Religion in Lebanon is characterized by a diversity of religious beliefs and practices. The main religious groups in the country are Shia Muslims, Sunni Muslims, Roman Catholic Christians (Maronites, Melkites, etc.), Greek Orthodox Christians and Druze.

Lebanon officially recognizes 18 religious communities or sects: Islam (Sunni, Shia, Alawites, and Isma'ili), Druze, Christianity (the Maronite Church, the Greek Orthodox Church, the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, evangelical Protestantism, the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Armenian Catholic Church, the Latin Church, the Syriac Catholic Church, the Syriac Orthodox Church, the Assyrian Church of the East, the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church) and Judaism.

Statistics quoted in 2023 indicate that 32.2% are Shia, 31.2% are Sunni, 16.0% are Maronite, 7.6% are Greek Orthodox, 5.5% are Druze. The rest belong to other smaller Muslim and Christian denominations. Besides Lebanese citizens in Lebanon, a large proportion of the country's population are displaced refugees, accounting for 2 million out of 6 million in 2024. The refugees, who are mostly of Syrian or Palestinian origin, are predominantly Sunni Muslims, but include Christians and Shia Muslims. Cites Statistics Lebanon for most Lebanon statistics Lebanon differs from other Middle East countries in that Muslims have become the majority more recently, after the Lebanese Civil War. Christians were once a majority inside Lebanon and are still an overwhelming majority in the Lebanese diaspora, which consists of nearly 14 million people.

Under the National Pact, the president of Lebanon must be a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim, and the speaker of parliament a Shia Muslim.

Population by religious affiliation 1895 estimate and 1913 census in Mount Lebanon

An estimate and census were made in Mount Lebanon during Ottoman rule, the main Christian-majority territory in present-day Lebanon. These were after the 1860 civil conflict in Mount Lebanon and Damascus but before the Great Famine of Mount Lebanon during World War I, which caused the death of about 200,000 people, half the population.

+ Religion in Mount Lebanon according to official estimates and censusesReligion 1895 estimate1913 census # % # %Christians Roman CatholicMaronite229,680242,308Melkite34,47231,936Total264,152274,244Greek Orthodox54,20852,356Other Christians9362,882Total Christians319,296329,482Druze Druze49,81247,290Muslims Shiite16,84623,413Sunni13,57614,529Total Muslims30,42237,942Total population399,530414,747

Censuses of 1922 and 1932

No official census has been taken since 1932, reflecting the political sensitivity in Lebanon over confessional (i.e., religious) balance. As a result, the religious affiliation of the Lebanese population is very difficult to establish with certainty and various sources are used to get the possible estimate of the population by religious affiliation.

+ Religion in Lebanon according to censusesReligion 1922 census1932 census # % # %Christians Roman CatholicMaronite199,182226,378Melkite42,42645,999Armenian5,964Syriac12,6512,675LatinChaldean528Total254,259281,544Greek Orthodox81,40976,522Armenian Apostolic25,462Protestant6,712Syriac Orthodox2,574Total Christians355,668392,544Muslims Sunni124,786175,925Shiite104,947154,208Total Muslims229,733330,133Druze Druze43,63353,047OthersJews, Baháʼí, etc.9,819Total population629,034785,543

Official estimates of 1943, 1951 and 1956 These estimates were made before the arrival of thousands of Palestinian and Syrian refugees, the Lebanese civil war, and the Hezbollah-Israel conflict, so Lebanon's demographics have changed drastically since then.

+ Religion in Lebanon according to official estimatesReligion 1943 estimate1951 estimate1956 estimate # % # % # %Christians Roman CatholicMaronite318,201377,544423,708Melkite61,95681,76487,788Armenian14,21814,622Syriac5,9115,699Latin4,1274,506Chaldean1,3901,466Total380,157484,954537,789Greek Orthodox106,658130,858148,927Armenian Apostolic58,00767,13963,679Protestant12,64114,365Syriac Orthodox4,5624,798Total Christians544,822700,154769,558Muslims Sunni222,594271,734285,698Shiite200,698237,107250,605Total Muslims423,292508,841536,303Druze Druze71,71162,26888,131OthersJews, Baháʼí, etc.6,59612,67713,876Total population1,046,4211,283,9401,407,868

Recent estimates

In 2023, the United States Department of State cited a study conducted by Statistics Lebanon, a Beirut-based research firm, estimating Lebanon's population to be 69.3% Muslim (32.2% Shia; 31.2% Sunni; 5.5% Druze; 0.6% Alawites and Ismailis combined) and 30.5% Christian. 52.5% of Christians are Maronite and 25% Greek Orthodox, and other Christian groups include Greek Catholics (Melkites), Armenian Orthodox, Armenian Catholics, Syriac Orthodox, Syriac Catholics, Assyrians, Chaldean Catholics, Copts, Protestants (including Presbyterians, Baptists, and Seventh-day Adventists), Roman (Latin) Catholics, and members of the Church of Jesus Christ.

According to Pew Research Center data from 2020, 67.8% of Lebanon's population was Muslim, and 27.9% of the population was Christian. Pew reported that the Muslim percentage increased at least 5 percentage points between 2010 and 2020. In a report from 2009, Pew estimated the number of Shia Muslims at 45-55% of all Lebanese muslims.

