Christianity in Lebanon - Demographics

Demographics

The number of Christians in Lebanon has been disputed for many years. There has been no official census in Lebanon since 1932. But official records confirm that in 1926 when the state of Lebanon was officially announced and recognised by the allies the Christians formed 84% of the population. Many argue over the percentage and population of Christians in Lebanon. One estimate of the Christian share of Lebanon's population as of the late 2000s is 39%. The country has the largest percentage of Christians of all the Middle Eastern nations.

The Maronite Church, a church in communion with the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest and politically most active and influential denomination of Lebanon's Christians. The Greek Orthodox Church forms the second largest proportion of Lebanese Christians. The Armenian Apostolic Church also forms a large portion of the Christian population in Lebanon. Other branches of Christianity, including the Greek Melkite Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic Church loyal to the Pope, are very common in Lebanon. The Latin Rite Roman Catholic Church, the Coptic Church, the Assyrian Church of the East, and the Syriac Orthodox are also important Christian churches within Lebanon. These branches of Christianity are very influential in daily business and in the economy of Lebanon. In the Lebanese Parliament, Christians hold 64 seats in tandem with 64 Muslim seats. The Maronite Catholic church holds 34 seats, the Greek Orthodox 14, and the Armenian, Greek Catholic, and Protestant make up the remaining 22.