The demography of Lebanon: a reappraisal

Abstract

Some background population figures and sources prior to 1975 which was the onset of civil strife are provided in this discussion of the demography of Lebanon. The 1932 and 1970 census data are considered the most reliable sources. The remaining discussion relates to 1988 unpublished data collected by the Saudi Food Assistance Campaign. The focus is on 1) the total mid-1988 population 2) the size of Christian and Muslim communities 3) the distribution of the population by qada (the smallest administrative unit) and 4) the number of non-Lebanese civilians. In the process of distributing food to all needy households population was counted. 3 areas were established: Group A comprised of West Beirut and its southern suburb the Druze mountain and muhafaza of north Lebanon; Group B including the muhafazat of Bekaa and south Lebanon and in iqlim (district) al-Kharroub; and Group C encompassing the eastern of Christian region. A plan was devised to avoid duplication of household and family counts for those with more than 1 residence. Group A data included name of household head number of residents nationality of head and for the Lebanese place of registration on the heads identification card. Group B data included name of family head number of family members and nationality of head which in Bekaa was verified. Counts from the south and iqlim al-Kharroub were obtained from other humanitarian groups but were considered unreliable; consequently estimates were generated from similar social economic and religious groups. Group C data included the household address. The data are tabulated by religion and residence for total population. 65% of the population are comprised of Muslims which is comparable to the 60% estimate of Soffer. Changes exist in the geographic entities: Christian region with 10%. The non-Lebanese population is primarily Palestinian followed by Syrian who became Lebanese citizens. The unification of Lebanon must consider the Muslim majority in order to end the civil strife.