Christophe Gauchon · 2005
This article reviews the Atlas du Liban produced by colleagues from the geography department of Saint-Joseph University in Beirut, aiming to fill the gap in basic geographic information on Lebanon. The first half of the atlas presents the borders delineated between 1920 and 1926, physical geography features, and historical changes from the Paleolithic era to the Israeli withdrawal in 2000; the second half focuses on Lebanon in the early 21st century, covering administrative divisions, population distribution, and socio-economic conditions. Despite the civil wars having reshaped the country's geography, the Beirut metropolitan region and Mount Lebanon still concentrate over half of the population and the best resources, with marked regional disparities. The atlas adopts an "island-style" cartography, somewhat isolating Lebanon from its regional context, yet it is meticulously crafted and indispensable for understanding contemporary Lebanon.
