Beirut

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coordinates: 33°53′13″N, 35°30′47″E
Beirut</br>بيروت‎
Image:Nejmehsquare.jpg Nejmeh Square in Downtown Beirut
Location in the Republic of Lebanon
Governorate	Beirut
Mayor	Abdel Mounim Ariss
Area
- City	7.7 mi² / 19.8 km²
Population
- City (2005)	1,574,397
- Metro	1,792,111
Time zone	+2 (UTC)
- Summer (DST)	+3 (UTC)
Website: City of Beirut

For other uses, see Beirut (disambiguation).

Beirut (بيروت translit: Bayrūt) is the capital, largest city, and chief seaport of Lebanon. It is sometimes referred to by its French name, Beyrouth. There are wide-ranging estimates of Beirut's population, from as low as 938,940 people,<ref>United Nations: "Demographic Yearbook 2003", page 53, 2003</ref> to 1,303,129 people,<ref name="MOE">Lebanese Ministry of Environment: "Lebanon State of the Environment Report", Chapter 1, page 11, 2001.</ref> to as high as 2,012,000.<ref>Encyclopedia of the Nations</ref> The lack of an exact figure is due to the fact that no "comprehensive" population census has been taken in Lebanon since 1932.<ref>Lebanese Ministry of Environment: "Lebanon State of the Environment Report", Chapter 1, page 9, 2001.</ref>

Beirut is the commercial center of the region and was once called the "Paris of the Middle East" because of its cosmopolitan atmosphere prior to the Lebanese Civil War<ref>Chinese business media</ref><ref>Scottish media</ref><ref>www.planetizen.com</ref><ref>www.cfr.org</ref>. Prior to the Israeli bombings of Beirut's infrastructure in the summer of 2006, and despite the 2005 assassination of the city's chief financial benefactor, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, Beirut had undergone major reconstruction in recent years and had been set to host the Jeux de la Francophonie (Francophone Games) in 2009. Beirut has suffered setbacks in recent years, but the city still retains the necessary ingredients for the great rebirth it had planned^{[citation needed]}.

Beirut was considered as a possible candidate for the 2024 Summer Olympics games. The massive $1.2 billion Sannine Zenith project would have made Lebanon capable of holding the games.

The city is home to numerous international organizations. The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) is headquartered in Downtown Beirut while the International Labour Organization (ILO) and UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) both have regional offices in Beirut covering the Arab world. The Arab Air Carriers Organization (AACO) is also headquartered in Beirut.

In Travel and Leisure magazine's 'World Best Awards 2006' Beirut was ranked the 9th (out of 10) city in the world, falling just short of New York City and coming ahead of San Francisco.

Beirut has both developed and less developed neighborhoods. Its most famous Sunni Muslim neighborhoods are Zarif and Verdun; Saifi Village is its most prominent and expensive residential one. Its most prominent Christian neighborhood (both historic and modern) is Achrafieh^{[citation needed]}.

1 History
2 Religion
3 Colleges and universities
4 Geography
5 Transportation
6 Sister cities
7 See also
8 References
9 External links

[edit] History

Originally named Bêrūt "The Wells" by the Phoenicians, the first historical reference to Beirut dates from the 15th century BC, when it is mentioned in a cuneiform tablet that is one of the "Amarna letters." The most ancient settlement was on an island in the river that progressively silted up. The city was known in antiquity as Berytus (see also List of traditional Greek place names); this name was taken in 1934 for the archaeological journal published by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at the American University of Beirut.

In 140 BC, the city was taken and destroyed by Diodotus Tryphon in his contest with Antiochus VII Sidetes for the throne of the Seleucid monarchy. Beirut was soon rebuilt on a more regularized Hellenistic plan, renamed Laodicea in Phoenicia (Greek: Λαοδικεια ή του Φοινίκη) or Laodicea in Canaan, in honor of a Seleucid Laodice. The modern city overlies the ancient one and little archaeology had been accomplished until after the end of the civil war in 1991; now large sites in the devastated city center have been opened to archaeological exploration. A dig in 1994 established that one of Beirut's modern streets, Souk Tawile, still follows the lines of an ancient Hellenistic/Roman one.

Mid-first century BC coins of Berytus bear the head of Tyche, goddess of fortune; on the reverse, the city's symbol appears: a dolphin entwines an anchor. This symbol was taken up by the early printer Aldus Manutius in 15th century Venice.

Under the Romans it was enriched by the dynasty of Herod the Great, then made a colonia, Colonia Iulia Augusta Felix, in the late 1st century AD. Beirut's school of law was widely known at the time. Two of Rome's most famous jurists, Papinian and Ulpian, both natives of Phoenicia, taught at the law school under the Severan emperors. When Justinian assembled his Pandects in the 6th century, a large part of the corpus of laws were derived from these two jurists, and Justinian recognized the school as one of the three official law schools of the empire (533). Within a few years, as the result of a disastrous earthquake (551), the students were transferred to Sidon.

