ReliefWeb

Overview

The Republic of Lebanon is a upper-middle income country of about 4.3 million inhabitants. Lebanon borders Syria to the east and north and Israel to the south. The country is divided into 6 governorates (Beirut, Mount Lebanon, Bekaa, North Lebanon, South Lebanon and Nabatiyeh).

The country has a one-chamber parliamentary system with the cabinet appointed by the Prime Minister in consultation with the President. Since its independence in 1943, an unwritten rule (“National Pact”) states that the National Assembly (128 members) should be elected along communal lines as defined by the 1932 census (when Lebanon had a Christian majority). Likewise, an unwritten rule foresees that the President is a Maronite Christian, the Prime Minister a Sunni and the Speaker of Parliament a Shia. These provisions and their consequent adaptions (see below) aim at ensuring the proportional representation of the country’s 18 religious denominations.