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Mount Lebanon
Lebanon Cedars on the slopes of Mount Lebanon. Note the thawing winter snow cover. Photo April 2004.
Elevation	3,090 metres (10,137 feet)
Location	Lebanon
Coordinates	34°18′00″N, 36°07′00″E
Easiest route	scramble

Mount Lebanon, as a geographic designation, is the mountain range that extends across the whole country of Lebanon along about 160 km (100 mi), parallel to the Mediterranean coast and rising to 3,090 m (10,137 ft). Lebanon has historically been defined by these mountains, which provided protection for the local population. The snowy peaks may have given Lebanon its name in antiquity; laban is Aramaic for "white". In Lebanon the changes in scenery are not connected to geographical distances, but to altitudes. The mountains were known for their oak and pine forests. Also, in the high slopes of Mount Lebanon are the last remaining groves of the famous Cedars of Lebanon (Cedrus libani). The Phoenicians used the forests from Mount Lebanon to build their ship fleet and to trade with their Levantine neighbours. However, the Phoenicians and successor rulers replanted and restocked the range such that even as late as the 16th century, its forested area was considerable. It was not until the 19th century, when the Ottoman Empire waged a jihad campaign on the Maronites which included burning their protective forest cover, that the area was significantly denuded of its trees. Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... Mount Lebanon may refer to: places in the Lebanese Republic (i. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Libanonzeder. ... Binomial name Cedrus libani A. Rich. ... A topographical summit is a point on a surface which is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. ... Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ... Southern and northern Mount Everest climbing routes as seen from the International Space Station. ... Scrambling on Crib Goch, Snowdonia, Wales Scrambling is a method of ascending rocky faces and ridges. ... km redirects here. ... Composite satellite image of the Mediterranean Sea. ... Aramaic is a group of Semitic languages with a 3,000-year history. ... Species See List of Quercus species The term oak can be used as part of the common name of any of several hundred species of trees and shrubs in the genus Quercus, and some related genera, notably Cyclobalanopsis and Lithocarpus. ... Subgenera Subgenus Strobus Subgenus Ducampopinus Subgenus Pinus See Pinus classification for complete taxonomy to species level. ... Binomial name Cedrus libani A. Rich. ... Phoenician sarcophagus found in Cadiz, Spain; now in Archaeological Museum of Cádiz. ... The Levant is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in Southwest Asia south of the Taurus Mountains, bounded by the Mediterranean Sea in the west, and in the east, the north Arabian Desert and Mesopotamia. ... Jihad, sometimes spelled Jahad, Jehad, Jihaad, Jiaad, or Cihad, (Arabic: ) as an Islamic term, is sometimes referred to as the sixth pillar of Islam, although it occupies no official status as such in Sunni Islam. ...

Mount Lebanon, as a political name

Mount Lebanon also lent its name to two political designations: a semi-autonomous province in the Ottoman Empire that existed before World War I, and the central Governorate of modern Lebanon (see Mount Lebanon Governorate). An autonomous (subnational) entity is a subnational entity that has a certain amount of autonomy. ... Motto دولت ابد مدت Devlet-i Ebed-müddet (The Eternal State) Anthem Ottoman imperial anthem Borders in 1680, see: list of territories Capital Söğüt (1299–1326) Bursa (1326–65) Edirne (1365–1453) Constantinople (Ä°stanbul, 1453–1922) Language(s) Ottoman Turkish Government Monarchy Sultans  - 1281–1326 Osman I  - 1918–22 Mehmed VI... This article is becoming very long. ... A governorate is a country subdivision. ... Mount Lebanon (Arabic: جبل لبنان; transliterated: Jabal Libnan) is one of the Governorates of Lebanon. ...

