National / Regional Profiles
Included Nations/Regions: Lebanon [x], The World [x]
Religion and State (RAS) Indexes1
Religion Indexes (Lebanon)
|
State Funding of Religion Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 128/253 |
Societal Discrimination of Minority Religions Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 27/253 |
State Regulation of Majority or All Religions Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 116/253 |
State Discrimination of Minority Religions Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 61/253 |
Lebanon: Major World Religions (1900 - 2050) (World Religion Database, 2020)2
The following groups with less than 1% of the population were hidden from this graph: Baha'is, Hindus, Jews, Sikhs.
Lebanon: Largest Religious Groups (1900 - 2050) (World Religion Database, 2020)2
The following groups with less than 1% of the population were hidden from this graph: Atheists, doubly-affiliated, Independents, Protestants, Saktists, Shaivites, unaffiliated Christians, Vaishnavites.
Religious Adherents (World Religion Database 2020)2
| Religion | Lebanon [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|
| Baha'is | 0.09% | 0.11% |
| Buddhists | 2.07% | 6.83% |
| --Mahayanists | --- | 4.89% |
| --Theravadins | 2.07% | 1.72% |
| --Lamaists | --- | 0.23% |
| Chinese folk-religionists | --- | 5.98% |
| Christians | 34.28% | 32.16% |
| --unaffiliated Christians | 0.22% | 1.46% |
| --Orthodox | 5.32% | 3.75% |
| --Catholics | 28.28% | 15.90% |
| --Protestants | 0.41% | 7.51% |
| --Independents | 0.31% | 5.00% |
| Daoists | --- | 0.11% |
| Confucianists | --- | 0.11% |
| Ethnic religionists | --- | 3.65% |
| Hindus | 0.16% | 13.58% |
| --Vaishnavites | 0.04% | 5.15% |
| --Shaivites | 0.06% | 4.86% |
| --Saktists | 0.06% | 3.57% |
| Jains | --- | 0.08% |
| Jews | 0.00% | 0.19% |
| Muslims | 59.82% | 24.20% |
| --Sunnis | 26.58% | 21.56% |
| --Shias | 28.05% | 2.44% |
| --Islamic schismatics | 5.19% | 0.21% |
| New religionists | --- | 0.85% |
| Shintoists | --- | 0.04% |
| Sikhs | 0.08% | 0.34% |
| Spiritists | --- | 0.19% |
| Zoroastrians | --- | 0.00% |
| Non-Religious | 3.50% | 11.57% |
| --Agnostics | 2.70% | 9.65% |
| --Atheists | 0.80% | 1.92% |
Religious demographics (Lebanon)3
The country has an area of 4,035 square miles and a population of 4 million. Because parity among confessional groups remains a sensitive issue, a national census has not been conducted since 1932. However, the most recent demographic study conducted by Statistics Lebanon, a Beirut-based research firm, showed 28 percent of the population is Sunni Muslim, 28 percent Shi'a Muslim, 22 percent Maronite Christian, 8 percent Greek Orthodox, 5 percent Druze, and 4 percent Greek Catholic. Over the past 60 years, there has been a steady decline in the number of Christians as compared to Muslims, mostly due to the emigration of large numbers of Maronite Christians and a higher than average birth rate among the Muslim population. There are also very small numbers of Jews, Baha'is, Mormons, Buddhists, and Hindus.
