The name of the Lebanon (in Arabic Loubnan), which comes from Aramaic and designates "White", is the name of its mountain. Mount Lebanon differs from the neighboring countries in its aspect, its climate, its rain-fall, its vegetation, and its 3000 m peaks that are continually covered with snow.

"Sea cliff", the Lebanon lies at the center of the gulf that runs between the Oriental Mediterranean Sea and Turkey and Egypt. This small country does not exceed the 10452 Km', its length is about 250 km and its width varies from 40 to 70 km. Syria limits the Lebanon from the North and the East, and Palestine from the South. The range of mountains (the Mount Lebanon) dominates a narrow alluvial coastal plain. At the East, another arid and dry range of mountains lies parallel to the first (Anti-Lebanon and Mount Hermon); the two ranges embrace the high plateau of the "Bekaa".

The climate is moderate (20 at the coast) and the country well watered (the annual precipitation varies between 800 to 900 mm). The estimated population, in 1970, was 3 100 000 inhabitants (264 to the km2), not mentioning thousands of foreigners, Palestinians and other Arabs. As for the Lebanese emigrants, they are scattered throughout the world and they count up to 5 million persons.