, was suggested to have 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. The area was covered in red sand that represented Quaternary river terraces, 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, Describes and another Jesuit, 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, Henri Fleisch also found an Emireh point amongst material from the site, which has now disappeared beneath buildings. Levallois flints and bones and similar material were found amongst brecciated deposits. The area has now built on
6.
Umayyad Caliphate
–
The Umayyad Caliphate, also spelled Omayyad, was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. This caliphate was centred on the Umayyad dynasty, hailing from Mecca, Syria remained the Umayyads main power base thereafter, and Damascus was their capital. The Umayyads continued the Muslim conquests, incorporating the Caucasus, Transoxiana, Sindh, the Maghreb and the Iberian Peninsula into the Muslim world. At its greatest extent, the Umayyad Caliphate covered 11,100,000 km2 and 62 million people, the Umayyad Caliphate was secular by nature. At the time, the Umayyad taxation and administrative practice were perceived as unjust by some Muslims, Muhammad had stated explicitly during his lifetime that Abrahamic religious groups, should be allowed to practice their own religion, provided that they paid the jizya taxation. The welfare state of both the Muslim and the poor started by Umar ibn al Khattab had also continued, financed by the zakat tax levied only on Muslims. Muawiyas wife Maysum was also a Christian, the relations between the Muslims and the Christians in the state were stable in this time. Prominent positions were held by Christians, some of whom belonged to families that had served in Byzantine governments, the employment of Christians was part of a broader policy of religious assimilation that was necessitated by the presence of large Christian populations in the conquered provinces, as in Syria. This policy also boosted Muawiyas popularity and solidified Syria as his power base, the rivalries between the Arab tribes had caused unrest in the provinces outside Syria, most notably in the Second Muslim Civil War of AD 680–692 and the Berber Revolt of 740–743. During the Second Civil War, leadership of the Umayyad clan shifted from the Sufyanid branch of the family to the Marwanid branch. A branch of the family fled across North Africa to Al-Andalus, where they established the Caliphate of Córdoba, according to tradition, the Umayyad family and Muhammad both descended from a common ancestor, Abd Manaf ibn Qusai, and they originally came from the city of Mecca. Muhammad descended from Abd Manāf via his son Hashim, while the Umayyads descended from Abd Manaf via a different son, Abd-Shams, the two families are therefore considered to be different clans of the same tribe. However Muslim Shia historians suspect that Umayya was a son of Abd Shams so he was not a blood relative of Abd Manaf ibn Qusai. Umayya was later discarded from the noble family, Sunni historians disagree with this and view Shia claims as nothing more than outright polemics due to their hostility to the Umayyad family in general. While the Umayyads and the Hashimites may have had bitterness between the two clans before Muhammad, the rivalry turned into a case of tribal animosity after the Battle of Badr. The battle saw three top leaders of the Umayyad clan killed by Hashimites in a three-on-three melee and this fueled the opposition of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, the grandson of Umayya, to Muhammad and to Islam. Abu Sufyan sought to exterminate the adherents of the new religion by waging another battle with Muslims based in Medina only a year after the Battle of Badr and he did this to avenge the defeat at Badr. The Battle of Uhud is generally believed by scholars to be the first defeat for the Muslims, as they had incurred greater losses than the Meccans
7.
Arabic
–
Arabic is a Central Semitic language that was first spoken in Iron Age northwestern Arabia and is now the lingua franca of the Arab world. Arabic is also the language of 1.7 billion Muslims. It is one of six languages of the United Nations. The modern written language is derived from the language of the Quran and it is widely taught in schools and universities, and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, government, and the media. The two formal varieties are grouped together as Literary Arabic, which is the language of 26 states. Modern Standard Arabic largely follows the standards of Quranic Arabic. Much of the new vocabulary is used to denote concepts that have arisen in the post-Quranic era, Arabic has influenced many languages around the globe throughout its history. During the Middle Ages, Literary Arabic was a vehicle of culture in Europe, especially in science, mathematics. As a result, many European languages have borrowed many words from it. Many words of Arabic origin are found in ancient languages like Latin. Balkan languages, including Greek, have acquired a significant number of Arabic words through contact with Ottoman Turkish. Arabic has also borrowed words from languages including Greek and Persian in medieval times. Arabic is a Central Semitic language, closely related to the Northwest Semitic languages, the Ancient South Arabian languages, the Semitic languages changed a great deal between Proto-Semitic and the establishment of the Central Semitic languages, particularly in grammar. Innovations of the Central Semitic languages—all maintained in Arabic—include, The conversion of the suffix-conjugated stative formation into a past tense, the conversion of the prefix-conjugated preterite-tense formation into a present tense. The elimination of other prefix-conjugated mood/aspect forms in favor of new moods formed by endings attached to the prefix-conjugation forms, the development of an internal passive. These features are evidence of descent from a hypothetical ancestor. In the southwest, various Central Semitic languages both belonging to and outside of the Ancient South Arabian family were spoken and it is also believed that the ancestors of the Modern South Arabian languages were also spoken in southern Arabia at this time. To the north, in the oases of northern Hijaz, Dadanitic and Taymanitic held some prestige as inscriptional languages, in Najd and parts of western Arabia, a language known to scholars as Thamudic C is attested
8.
Mount Lebanon Governorate
–
Mount Lebanon is one of the eight governorates of Lebanon. Its capital is located in Baabda, the majority of its population is Christian, with minorities of Druze, Muslims of various sects, as well as irreligious people. This governorate is named after the region of Mount Lebanon and, except for Beirut. The governorate is divided into six districts, Christians are the majority, comprising 70% of the population, followed by Druze, Muslims, the irreligious and others
9.
Bouar
–
Bouar is a market town in the western Central African Republic, lying on the main road from Bangui to the frontier with Cameroon. The city is the capital of Nana-Mambéré prefecture, has a population of 40,353, Bouar lies on a plateau almost 1000m above sea level and is known as the site of Camp Leclerc, a French military base. About seventy groups of megaliths lie in the town and to its north, the Bouar Megaliths, dating back to the very late Neolithic Era were added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List on April 11,2006 in the Cultural category. Bouar was ceded by France to Germany under the terms of the 1911 Morocco-Congo Treaty, the town was occupied and burned down in the late 1920s by Gbaya rebels during the Kongo-Wara rebellion. In 1978 the city was made the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bouar, Bouar is also the headquarters of the Eglise Evangelique Lutherienne en la Republique Centrafricaine. As of February 2014 the town and region around Bouar were experiencing ethnic cleansing, a French journalist, Camille Lepage, was also killed and her body found in the car of Anti-balaka troops in the Bouar region in May,2014. Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as wet and dry. List of cities in the Central African Republic Prefectures of the Central African Republic
Lebanon
