Just Facts

Until recently, all talk of a national Lebanese census was taboo. The last official census was in 1932. After that, counting how many Christians and how many Muslims this country has became politically explosive. In a country where each sect likes to project maximum popular weight, you could understand why counting heads is not desirable.

All this has changed when a scholar named Youssef Dwayhi has gathered Lebanese records and facts from 1907 to July 2006. The study is based on facts, not speculations, says Al-Nahar, which publishes some of the findings here..