Lebanon_Lily

12/3/2017
RELIGION

 In Lebanon, no one religion is dominant over another. Islam makes up 54% of the population, Christianity makes up 40%, and 5% makes up a minority religion known as Druze. Druze is also designated as one of the 5 Lebanese Muslim communities… the others being Sunni, Shia, Alawi, and Ismaili. About half of the Muslim population are Shia Muslims, and the other half are Sunni. Christians in Lebanon range anywhere from Greek Orthodox, Maronite, Melkite Greek Catholics, Protestants, and Armenian Apostolics.  Islam has had (and still has) a long, hard past throughout history in Lebanon, and almost every country in the Middle East. In 1948, a wave of Palestinian refugees come to Lebanon right after the Arab-Israeli war, and Lebanon establishes. In 1975, a civil war erupts in Lebanon when tensions between Muslims and Christians begin to get violent… sadly, many people dying over hate. In 1982, U.S., French, and Italian peacekeeping forces arrive in Beirut, as requested by Lebanese forces. Two years later, U.S. marines leave Lebanon, and the conflict worsens over the following years to come. Today, there is still some religious conflict in the country, but most of it is spilled over from bordering countries.  The religion of Islam spread multiple ways, and quickly. One way was around 7th century AD when the religion made its way over immediately after Prophet Muhammad’s death. Some say the spread is linked to the prophet following, Abu Dharr Al-Ghafari. Abu Dharr was the fourth person known to convert to Islam. He was banished and moved to southern Lebanon where he later died. Two famous memorials were built there in his honor. Another way that Islam spread to Lebanon was by the Shia when they came into the country during the migration of the Shia Yemeni tribe. This happened after the Umayyad clan seized control of their land in Turkey. During their migration, they brought the religion of Islam to Lebanon.  Today, Lebanon is caught between so many conflicts neighboring the country, and they are struggling to do much about it. These conflicts are very close to home: Saudi Arabia and Iran are still fighting over Shia Islam, Syria is at war, Lebanon and Syria are having conflict over Sunni Islam, and Israel and Palestine are in constant conflict. Since the 1970s, Lebanon’s government has been in turmoil. Because it is a melting pot of religions (Sunni vs. Shia vs. Christianity), many conflicts erupt.

Discussion Question: As I mentioned when discussing the history of Islam in Lebanon, the U.S. became involved when, in 1982, U.S. troops arrived in the city of Beirut as an action of peacekeeping during this time of turmoil. Shortly after the troops left, conflict became worse. Do you think that the U.S. made an impact on how the conflict went about? Are there any other points in our world’s history where the U.S. got involved, and simply made the situation worse? Or better?

[|__https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Lebanon__] [|__http://islamicdangerhistory.blogspot.com/2009/01/lebanon-arab-invasion-and-arrival-of.html__] [|__http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1400004/Lebanon-A-brief-history.html__] [|__http://the-levant.com/shias-lebanon-history/__] [|__https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_w3v6t3rjY__]

11/12/2017

LEBANON’S LANGUAGES

There are 6 spoken languages in Lebanon, 2 of which are very popular. The first is Arabic, with over 9,400,000 speakers. The language was first influenced by other Middle Eastern and European languages, and many dialects have formed since. The next is French with over 1,697,900 speakers. French is taught in many elementary schools throughout Lebanon, so the language is quickly developing. The last 4 languages are Armenian (218,000 speakers), Domari (unknown #), English (5,170), and Kurdish (218,000).

[|__http://www.bbc.com/news/10316914__] The Arabic language in Lebanon is dying because all of its speakers are beginning to speak English and French. This is happening because school systems throughout the country are not teaching Arabic anymore, and are primarily teaching English and French.

[|__https://youtu.be/OhEMAsKYFl4__] As I mentioned before, the Arabic language is dying due to the primer teaching of French and English in Lebanon’s school systems today. Here is a video example of what kinds of things some schools teach in order to preserve the language from becoming an extinct language. Thanks to today’s technology, it is a lot easier for dialects, as well as languages, to be preserved.

Discussion Question: What’s another example of why some languages may go extinct? Why does this happen?

10/31/2017 FOLK CULTURE

The country of Lebanon has a couple of dialects, one of which is considered to be linked to folk culture. One of the dialects is known as “zajal” and includes many forms of poetry and is accompanied with gestures. The rhythm of the zajal depends upon the community. What makes this factor an example of folk culture is the fact that it originated in a certain community and stayed there even today. If it did spread, it would have just spread a little bit during a long period of time. Also the fact that the zajal dialect correlates with religious standards in Lebanon makes it an example of folk culture.

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<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">An Arabic folk dance in Lebanon, known as the dabke, is shown here. It represents the different seasons that Lebanon exhibits. Historically, when the weather changed in Lebanon, the villagers had to adjust accordingly and they ended up forming a dance based on the building of their homes.

__**<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Discussion Question: What examples of folk culture do we have in the U.S. that are similar to Lebanon’s dabke dance? **__

9/26/2017



POPULATION

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Featured here is a small-scale map of Lebanon. Lebanon is a country located in the western part of Asia, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, Syria, and Israel.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Here is also a large-scale map of the country’s capital, Beirut.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Lebanon’s total population is 6.2 million people. Its CBR (crude birth rate) is 14, where its CDR (crude death rate) is 5. Thus making the NIR (natural increase rate) 0.9%.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Lebanon’s life expectancy is 76 years for males and 79 years for women.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Population is determined by the births and deaths of people. The country’s IMR (infant mortality rate) is 8% and its TFR (total fertility rate) is 1.7%.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Lebanon’s GNI PPP per capita $13,860.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Here are the population pyramids of demographic transition for Lebanon in the years 2017 and 2050.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">As you can see, in 2017, Lebanon is at a Stage 2, maybe moving into a Stage 3. This is due to to the country’s high CBR and high NIR.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">The projection of Lebanon in 2050 shows a very different kind of country than what it shows now. This projection shows a Stage 4. This is because it shows a low growth, therefore an NIR of around 0.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">This article, written by the World Population Review, tells that many of Lebanon’s people come from other countries like Iraq and Syria, therefore, a lot of them are migrants. These people are leaving their homeland countries due to the violence taking place. Over 600,000 people living in Lebanon are Syrian refugees.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">However, Lebanon’s population growth has increased by only 1% per year. There are about 50 births per day in Lebanon and about 14 deaths.

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<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Thoughtful Question: If thousands of migrants move to Lebanon every year, why do you think the population only increases by 1% each year?