Of the 18 officially recognized religious groups, 4 are Muslim, 12 Christian, 1 Druze, and 1 Jewish. The main branches of Islam practiced are Shi'a and Sunni. The Alawites and the Isma'ili ("Sevener") Shi'a order are the smallest Muslim communities. The Maronite community, the largest Christian group, has had a centuries-long affiliation with the Roman Catholic Church but has its own patriarch, liturgy, and ecclesiastical customs. The second largest Christian group is the Greek Orthodox Church, principally composed of ethnic Arabs who maintain a Greek-language liturgy. Other Christians are divided among Greek Catholics, Armenian Orthodox (Gregorians), Armenian Catholics, Syrian Orthodox (Jacobites), Syrian Catholics, Assyrians (Nestorians), Chaldeans, Copts, evangelicals (including Protestant groups such as the Baptists and Seventh-day Adventists), and Latins (Roman Catholic). The Druze, who refer to themselves as al-Muwahhideen, or "believers in one God," are concentrated in the rural, mountainous areas east and south of Beirut. Divisions and rivalries between various groups date back many centuries, and while relationships between religious adherents of different confessions were generally amicable, group identity was highly significant in most aspects of cultural interaction.
Many persons fleeing religious mistreatment and discrimination in neighboring states have immigrated to the country, including Kurds, Shi'a, and Chaldeans from Iraq, as well as Coptic Christians from Egypt and Sudan. Precise figures were unavailable during the reporting period due to the lack of census data and the tendency of these groups to assimilate into the culture.
Summary Information |
Lebanon [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|
| Region | Western Asia | -- |
| Total Population4 | 5,303,566 | 7,335,774,068 |
| Area in square miles | 4,015 | 196,939,900 |
| Life Expectancy from birth, in years5 | 79.5 | 71.9 |
| Gross National Income per capita, in current international dollars5 | 13,860.0 | 16,101.0 |
| Description of Polity Score6 | (weakly democratic) | -- |
| Judicial Independence Composite Score, as average of scores for higher and lower courts7 | -0.3 | 0.8 |
| Official Religion(s)8 | Christianity, Islam | -- |
Lebanon - Google Map
Religion and the State
Religion and State Collection (2014) |
Lebanon [x] |
|---|---|
| Is proselytizing Legal?1 | Yes |
| Is religious registration someties denied?1 | Registration is required but sometimes denied |
| What are the consequences of registration?1 | Groups are officially required to register but groups which do not are not in any way restricted, except in that they may be denied status as a legal entity. |
| Official Support: The formal relationship between religion and state.1 | Cooperation |
| The extent to which religious education is mandatory in public schools.1 | Optional, or there is a choice between a religion and a non-religion course on topics like ethics, philosophy, or religions of the world. |
| The extent to which funding is exclusive to one or a few religions.1 | Government funding of religion goes to only some religions for which there are a substantial number of adherents in the country. |
| The extent to which there are religious requirements and oaths for holding office.1 | Some government officials (other than head of state church and the like) must meet some form of religious requirements to hold office. |
Constitutional Features [ View Excerpts]
Features of Constitution |
Lebanon [x] |
|---|---|
| Is there a constitution?9 | Yes |
| Does the constitution state an official religion?10 | recognition only [ Article 9 ] |
| Does the constitution provide for freedom of religion?10 | yes [ Article 9 ] |
| Does the constitution protect religious equality/non-discrimination?10 | no |
Constitution |
Lebanon [x] |
|---|---|
| Constitution Year10 | 1926 |
| Last Amended10 | 2004 |
| Source10 | Constitute Project |
| Translation10 | Source is an English translation, edited by ARDA staff. |
| Current as of10 | September 19, 2018 |
Socio-Economic Measures
Education |
Lebanon [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|
| Adult Literacy Rate, in percentage of adult population12 | 93.9 | 86.2 |
| Net Primary School Enrollment Rate, in percentage of population of official school age5 | 81.8 | 89.6 |
| Net Secondary School Enrollment Rate, in percentage of population of official school age5 | 64.8 | 65.1 |
Economic Measures |
Lebanon [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|
| Gross Domestic Product, in billions of current U.S. Dollars5 | 49.6 | 75,845.1 |
| Imports, in million current-year U.S. dollars13 | 30,555.0 | 20,150,355.0 |