Lebanon has small community of Hindus estimated in 2020 to be less than 10,000. There is a very small and ancient community of Zoroastrians, numbering between 100 and 500 individuals. Lebanon has a Jewish population estimated at less than 100.

Lebanon's complex socio-political environment and history of conflict have heavily influenced these trends, with shifts in population numbers reflecting broader regional upheavals, such as the Syrian civil war, the Lebanese-Israeli conflicts, and internal economic and political struggles.

Graphical trend based on official data (1895–1956)

Geographical distribution of religion in Lebanon Christians and Druze

Historically, the Druzes and the Christians in the Shuf Mountains have lived together in complete harmony since the 1860 Christian–Druze war. The Druzite and Maronite community in Lebanon played an important role in the formation of the modern state of Lebanon. Contact between Christians (members of the Maronite, Eastern Orthodox, Melkite, and other churches) and the Unitarian Druze led to the presence of mixed villages and towns in Mount Lebanon (Aley District, Baabda District, and Chouf District), Rashaya District, Hasbaya, Matn District, and Marjeyoun District.

Christians

Lebanese Christians form a large proportion of the total population, and they are divided into many branches, including Maronite, Eastern Orthodox, Melkite, and other communities. Lebanon used to be a Christian majority country a few decades back, making up over 60% of the population.

Lebanese Maronite Catholics are concentrated in the northern parts of Greater Beirut, the northern part of Mount Lebanon Governorate, the southern part of North Governorate, parts of Beqaa Governorate and South Governorate.Lebanon Maronites Overview World Directory of Minorities. June 2008. Retrieved 28 December 2013.

Lebanese Greek Orthodox are concentrated in north Beirut, as well as Lebanese North areas including Zgharta, Bsharri, Koura, and Batroun.

Lebanese Greek Catholics are found across the country but in particular in districts on the eastern slopes of the Lebanese mountain range and in Zahlé, where they are a majority. They are also, along with the Maronites, the main group in Jezzine.

Lebanese Protestants are concentrated mainly within the area of Beirut and Greater Beirut.

The other Lebanese Christians and non-native Christian communities are concentrated in similar areas like in east Beirut (northern parts of Greater Beirut), Mount Lebanon, North, Zahlé, and Jezzine.

Druze

The Druze are concentrated in the rural, mountainous areas east and south of Beirut. The Lebanese Druze are estimated to constitute 5.2 percent of Lebanon's population. They live in 136 villages in Hasbaya, Rashaya, Chouf, Aley, Marjeyoun and Beirut,تعرف على طائفة "الموحدين العرب" الدروز, BBC and they constitute the majority of the population Aley, Baakleen, Hasbaya and Rashaya. The Druze make up more than half of the population of the Aley District, and they constitute about a third of the residents of the Rachaya District, and they constitute about the quarter of residents of the Chouf District and the Matn District.

Muslims

Lebanese Muslims form a large number of the total population, and they are divided into many sects, which include Sunnis, Shias, Alawites, and Ismailis.

Lebanese Sunnis are mainly residents of the major cities: west Beirut, Tripoli, and Sidon. Sunnis are also present in rural areas, which include Akkar, Ikleem al Kharoub, and the western Beqaa Valley.

Lebanese Shias are concentrated in Southern Lebanon, Baalbek District, Hermel District and the south Beirut (southern parts of Greater Beirut).

Jews

As of 2023, the Jews in Lebanon make up the smallest recognized religious group, with merely, according to official statistics, 4000 persons or 0.11% of the population. However, these numbers are higher than in actuality due to unreported deaths. Efforts to locate Lebanese Jews are very rare.

The majority of the remaining Jewish population is concentrated in Beirut. The Jewish community was traditionally located in Wadi Abu Jamil and Ras Beirut, with other communities in Chouf, Deir al-Qamar, Aley, Bhamdoun, and Hasbaya.

Religion and society

Religion and politics

The Maronite Catholics and the Druze founded modern Lebanon in the early eighteenth century, through a governing and social system known as the "Maronite-Druze dualism" in the Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate.

Religion plays a major role in politics. Some researchers describe the political system in Lebanon as "coming out of the womb of religion and politics". After independence from France in 1943, the leaders of Lebanon agreed on the distribution of the political positions in the country according to religious affiliation, known as the National Pact. Under the terms of this agreement between the various political and religious leaders of Lebanon, the president of the country must be a Maronite, the prime minister must be a Sunni, and the speaker of Parliament must be a Shia. This has further sustained a power balance which has been founded on religious-sectarian values.

Many political parties are organized along sectarian lines and represent the interests of their respective religious communities. It is not rare to find the clergy involved in political activities, either as members or as leaders.

Since Lebanon is a country that is ruled by a sectarian system, family matters such as marriage, divorce and inheritance are handled by the religious authorities representing a person's faith. The modern Lebanese state regulates the intersection between rights, sex, and kinship through the simultaneous application of civil and personal status law and through civil institutions that provide oversight over the legal system as a whole.Maya Mikdashi, Sextarianism (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2022). Chapters 1 (pages 24-47) Calls for civil marriage are unanimously rejected by the religious authorities but civil marriages conducted in another country are recognized by Lebanese civil authorities. In the case of Lebanon, many Lebanese couples therefore conducted their civil marriage in Cyprus, which became a well-known destination for such instances.