The Mount Lebanon administrative region emerged in a time of rise of nationalism. The indigenous Christian community experienced incessant oppressive discrimination by alternating Moslem rule. Starting in the early 1800s over several decades, the Ottomans released successive Druze, Kurdish, and Sunni clans on the area backed by the protective force of the Ottoman Imperial Army. After near apocalyptic Jihads, the Marionites realized the necessity of Ethnonationalism for their own protection. European powers (mainly France and Britain) intervened on behalf of the local Christian population and in 1861 the "Mount Lebanon" autonomous district was established within the Ottoman system, under an international guarantee. With the rise of national states and their histories, it is very hard to find reliable sources on the Ottoman concept of a nation. ... Jihad, sometimes spelled Jahad, Jehad, Jihaad, Jiaad, or Cihad, (Arabic: ) as an Islamic term, is sometimes referred to as the sixth pillar of Islam, although it occupies no official status as such in Sunni Islam. ... Hydrozincite, also known as zinc bloom, is a white carbonate mineral consisting of Zn5(CO3)2(OH)6. ... Irish nationalist graffiti, Derry 1986, with evidence of vandalism. ... 1861 (MDCCCLXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link with display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar) // January 1 - Benito Juárez captures Mexico City January 2 - Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia dies and is succeeded by... Ottoman Empire, 1481-1683 The Ottoman Empire existed from 1299 to 1922 and, at the height of its power in the 16th century, it included nearly 20 million km² in Anatolia (Asia Minor), the Middle East, parts of North Africa, and much of south-eastern Europe, and the Caucasus. ...

Lebanese flag before the French Mandate: white flag with a cedar tree in the center

It was ruled by a non-Lebanese Christian subject of the Ottoman Empire (known locally as the "Mutassareff", one who rules the district Mutasarrifiyya). Christians formed the majority of the population of Mount Lebanon, with a significant number of Druze. Image File history File links Cedar_flag. ... Image File history File links Cedar_flag. ... Motto دولت ابد مدت Devlet-i Ebed-müddet (The Eternal State) Anthem Ottoman imperial anthem Borders in 1680, see: list of territories Capital Söğüt (1299–1326) Bursa (1326–65) Edirne (1365–1453) Constantinople (Ä°stanbul, 1453–1922) Language(s) Ottoman Turkish Government Monarchy Sultans  - 1281–1326 Osman I  - 1918–22 Mehmed VI... This article is about the religous people known as Christians. ... Druze star The Druze (Arabic: درزي, derzÄ« or durzÄ«, plural دروز, durÅ«z; Hebrew: , Druzim; also transliterated Druz or Druse) are a Middle Eastern religious community whose traditional religion stemmed primarily from an offshoot of an Islamic sect, but is unique in its incorporation of Gnostic, neo-Platonic and other philosophies. ...

During the War, the Ottoman Empire launched a campaign against the Maronites as part of its Middle Eastern region wide massacre of Christians. As part of this campaign, the Ottoman fleet blockaded the entire Levantine coast, encircled the region with troops and cut off Mount Lebanon from the rest of the world. In Lebanon it is estimated today that half the population of Mount Lebanon died of orchestrated famine during this time. This article is becoming very long. ... The Levant The Levant (IPA: /ləvænt/) is an imprecise geographical term historically referring to a large area in the Middle East south of the Taurus Mountains, bounded by the Mediterranean Sea on the west, and by the northern Arabian Desert and Upper Mesopotamia to the east. ... A famine is a social and economic crisis that is commonly accompanied by widespread malnutrition, starvation, epidemic and increased mortality. ...

(Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5])

For decades the Christians pressured the European powers, and the United States, to award them self determination by extending their small Lebanese territory to what they dubbed "Greater Lebanon", referring to a geographic unit comprising Mount Lebanon and its coast, and the Beqaa Valley to its east. This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Beqaa Valley Beqaa (Arabic: البقاع) is a valley in Lebanon. ...

France took hold of the formally Ottoman holdings in the northern Levant, and expanded the borders of Mount Lebanon in 1920 to form Greater Lebanon which was to be populated by remnants of the Middle Eastern Christian community. While the Christians ended up gaining, territorially, almost twice the area they requested, the hoped-for resettlement of Christians into the area never materialized and the new borders merely jeopardized the demographic dominance of Christians in the newly created territory. The Levant The Levant (IPA: /ləvænt/) is an imprecise geographical term historically referring to a large area in the Middle East south of the Taurus Mountains, bounded by the Mediterranean Sea on the west, and by the northern Arabian Desert and Upper Mesopotamia to the east. ... Year 1920 (MCMXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... The State of Greater Lebanon is the name of a territory that was created by France and is the precursor of modern Lebanon. ...

In retrospect, Mount Lebanon can be seen as the seed of Lebanese nationalism and, in turn, statehood. The next stage of its political evolution, Greater Lebanon in its "greater" boundaries, created to suit the interests of France, and implemented without additional Christian settlers, might be the liable seed of modern Lebanon's ongoing volatile plight.

See also

• Subdivisions of the Ottoman Empire
• French Mandate of Lebanon
• Mount Lebanon Governorate