| Exports, in million current-year U.S. dollars13 | 18,626.1 | 20,790,015.7 |
| Economic Freedom Index, scaled from 0 min to 100 max14 | 53.3 | 62.9 |
| Human Development Index15 | 0.8 | 0.7 |
| 2013 Gender Inequality Index (GII)16 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Gross National Income per capita, in current international dollars5 | 13,860.0 | 16,101.0 |
Military Measures |
Lebanon [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|
| Composite Index of National Capability, in fraction of 117 | 0.0009645 | 0.005162584 |
| 2012 Military expenditure (% of GDP)5 | 4.1 | -- |
Demographic and Health Measures |
Lebanon [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|
| Total Population4 | 5,303,566 | 7,335,774,068 |
| Life Expectancy from birth, in years5 | 79.5 | 71.9 |
| 2012 Net Migration Rate (migrants per 1,000 population)5 | 500.0 | -- |
| Urban Percentage of Total Population13 | 87.9 | 54.3 |
| Urban Population Growth, by percentage13 | 2.8 | 2.0 |
| Fertility Rate, in total births per woman13 | 1.7 | 2.5 |
| Infant Mortality Rate, in deaths per 1000 live births13 | 6.9 | 30.5 |
| HIV Prevalence, in percentage of population ages 15-49 with HIV13 | 0.1 | 0.8 |
Other Measures on Religion, State, and Society
Constitution Clauses Related to Religion
Constitution Excerpts (clauses that reference religion) (Lebanon)10
Preamble
...
(c) ... based upon ... freedom of opinion and freedom of belief; ...
...
(h) Eliminating political sectarianism is a basic national objective, to be achieved according to a transitional plan.
...
Article 9.
Freedom of conscience is absolute. In assuming the obligations of glorifying God, the Most High, the State respects all religions and creeds and safeguards the freedom of exercising the religious rites under its protection, without disturbing the public order. It also guarantees the respect of the system of personal status and religious interests of the people, regardless of their different creeds.
Article 10.
Education is free so long as it ... does not violate the morals, and does not touch the dignity of any religion or creed. The rights of communities to establish their own private schools cannot be violated ...
Article 19.
...
The right to resort to [the Constitutional] Council, with respect to reviewing the constitutionality of the laws, vests with [among others] ... Heads of the legally recognized sects, with respect to personal affairs, freedom of belief and the exercise of religious rituals, and freedom of religious education.
Article 22.
With the election of the first Chamber of Deputies on a national basis, not sectarian, a new Senate shall be established in which all religious communities are represented and whose power shall be limited to supreme national causes.
Article 24.
...
Until the Chamber of Deputies issues an Electoral Law, outside the sectarian record, representative seats are distributed according to the following rules:
(a) Equally between Christians and Moslems.
(b) Proportional between the sects of both sides.
...
Exceptionally, and once, representative seats vacant at the date of publishing this Law, and the seats created by the Electoral Law, are filled ... in implementation of the equality between the Christians and the Moslems, according to the National Détente Document. ...
Article 95.
The Chamber of Deputies, elected on the basis of half Moslems and half Christians, must take the appropriate measures to eliminate political sectarianism, according to an interim plan ...
The mission of the Council is to study and suggest the means capable of eliminating sectarianism, and introducing them to the Chamber of Deputies and the Council of Ministers, and to follow up on the interim plan.
In the transitory period:
(a) The sects are fairly represented in the formation of the Cabinet.
(b) The rule of sectarian representation is abrogated. Jurisdiction and efficiency are adopted in public employment, the Judiciary, the military and security establishments, the public and mixed organizations, according to the exigencies of national harmony, with the exception of the jobs of the first rank and the equivalence of the first rank therein. These jobs are equally divided between Christians and Moslems without specifying any job to a specific sect, taking into consideration the two principles of jurisdiction and efficiency.
*Note: An unwritten National Pact (al-Mithak al-Watani), concluded in 1943, provides that the President of the Republic be a Maronite Catholic Christian, the President of the Chamber of Deputies (the legislature) be a Shiite, the Premier be a Sunni Muslim, and Vice-Presidents of both the Chamber of Deputies and the government be Orthodox Christians.
