capital of the Republic of Lebanon. It lies on a hilly peninsula on the east coast of the eastern Mediterranean. The climate is subtropical with a hot dry summer. The mean January temperature is 14° C, and the mean August temperature is about 28° C. The average annual precipitation is about 900 mm. Estimated population, 700,000 (1964–68).
History. Beirut (Benita or Berk in ancient times) was, from the 18th century B.C (according to other sources, from the 15th century B.C.), a town and port of Phoenicia. In Greek and Roman times (from the third century B.C. to the fourth century A.D.) it had become an important autonomous trade and handicraft center with the right to its own coinage. In 635 A.D. it was incorporated in the Arabian Caliphate. From the beginning of the 12th century to the 13th century, Beirut was, except for a few intervals, ruled by the Crusaders, and in the 14th and 15th centuries, by the Egyptian Mamelukes. In 1516 it was conquered by the Turks. During the Russo-Turkish war of 1768–74, it was twice besieged by a Russian fleet (June 1772 and July-September 1773), which was supporting the uprising of the population of north Palestine and Lebanon against their Turkish rulers. From August 1860 to June 1861 it was occupied by French troops. In 1887 it became the center of the vilayet of Beirut in the Ottoman Empire. In October 1918 it was occupied by the troops of the Entente. Beginning Sept. 1, 1920, it was the capital of the state of Greater Lebanon, under French mandate, and from 1926, the capital of the Lebanese Republic (under French mandate until November 1943). From the early 1920’s, Beirut was a center of the national liberation and workers’ movement in Lebanon. (The largsst demonstrations occurred in the 1930’s, in 1943, and in 1958.)
Economy. Beirut is an important port, with a freight turnover of 4.9 million tons in 1965. It is a railway and road junction and a transit center for trade between the Near and Middle East and the European countries, and it is the industrial, trade, and financial center of Lebanon. Its industries include textiles, knitted goods, leather, food (tobacco and others), and metalworking. It exports citrus fruits, apples, olive oil, raw silk, and wool. The international airport is a center for tourist travel.
Architecture. Beirut’s monuments include Phoenician, Roman, and Byzantine remains, the Mosque al-Omari (rebuilt in 1291 from a Christian church), and the Palace Mosque, begun in the 16th century. It is in the main a modern town with straight streets, an attractive seafront, multistory houses, hotels, office and bank buildings, and villas. In the center of Beirut are three main squares—al-Borj, al-Nijmah, and Assur—from which broad streets fan out to the south, southeast and east, changing into highways connecting Beirut with other towns. In architecture, modern simplicity of form and volume predominates, with much glass combined with smooth wall surfaces and flat roofs, which are often used for cafes, restaurants, and the like. Buildings erected between 1930 and 1960 include the bank building (architect, A. Salam), the office building al-Azaria (architect, M. Ecochard), al-Sayad, the press building (architect, B. H. Makdisi), the Palace of Justice (architect, F. Trad), the Hotel Phoenicia (American architect, E. Stone; Lebanese architect, R. Elias), and apartment buildings (architect, A. Tabet). There is a monument on al-Borj Square to the victims of Turkish rule and a monument to Riad al-Solh on the Assur Square.
Education and scientific institutions. Educational and scientific institutions include the Lebanese state university; an American, a French, and an Arab university; the National Library; the American University Museum (archaeological); the National Museum of Lebanon (history of art); and the Sursock Museum (modern art).