Middle East - Anthony Ham [345]
It’s a largely urban population, with around 90% of people living in cities, of which Beirut is the most highly populated, followed by Tripoli, Sidon and Tyre. According to the CIA World Factbook, the population growth rate currently stands at around 1.198%, with an average of 1.88 children per household, both figures very low for the Middle East. Lebanon has a youthful population: more than a quarter is currently under 14 years of age.
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RELIGION
Lebanon hosts 18 ‘official’ religious sects, which are Muslim (Shiite, Alawite, Ismaili and Sunni), Christian (Maronite, Greek Orthodox and Catholic, Armenian Catholic, Gregorian, Syrian Orthodox, Jacobite, Nestorian, Chaldean, Copt, Evangelical and Roman Catholic), Druze and Jewish. There are also small populations of Baha’is, Mormons, Buddhists and Hindus.
Muslims are today estimated to comprise around 60% of the population, though before the civil war, unofficial statistics put the ratio closer to 50:50, Muslim to Christian. The shift is attributed to the mass emigration of Christians during and since the civil war, and to higher birth rates among Muslims.
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THE BRAIN DRAIN
A favourite topic of Lebanese conversation is the country’s ‘brain drain’. Current unofficial estimates suggest that one in three educated Lebanese citizens would like to live abroad, while a recent study by the Beirut Research and Development Centre (BRDC) found that 22% of the Lebanese population is actively working on an exit strategy. Another survey of university students showed that as many as 60% are hoping to leave Lebanon following graduation, for lives abroad.
There are a number of reasons why so many of Lebanon’s bright young things are disappearing elsewhere, not the least the climate of fear that has lingered after the Israel-Hezbollah war of summer 2006. Terrorist attacks on Lebanese politicians, in which civilians are sometimes caught up, have also sent young Lebanese in pursuit of jobs overseas. Most popular tend to be the burgeoning Gulf States, which have the advantage of high salaries and being fairly close to home, with the USA, Canada and Europe all close seconds.
The second principal reason for the mass exit is that salaries in Lebanon are often simply too low to make for a comfortable, viable living. ‘I’ve got a great job, a car, a high salary,’ explains Mirvat Melki, a software engineer originally from Beirut, on leave from a lucrative position in Ghana. ’All the things I could never dream of having here in Lebanon, even though I’m pretty highly qualified. I earn about 10 times as much, per month, there as I would do here – if I could get a job at all.’ People, he says, who have managed to acquire good jobs – often through family connections – hold tight to them and are reluctant to relinquish the security and move on. Many younger, educated people, he continues, are afraid for the country’s future. ‘Politics aren’t safe; taxes are high; economics are bad. It cost me US$100,000 to go to university. In Lebanon, I’d have to work for a million years to pay that back. I miss home, but under these conditions, what choice do I have?’ Perhaps one day, he says, he’ll come home – but until then, like so many young Lebanese professionals, he’s enjoying the financial freedom of a life overseas too much to think about it just yet.
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Traditionally, Muslim Shiites have largely inhabited the south of the country, the Bekaa Valley and southern suburbs of Beirut. Sunnis, meanwhile, have been concentrated in Beirut, Tripoli and Sidon; the Druze in the Chouf Mountains and Maronite Christians (the largest Christian group) have populated the Mt Lebanon region. Though recent years have seen population shifts, particularly in Beirut, this still largely holds true today.
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ARTS
In summer, many towns and villages hold fabulous dance and music