Lebanon
Long Name: Lebanese Republic
Location: Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Israel and Syria
Area: 4,015 sq. mi. (10,400 sq. km)
Climate: Mediterranean; mild to cool, wet winters with hot, dry summers; Lebanon mountains experience heavy winter snows
Terrain: narrow coastal plain; El Beqaa (Bekaa Valley) separates Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon Mountains
Population: 3,971,941 Population Growth Rate: 1.154%
Birth Rate (per 1,000): 17.61 Death Rate (per 1,000): 6.06 Life Expectancy: 73.41 years Ethnic Groups: Arab 95%, Armenian 4%, other 1%
Religion: Muslim 59.7% (Shi'a, Sunni, Druze, Isma'ilite, Alawite or Nusayri),
Christian 39% (Maronite Catholic,
Greek Orthodox, Melkite Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Syrian Catholic, Armenian Catholic, Syrian Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Chaldean, Assyrian, Copt, Protestant), other 1.3%, 17 religious sects recognized
Languages: Arabic (official), French, English, Armenian
Literacy: 87.4%
Government Type: republic Capital: Beirut
Independence: 22 November 1943 (from League of Nations mandate under French administration)
GDP Per Capita: $10,300
Occupations: N/A
Currency: Lebanese pound (LBP)
Lesotho
Long Name: Kingdom of Lesotho
Location: Southern Africa, an enclave of South Africa
Area: 11,720 sq. mi. (30,355 sq. km)
Climate: temperate; cool to cold, dry winters; hot, wet summers
Terrain: mostly highland with plateaus, hills, and mountains
Population: 2,128,180
Population Growth Rate: 0.129%
Birth Rate (per 1,000): 24.41
Death Rate (per 1,000): 22.33
Life Expectancy: 40.17 years
Ethnic Groups: Sotho 99.7%, Europeans, Asians, and other 0.3%,
Religion: Christian 80%, indigenous beliefs 20%
Languages: Sesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa
Literacy: 84.8%
Government Type: parliamentary constitutional monarchy
Capital: Maseru
Independence: 4 October 1966 (from United Kingdom)
GDP Per Capita: $1,400
Occupations: agriculture 86% of resident population engaged in subsistence agriculture, roughly 35% of the active male wage earners work in South Africa, industry and services 14%
Currency: loti (LSL); South African rand
(ZAR) Liberia
Long Name: Republic of Liberia
Location: Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Cote d'Ivoire and Sierra Leone
Area: 43,000 sq. mi. (111,370 sq. km)
Climate: tropical; hot, humid; dry winters with hot days and cool to cold nights; wet, cloudy summers with frequent heavy showers
Terrain: mostly flat to rolling coastal plains rising to rolling plateau and low mountains in northeast
Population: 3,334,587
Population Growth Rate: 3.661%
Birth Rate (per 1,000): 42.92
Death Rate (per 1,000): 21.45
Life Expectancy: 41.13 years
Ethnic Groups: indigenous African 95% (including Kpelle, Bassa, Gio, Kru, Grebo, Mano, Krahn, Gola, Gbandi, Loma, Kissi, Vai, Dei, Bella, Mandin-go, and Mende), Americo-Liberians 2.5% (descendants of immigrants from the US who had been slaves), Congo People 2.5% (descendants of immigrants from the Caribbean who had been slaves)
Religion: Christian 40%, Muslim 20%, indigenous beliefs 40%
Languages: English 20% (official), some 20 ethnic group languages, of which a few can be written and are used in correspondence
Literacy: 57.5%
Government Type: republic
Capital: Monrovia
Independence: 26 July 1847
GDP Per Capita: $500
Occupations: agriculture 70%, industry 8%, services 22%
Currency: Liberian dollar (LRD)
Libya
Long Name: Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
Location: Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Tunisia
Area: 679,359 sq. mi. (1,759,540 sq. km)
Climate: Mediterranean along coast; dry, extreme desert interior
Terrain: mostly barren, flat to undulating plains, plateaus, depressions
Population: 6,173,579
Population Growth Rate: 2.216%
Birth Rate (per 1,000): 25.62
Death Rate (per 1,000): 3.46
Life Expectancy: 77.07 years
Ethnic Groups: Berber and Arab 97%, other 3% (includes Greeks, Maltese, Italians, Egyptians, Pakistanis, Turks, Indians, and Tunisians)
Religion: Sunni Muslim 97%, other 3%
Languages: Arabic, Italian, English, all are widely understood in the major cities
Literacy: 82.6%
Government Type: Jamahiriya (a state of the masses) in theory, governed by the populace through local councils; in practice, an authoritarian state
Capital: Tripoli
Independence: 24 December 1951 (from UN trusteeship)
GDP Per Capita: $12,400
Occupations: agriculture 17%, industry 23%, services 59%
Currency: Libyan dinar (LYD)
