Monday 27 April 2015

Lebanon: Recovering from civil war


Traditionally, despite of its small size, Lebanon is a important commercial hub for the Middle east due to its high literacy rate and traditional mercantile culture. It lies at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. The Lebanon Mountains and Anti-Lebanon Range which run parallel to the western  and eastern border respectively of the country , cover most of the area. Agriculture takes place in between the two lies i.e. known as the Bekaa Valley,

  
Though, Lebanon has all the resources for a classic traveler destination like golden beaches, World heritage sites and premiere party cities, it is not a good choice to travel due to its unique communal conflict .It suffers a lot since long because of its borders with Israel and Syria .
Religion conflict
After independence in 1943, Lebanon prospered as a financial, tourism/resort, and education center .Its main population are Shia Muslims, Sunni Muslims, Christians and Druze. It is estimated that two-thirds of the population are Muslim and the rest are Christian. As the country is politically sensitivity over religious affiliation, no census has been taken since 1932.Countary has also seen huge influxes of Palestinian refugees, which are present as much as a tenth of the country's population. They are also enjoying few legal rights. 

Civil War
Lebanon had faced civil war from 1975 to 1991 between Christian and Muslim militias. The presence of Palestinian refugees and their status and actions also play the major sources of discord. After a long civil war democracy was restored in 1992 based on allocating government positions on religion. During the civil war both Israel and Syria sent their troops into Lebanon. Syria withdrew the forces in the year 2005 whereas Lebanon had done it in 2000.
Image correction
Lebanon is still recovering from a brutal civil war, the conflict in neighboring Syria is spilling across the border and the Bekaa Valley remains a stronghold for the militant group Hezbollah. Its building still bear the marks of past civil.
Though having such internal problems, Lebanon is slowly moving towards peace with positive thinking. It is trying to regain the confidence of foreign visitors by extending a warm welcome.