DruzeThe Druze ('druːz; دَرْزِيٌّ, or دُرْزِيٌّ , () دُرُوزٌ, ) are an Arab and Arabic-speaking esoteric ethnoreligious group from Western Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion whose main tenets are the unity of God and the belief in reincarnation and the eternity of the soul. Adherents of the Druze religion call themselves simply "the Monotheists" (al-Muwaḥḥidūn). Most Druze religious practices are kept secret. The Druze do not permit outsiders to convert to their religion.
AleppoAleppo (ʌˈlɛpoʊ; حَلَب / ALA-LC: , ˈħalab) is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city and also one of the largest cities in the Levant region. Aleppo is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world; it may have been inhabited since the sixth millennium BC. Excavations at Tell as-Sawda and Tell al-Ansari, just south of the old city of Aleppo, show that the area was occupied by Amorites by the latter part of the third millennium BC.
CrusadesThe Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Christian Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these military expeditions are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were intended to conquer Jerusalem and its surrounding area from Muslim rule. Beginning with the First Crusade, which resulted in the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099, dozens of military campaigns were organised, providing a focal point of European history for centuries.
CanaanCanaan (ˈkeɪnən; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – KNʿN; כְּנַעַן – Kənáʿan, in pausa כְּנָעַן – Kənāʿan; Χανααν – Khanaan; كَنْعَانُ – Kan‘ān) was a Semitic-speaking civilization and region of the Southern Levant in the Ancient Near East during the late 2nd millennium BC. Canaan had significant geopolitical importance in the Late Bronze Age Amarna Period (14th century BC) as the area where the spheres of interest of the Egyptian, Hittite, Mitanni and Assyrian Empires converged or overlapped.
Byzantine EmpireThe Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinople. It survived the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire remained the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in the Mediterranean world.
PhoeniciaPhoenicia (fəˈnɪʃə,_fəˈniːʃə), or Phœnicia, was an ancient Semitic thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenicians extended and shrank throughout history, with the core of their culture stretching from Arwad in modern Syria to Mount Carmel in modern Israel. Beyond their homeland, the Phoenicians extended throughout the Mediterranean, from Cyprus to the Iberian Peninsula.
Köppen climate classificationThe Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notably in 1918 and 1936. Later, German climatologist Rudolf Geiger (1894–1981) introduced some changes to the classification system, which is thus sometimes called the Köppen–Geiger climate classification.
Demographics of LebanonThis is a demography of the population of Lebanon including population density, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. About 95% of the population of Lebanon is either Muslim or Christian, split across various sects and denominations. Because the matter of religious balance is a sensitive political issue, a national census has not been conducted since 1932, before the founding of the modern Lebanese state.
Amal MovementThe Amal Movement (حركة أمل) is a Lebanese political party and former militia affiliated with the Shia community. Founded by Musa Al-Sadr and Hussein el Husseini in 1974, the party has been led by Nabih Berri since 1980. Founded by Musa al-Sadr and Hussein el Husseini as the "Movement of the Dispossessed" in 1974, the Amal movement gained attention from Shia outcry after the disappearance of Musa al-Sadr and saw a renewal in popularity after Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1978.
Litani RiverThe Litani River (Nahr al-Līṭānī), the classical Leontes (Léontes), is an important water resource in southern Lebanon. The river rises in the fertile Beqaa Valley, west of Baalbek, and empties into the Mediterranean Sea north of Tyre. Exceeding 140 km in length, the Litani River is the longest river in Lebanon and provides an average annual flow estimated at 920 million cubic meters. The waters of the Litani both originate and flow entirely within the borders of Lebanon.
