LEBANON
Population

Cities in LEBANON

Population

The population of Lebanon is 6,229,794 (2017). The population density is high at about 596 inhabitants per square kilometre.

The population growth rate is -1.1%. (2017)
Birth rate per 1,000 inhabitants is 14.3 (2017)
Mortality rate per 1000 inhabitants is 5 (2017)
Life expectancy is 77.8 years. (men 76.5 and women 79.1 years (2017)

Population composition:
95% of the population has an Arab background. The remaining 5% consists mainly of Armenians and Kurds.

Language

Arabic is the official language in Lebanon. French, English and Armenian are also spoken.

Some pronunciation rules of Arabic:

All letters are pronounced
A ' means that a letter is pronounced very briefly.
The r is a rolling r
The y is pronounced as sj
The sh is pronounced as sj
The gh is pronounced like a brew r or French r
The kh is pronounced as a hard g
The ou is pronounced like the oe

There is no fixed Dutch spelling for Arabic words. The names are written as they are pronounced. So Aqaba can just as well be spelled as Akaba.

Arabic is written from right to left and consists of 28 consonants. Vowels are not written, which results in different Latin spellings for the same word. Arabic numerals are written from left to right.

Some words and phrases:

English	Arabic
One	wahed, female: wahda
two	etnen
three	talata
Ten	‘ashra
Hundred	meyya
Thousand	‘alf
Sunday	yom el had
Wednesday	yom el ’arba’
Yes	‘aywa
No	la’
Summer	sef
Winter	sheta
Where is the hotel?	fen el fondok?
What time is it?	essa’a kam?
What is your name?	‘esm-ak ‘ak? (man)
What is your name?	‘esm-ek ‘eh? (woman)
Do you have change?	‘andokom fakka?

Religion

About 60% of the population is Muslim and 40% is Christian. These two religions are practised in all sorts of movements and sects.

Sources