Barrett, Kurian, and Johnson, World Christian Encyclopedia, 2nd ed., p. 446 (2001).
Variable Details
Sources
1 The Religion and State (RAS) Project is a university-based project located at Bar Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel and is directed by Jonathan Fox. Round 3 of the RAS includes all countries with populations of 250,000 or more as well as a sampling of smaller states and offers annual measures from 1990 to 2014. The methods used for conducting the RAS3 collection and the complete codebook can be reviewed online. Or, the codebook and data file can be downloaded free of charge here. For details on how the RAS indexes reported on the ARDA’s National Profiles were coded, constructed, and placed into categories, click here.2 Todd M. Johnson and Brian J. Grim, eds. World Religion Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2022).
3 The U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom Report is submitted to Congress annually by the Department of State in compliance with Section 102(b) of the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998. This report supplements the most recent Human Rights Reports by providing additional detailed information with respect to matters involving international religious freedom. It includes individual country chapters on the status of religious freedom worldwide. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. These State Department reports are open source.
4 The Religious Characteristics of States Dataset Project: Demographics reports the estimates of religious demographics, both country by country and region by region. The RCS was created to fulfill the unmet need for a dataset on the religious dimensions of countries of the world, with the state-year as the unit of observation. It estimates populations and percentages of adherents of 100 religious denominations including second level subdivision within Christianity and Islam. The RCS Data Project would like to acknowledge, recognize, and express our deepest gratitude for the significant contributions of Todd M. Johnson the co-principal investigator of the World Religion Database.
5 Relying on agencies from each country, as well as a synthesis of data from United Nations divisions, Eurostate Demographic statistics, the U.S. Census international database, and its own data collection, the World Bank's Open Data site offers free and open access to data about development in countries around the globe.
6 The Center for Systemic Peace (CSP) is engaged in innovative research on the problem of political violence within the structural context of the dynamic global system. The Center supports scientific research and quantitative analysis in many issue areas related to the fundamental problems of violence in both human relations and societal-systemic development processes. The Center continually monitors political behavior in each of the world's major states and reports on emerging issues and persisting conditions related to the problems of political violence and "state failure." A dataset with these and other international measures can be downloaded from here. Used with permission. *Note: Polity Scores range from -10 to 10 and include the following categories: -10 to -9: strongly autocratic, -8 to -7 autocratic, -6 to -4 weakly autocratic, -3 to +3 anocratic, +4 to +6 weakly democratic, +7 to +8 democratic, +9 to +10 strongly democratic.
7 Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) is a new approach to conceptualizing and measuring democracy. V-Dem provides a multidimensional and disaggregated dataset that reflects the complexity of the concept of democracy as a system of rule that goes beyond simple presence of elections. The V-Dem project distinguishes between seven high-level principles of democracy: electoral, liberal, participatory, deliberative, egalitarian, majoritarian, and consensual, and collects data to measure these principles. A dataset with these and other international measures can be downloaded from here. Used with permission.
8 The Religious Characteristics of States Dataset Project: Government Religious Preference (GRP) measures government-level favoritism toward, and disfavor against, 30 religious denominations. A series of ordered categorical variables index the state's institutional favoritism in 28 different ways. The variables are combined to form five composite indices for five broad components of state-religion: official status, religious education, financial support, regulatory burdens, and freedom of practice. The five components' composites in turn are further combined into a single composite score, the GRP score. The RCS Data Project would like to acknowledge, recognize, and express our deepest gratitude for the significant contributions of Todd M. Johnson, the principal investigator of the World Christian Database, the co-principal investigator of the World Religion Database, and co-author of the World Christian Encyclopedia series.
