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Lebanon is an eastern Mediterranean country that has the most religiously diverse society within the Middle East, recognizing 18 religious sects. [2] [3] The recognized religions are Islam (Sunni, Shia, Alawites, and Isma'ili), Druze, Christianity (the Maronite Church, the Greek Orthodox Church, the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, evangelical Protestantism, the Armenian Apostolic Church, the ...
Lebanese people are very diverse in faith. The country has the most religiously diverse society in the Middle East, encompassing 17 recognized religious sects. [128] The main two religions among the Lebanese people are Christianity (the Maronite Church, the Greek Orthodox Church, the Melkite, the Protestant Church) and Islam (Shia and Sunni).
Lebanese Sunni Muslims are concentrated in cities of west Beirut, Tripoli, Sidon and in north Lebanon in the Akkar and Minnieh Dinnieh districts, middle and West Bekaa, Chouf district and Laqlouq in Mount Lebanon, Hasbaya district, and Northeastern Beqaa Valley mainly in and around the city of Arsal. [20]
For approximately a millennium, the Abrahamic religions have been predominant throughout all of the Middle East. [1] [2] [3] The Abrahamic tradition itself and the three best-known Abrahamic religions originate from the Middle East: Judaism and Christianity emerged in the Levant in the 6th century BCE and the 1st century CE, respectively, while Islam emerged in Arabia in the 7th century CE.
To an extent, religious affiliation has also become a substitute in some respects for ethnic affiliation. [12] Generally, the cultural and linguistic heritage of the People of Lebanon is a blend of both indigenous elements and the foreign cultures that have come to rule the land and its people over the course of thousands of years.
The Lebanese system is parliamentary democracy, which implements a special system known as confessionalism. This system is intended to deter sectarian conflict and attempts to fairly represent the demographic distribution of the 18 recognized religious groups in government. High-ranking offices are reserved for members of specific religious groups.
Although Lebanon is a secular country, family matters such as marriage, divorce and inheritance are still handled by the religious authorities representing a person's faith. Calls for civil marriage are unanimously rejected by the religious authorities but civil marriages conducted in another country are recognized by Lebanese civil authorities.
Lebanon, [c] officially the Republic of Lebanon, [d] is a country in the Levant region of West Asia.Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, [13] it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west; Cyprus lies a short distance from the coastline.