Beirut -- Britannica Concise Encyclopedia - The online encyclopedia you can trust!
231 Encyclopædia Britannica articles, from the full 32 volume encyclopedia>Beirutcapital, chief port, and largest city of Lebanon. It is located on the Mediterranean coast at the foot of the Lebanon Mountains.
>Beirut, American University ofprivate, nondenominational, coeducational international and intercultural university in Beirut, Lebanon, chartered in 1863 by the state of New York, U.S., as the Syrian Protestant College. Classes started in 1866. Although founded by the American Protestant Mission to Lebanon, the school was set up as an autonomous organization and has no official relationship with any ...
>Modern Beirutfrom the Beirut article
Beirut was occupied by the Allies at the end of World War I, and the city was established by the French mandatory authorities in 1920 as the capital of the State of Greater Lebanon, which in 1926 became the Lebanese Republic. The Muslims of Beirut resented the inclusion of the city in a Christian-dominated Lebanon and declared loyalty to a broader Pan-Arabism than most ...
>Wazzan, Shafiq Dib al-Lebanese politician who, as a moderate Sunni Muslim, was a compromise choice for prime minister (1980–82), but he failed in his attempts to end his country's civil war, which had begun in 1975, or to implement the 1983 peace accord he negotiated with Israel, which had sent armed troops into Lebanon in 1982 (b. 1925, Beirut, Lebanon—d. July 8, 1999, Beirut).
>The peoplefrom the Beirut article
According to the government, the resident population of Beirut is more or less evenly divided between Muslims and Christians. In the absence of reliable statistics, however, this official supposition has never been possible to verify. The influx of large numbers of Shi'ites into West and central Beirut during the civil war probably tipped the population balance in favour ...
26 Student Encyclopedia Britannica articles, specially written for elementary and high school studentsBeirutThe capital and largest city of Lebanon, Beirut was devastated during the country's civil war from 1975 to 1991. Once one of the most attractive cities in the Middle East, Beirut was reduced to rubble. A massive reconstruction effort began soon after the war ended. Beirut lies on the Mediterranean Sea west of the Lebanon Mountains. For years the city ranked as the most ...
Historyfrom the Beirut article
Beirut was probably founded before 1500 BC. Early Phoenician settlers built ships of wood from the cedar trees—the famous cedars of Lebanon—that grow in the nearby mountains. Through the centuries, Beirut was conquered, destroyed, and rebuilt a number of times. The city flourished as a center of trade and education after it became a Roman colony in 14 BC. It was destroyed ...
The Invasion of Lebanon (1982)from the Arab-Israeli wars article
Hostility continued, however, between Israel and other Arab communities. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which sought an independent Palestinian homeland, had been launching attacks against Israel from its bases in Lebanon. On June 5, 1982, Israel began bombing southern Lebanon and Beirut. Israeli forces invaded Lebanon the next day, and by mid-June they ...
People and Economyfrom the Beirut article
The great majority of the people of Beirut are Arabs. The population for much of the 20th century was almost evenly divided between Muslims and Christians. Christian Armenians form a sizable ethnic minority, and Syrians, Palestinian refugees, and members of other ethnic groups also live in the city. It is this mix of contending ethnic and religious populations that has ...
Gemayel, Bashir(1947–82), Lebanese politician. The son of Pierre Gemayel, Bashir took control of the Phalange party, the political arm of the Lebanese Maronite Christians, in 1980. In 1982 Gemayel was elected president of Lebanon. On Sept. 14, 1982, ten days before he was to take office, Gemayel was assassinated in Beirut, by unknown assailants. (See also Assassination.)