9 Data under the "Features of Constitution" heading are drawn from coding of the U.S. State Department's 2008 International Religious Freedom Reports conducted by researchers at the Association of Religion Data Archives. The article by Brian Grim and Roger Finke describes the coding of the International Religious Freedom reports. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
10 Text from country constitutions was copied from primary documents obtained online using a variety of sources, including the Constitute Project, World Constitutions Illustrated, and government sources. When the text was in a language other than English, it was translated to English by ARDA staff or with web-based translation utilities such as Google Translate. Emphases were added to the text by ARDA staff to differentiate religious content from non-religious content. Text is current to the date listed in the "Current as of" field shown above. Please contact us at
11 Freedom House is an independent non-governmental organization that offers measures of the extent to which governments are accountable to their own people; the rule of law prevails; and freedoms of expression, association, belief and respect for the rights of minorities and women are guaranteed. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
12 The CIA's World Factbook was created as an annual summary and update to the now defunct National Intelligence Survey (NIS) studies. The first classified Factbook was published in August 1962, and the first unclassified version was published in June 1971. The NIS program was terminated in 1973 except for the Factbook, map, and gazetteer components. The 1975 Factbook was the first to be made available to the public with sales through the US Government Printing Office (GPO). The year 2010 marks the 67th year of the World Factbook and its predecessor programs. The maps and flags are also from the World Factbook, which is an open source.
13 Relying on agencies from each country, as well as a synthesis of data from United Nations divisions, Eurostate Demographic statistics, the U.S. Census international database, and its own data collection, the World Bank's Open Data site offers free and open access to data about development in countries around the globe.
14 The Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal Index of Economic Freedom is a systematic, empirical measurement of economic freedom in countries throughout the world. A set of objective economic criteria are used to study and grade various countries for the annual publication of the Index of Economic Freedom. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
15 The United Nations Human Development Reports provide data and statistical analysis in various areas of human development. The Human Development Report (HDR) presents two types of statistics: the human development indicator tables, which provide a global assessment of country achievements in different areas of human development, and thematic statistical analysis. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
16 The 2013 Gender Inequality Index is a composite measure reflecting inequality in achievements between women and men in three dimensions: reproductive health, empowerment and the labor market. It varies between zero (when women and men fare equally) and one (when men or women fare poorly compared to the other in all dimensions). The health dimension is measured by two indicators: maternal mortality ratio and the adolescent fertility rate. The empowerment dimension is also measured by two indicators: the share of parliamentary seats held by each sex and by secondary and higher education attainment levels. The labor dimension is measured by women’s participation in the work force. Source: The United Nations Human Development Reports provide data and statistical analysis in various areas of human development. The Human Development Report (HDR) presents two types of statistics: the human development indicator tables, which provide a global assessment of country achievements in different areas of human development, and thematic statistical analysis. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
17 Military data is drawn from the National Material Capabilities (v4.0) dataset, which is a component of and hosted by the Correlates of War Project. The Correlates of War Project seeks to facilitate the collection, dissemination, and use of accurate and reliable quantitative data in international relations. Correlates of War data may be accessed through the above link. Used with permission.
18 The article by Brian Grim and Roger Finke describes the coding of the U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom reports. The 2003, 2005, and 2008 reports were coded by researchers at the Association of Religion Data Archives. The GRI, GFI and SRI values reported on the National Profiles are averages from the 2003, 2005, and 2008 International Religious Freedom reports, while the Religious Persecution measure is an average from the 2005 and 2008 reports. All other measures derived from the International Religious Freedom reports were coded from the reports 2008. A data file with all of the 2008 coding, as well as data files with other cross national collections are available for preview and download from the data archive on this site. Used with permission.
19 The Cingranelli-Richards (CIRI) Human Rights Dataset contains standards-based quantitative information on government respect for 15 internationally recognized human rights for 202 countries, annually from 1981-2011. It is designed for use by scholars and students who seek to test theories about the causes and consequences of human rights violations, as well as policy makers and analysts who seek to estimate the human rights effects of a wide variety of institutional changes and public policies including democratization, economic aid, military aid, structural adjustment, and humanitarian intervention. The full CIRI Human Rights Dataset can be accessed through the above link. Used with permission.