Beirut passed to the Arabs in 635. As a trading centre of the eastern Mediterranean Beirut was overshadowed by Akko during the Middle Ages. From 1110 to 1291 it was in the hands of Crusader lords. No matter who was its nominal overlord, whether Turk or Mamluk, Beirut was ruled locally by Druze emirs. One of these, Fakr ed-Din Maan II, fortified it early in the 17th century, but the Ottomans retook it in 1763 and thenceforth, with the help of Damascus, Beirut successfully broke Akko's monopoly on Syrian maritime trade and for a few years supplanted it as the main trading centre in the region. During the succeeding epoch of rebellion against Ottoman hegemony at Akko under Jezzar and Abdullah pashas, Beirut declined to a small town (population about 10,000), fought over among the Druze, the Turks and the pashas. After Ibrahim Pasha captured Akko in 1832, Beirut began its early modern revival. In 1888 Beirut was made capital of a vilayet in Syria, including the sanjaks Latakia, Tripoli, Beirut, Akko and Bekaa. Beirut became a very cosmopolitan city and had close links with Europe and the United States. Beirut became a centre of missionary activity, which was generally very unsuccessful in conversions (a massacre of Christians in 1860 was the occasion for further European interventions), but did build an impressive education system. This include the Syrian Protestant College, which was established by American missionaries and eventually became the American University of Beirut (AUB). Beirut became the centre of Arab intellectual activity in the 19th century. Provided with water from a British company and gas from a French one, the city thrived on exporting silk grown on nearby Mount Lebanon. After French engineers established a modern harbor (1894) and a rail link across Lebanon to Damascus, and then to Aleppo (1907), much of the trade was carried by French ships to Marseille, and soon French influence in the area exceeded that of any other European power. In 1911 the population mix was reported in the Encyclopædia Britannica as Muslims, 36,000; Christians, 77,000; Jews, 2500; Druze, 400; foreigners, 4100.

After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire following the First World War, Beirut, along with all of Lebanon was given to the French. The French administration showed great preference for the Christian community, leading to religious strains in the city. Lebanon was given its independence following the Second World War and Beirut became its capital city. Beirut remained the intellectual capital of the Arab world and a major commercial and tourist center until 1975 when a brutal civil war broke out in Lebanon. During most of the war, the city was divided between the largely Muslim west part and the Christian east. The central area of the city, previously the focus of much of the commercial and cultural activities, became a no-man's land. Many of the city's best and brightest inhabitants fled to other countries. In 1983 French and US barracks were bombed, killing 302.

Since the end of the war in 1989, the people of Lebanon have been rebuilding Beirut, and by the start of the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict the city had largely regained its status as a tourist, cultural and intellectual center of the Middle East, as well as a center for commerce, fashion, and media. However, some say the city has lost it's premier status, due to competition from places like Dubai, Cyprus and Tel Aviv in the fields of tourism, business, fashion, and banking. Reconstruction of downtown Beirut has been largely driven by Solidere, a development company established in 1994 by Hariri. Beirut is home to the international designer Elie Saab, jeweller Robert Moawad, and to some of the most popular and successful satellite television stations, such as LBC, Future TV, New TV and Al-Manar. The city was host to the Asian Basketball Championship and the Asian Football Championship. Beirut also successfully hosted the Miss Europe pageant twice.

The assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, in 2005 in Beirut shook the entire country. The last Syrian troops withdrew from Beirut on April 26 2006. It remains to be seen how the current conflict with Israel will affect the city and its future.

[edit] Religion

Image:Beirut- building from before civil war.jpeg

Beirut is one of the most religiously diverse cities of the Middle East, with Muslims (Sunni and Shi'ite), Christians (Maronite Catholics, Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholics, Armenian Orthodox, Armenian Catholics, Roman Catholics, Syriacs, Copts, Methodists, Protestants), and Druze all having a significant presence. (Most of the Jews of Beirut emigrated to the United States when the Lebanese Civil War started in 1975, though there are also populations of Lebanese Jews in France and Brasil).

Beirut was torn apart during the Lebanese Civil War and was divided between the Muslim West Beirut and the Christian East. The city today has been reunited and rebuilt, and its Christian-Muslim balance remains, even if it is a precarious balance.

[edit] Colleges and universities

There are twenty-one universities in Beirut, including the Lebanese American University (originally, the first women's college in the Middle East), University of Balamand, American University of Beirut, Université de Saint-Joseph, Global University, Haigazian University, Lebanese University, Lebanese International University, Louis Saade University , American University College of Science and Technology, Middle East University, Beirut Arab University, the Near East School of Theology, and the Middle East Canadian Academy of Technology (MECAT).

[edit] Geography

Image:Beirut sunset(6).jpg

Backed by the Mount Lebanon mountains, Beirut is situated on a spur where the narrow coastal plain projects into the Mediterranean Sea. Beirut is located halfway along the Lebanese coastline with Byblos and Tripoli to the North, and Sidon and Tyre to the South. Its location makes it easy to reach from almost any location in Lebanon.

[edit] Transportation

The city's airport, situated in the southern suburbs, was previously known as Beirut International Airport; in 2005 it was renamed Rafic Hariri International Airport in honour of the assassinated former prime minister, though many prefer using the old nomenclature^{[citation needed]}. The civilian airport was bombed by the Israeli military in July 2006 and was closed for 2 months. The airport reopened August 17, 2006.<ref>CBS News/AP: "Lebanon Starts To Regain Control"</ref> By land, the city has frequent bus connections to other cities in Lebanon and major cities in Syria; the latter are also served by either service or taxis. Buses for northern destinations and Syria leave from Charles Helou Station.

[edit] Sister cities

Image:Flag of Armenia.svg Yerevan, Armenia

[edit] See also

Beirut International Exhibition & Leisure Center

[edit] References

Linda Jones Hall, Roman Berytus: Beirut in Late Antiquity, 2004.
Samir Kassir, Histoire de Beyrouth, Fayard 2003.
Richard Talbert, Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World, (ISBN 0-691-03169-X), p. 69.