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U.S. Department of State - Great Seal

U.S. Department of State

Diplomacy in Action


Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
November 17, 2010



The constitution provides for freedom of religion and the freedom to practice all religious rites, provided that the public order is not disturbed. The constitution declares equality of rights and duties for all citizens without discrimination or preference but establishes a balance of power among the major religious groups. The government generally respected religious rights; however, there were some restrictions, and the constitutional provision for apportioning political offices according to religious affiliation can be viewed as discriminatory.

The government generally respected religious freedom in practice. There was no change in the status of respect for religious freedom by the government during the reporting period, and government policy continued to contribute to the generally free practice of religion.



Section I. Religious Demography

The country has an area of 4,035 square miles and a population of four million. Because the relative size of confessional groups remains a sensitive issue, a national census has not been conducted since 1932. However, the most recent demographic study conducted by Statistics Lebanon, a Beirut-based research firm, indicate 27 percent of the population is Sunni Muslim, 27 percent Shi'a Muslim, 21 percent Maronite Christian, eight percent Greek Orthodox, five percent Druze, and five percent Greek Catholic, with the remaining seven percent belonging to smaller Christian denominations. Over the past 60 years, there has been a steady decline in the proportion of Christians relative to Muslims, mostly due to emigration of large numbers of Maronite Christians and a higher-than-average Muslim birth rate. There are also very small numbers of Jews, Baha'is, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), Buddhists, and Hindus.


Many persons fleeing religious mistreatment and discrimination in neighboring states have immigrated to the country, including Kurds, Shi'a, and Chaldeans from Iraq, as well as Coptic Christians from Egypt and Sudan. According to the secretary general of the Syriac League, 50,000 Iraqi Christians and approximately 3,000 to 4,000 Coptic Christians reside in the country.

Section II. Status of Government Respect for Religious Freedom

Legal/Policy Framework


The 1989 Ta'if Agreement, which ended the country's 15-year civil war, reaffirmed this arrangement while mandating equal Muslim and Christian representation in parliament and reducing the power of the Maronite Christian presidency. In addition the agreement endorsed the constitutional provision of appointing most senior government officials according to religious affiliation. This practice functions in all three branches of government. The Ta'if Agreement also stipulated a cabinet with power allocated equally between Muslims and Christians. On January 13, 2010, parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri called for the formation of a national commission to abolish political sectarianism, a proposal which drew criticism from various political parties. The constitution also provides for the formation of such a commission. The political establishment was reluctant to change this "confessional" system, because citizens perceived it as critical to the country's stability.






The government observes the following religious holidays as national holidays: Armenian Christmas, Eid al-Adha, Saint Maroun Day, Islamic New Year, Ashura, Good Friday, Easter (both Western and Eastern rites), the birth of the Prophet Muhammad, All Saints' Day, Feast of the Assumption, Annunciation, Eid al-Fitr, and Christmas. The government also excused Armenian public sector employees from work on Saint Vartan Day.



Alternatively, religious groups may apply for recognition through recognized religious groups. Official recognition conveyed certain benefits, such as tax-exempt status and the right to apply the religion's codes to personal status matters. An individual may change religions if the head of the religious group the person wishes to join approved of this change. Refusal was not reported to occur in practice.

Some religious groups did not enjoy official recognition, such as Baha'is, Buddhists, Hindus, and unregistered Protestant Christian groups. These groups were disadvantaged under the law in that their members did not qualify for certain government positions, but they were permitted to perform their religious rites freely. For example, a Baha'i could not run for parliament as a Baha'i candidate because there is no seat allocated for the confession, nor could such an individual hold senior positions in the government, since these are also allocated on a confessional basis. However, a number of members of unregistered religious groups were recorded in government records under recognized religions. For example, most Baha'is were registered under the Shi'a sect. A member of the Baha'i community could therefore run for office and fill a seat allocated to the Shi'a sect. Similarly, Mormons were registered under the Greek Orthodox faith. Government decisions on granting official recognition to those religious groups that applied were timely and did not appear to be arbitrary.

Unrecognized groups may own property and assemble for worship without government interference; however, they are disadvantaged under the law because legally they may not marry, divorce, or inherit property in the country. Therefore, these religious groups may choose to register as part of other known religious organizations. For example, Protestant evangelical churches were required to register with the Evangelical Synod, a nongovernmental advisory group that represents those churches with the government. It is self-governing and oversees religious matters for Protestant congregations. Representatives of some churches complained that the synod has refused to accept new Protestant groups into its membership since 1975, thereby preventing their clergy from ministering to adherents in accordance with their beliefs.

Religion was generally encoded on national identity cards and noted on ikhraaj qaid (official registry) documents; however, the government does not require citizens' religious affiliations to be indicated on passports. Following the Ministry of Interior's February 11, 2009, circular, citizens were not required to have their religious affiliation encoded on national identity cards or official regisrty documents. The ikhraaj qaid is a civil document that indicates personal status information and can be presented by citizens instead of an identity card when they apply for various purposes, such as to obtain government employment or to enroll in or be employed at a university. Citizens had the right to have their religion removed from their national identity cards and official registry documents and did so during the reporting period. The government also complied with requests of citizens to change their civil records to reflect a new religious status.

Government documents referred to Jewish Lebanese citizens as Israelis, although they are not Israeli citizens. In 2009 the interior minister submitted a proposal to the cabinet to amend legislation by referring to "Jewish Lebanese" citizens instead of "Israelis," but the proposal was not approved.

Restrictions on Religious Freedom




Forced Religious Conversion

There were no reports of forced religious conversion.

Section III. Status of Societal Respect for Religious Freedom

There were periodic reports of societal abuses or discrimination based on religious affiliation, belief, or practice. Political tension between religious groups decreased after Sunni Prime Minister Saad Hariri formed a national unity government that included representatives of Shi'a opposition parties. While there were periodic reports of tension and occasional confrontations between religious groups during the reporting period, most of this activity could be attributed to political differences and the legacy of the civil war.

During the reporting period, Hizballah directed strong rhetoric against Israel, with which the country remained in a state of war, and its Jewish population. While Hizballah's Al-Manar television broadcast anti-Semitic material in the past, no examples were noted during the reporting period.


On September 28, 2009, Khaled Shebli Khelo allegedly threw a Molotov cocktail at the Maghen Abraham synagogue, the last remaining synagogue in the country. Security authorities arrested Khelo the same day, and investigation of the incident was ongoing at the end of the reporting period.

On July 26, 2009, one day before renovation of the Maghen Abraham synagogue was to begin, unknown perpetrators attempted to set the synagogue on fire.

Section IV. U.S. Government Policy



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