Beirut
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Facts & Information about Beirut
Beirut (pronounced in arabic as: Bayrut) is the capital city of Lebanon. Beyrouth is the French name of this city which is the largest in Lebanon and located in the center of country alongside the Mediterranean Sea. Beirut has a population of around1.2 million people located in the center of the city and almost 2.1 million people in the metropolitan locations surrounding the city.
Beirut is currently undergoing a humanitarian crisis, as southern parts of the city namely Dahyieh are being targeted by Israeli Bombs from Israeli Aircrafts. Israel claims that the purpose of its war on Lebanon is to destroy Hezbollah, the Lebanese Islamic militant organization.
Beirut is called the Paris of the Middle East and sometimes The Swiss of the Orient these names were given to Beirut due to it being a commercial center of the region and due to its cosmopolitan atmosphere prior to the Lebanese Civil War in 1973.
Just before Israel started bombings Beirut, The city was undergoing major reconstruction changes in the recent years. Beirut is expected to host the Francophone Games (Jeux de la Francophonie) in 2009.
Beirut was considered as a possible candidate for the Summer Olympics games to be hosted in 2024. This is a huge $1.2 billion project by Sannine Zenith which is expected to make Lebanon capable of holding this big gaming event in the region.
Beirut city is an important locattion in the middle east due to being a home to many international organizations such as; (ESCWA) The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia is located in Downtown Beirut also (ILO) the International Labour Organization and (UNESCO) United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization both have set their regional offices in Beirut. In addition (AACO) The Arab Air Carriers Organization is also headquartered in the center of Lebanon, Beirut.
After the Lebanese War was over, prominent Lebanese figure, Rafic El Hariri spends several years to build and reconstruct Beirut Downtown, (Beirut centre ville). The New Beirut Downtown was the center of attention of the Arabs for many years, the new design and structure of the buildings which remind us to Paris, drew tourists from all over the world. The tourism in Lebanon and especially Beirut was expected to boom and flourish, however the assassination of Prime Minister, Rafic el Hariri in the year 2005 and the Israeli war and attacks on Lebanon in the 2006, destroyed all possibilities of tourism in the country.
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