Lebanese people

The Lebanese people (Arabic: الشعب اللبناني‎ / ALA-LC: ash-shaʻb al-Libnānī  Lebanese Arabic pronunciation: [eʃˈʃaʕeb ellɪbˈneːne]) are the nation of Lebanon. The religious groups among the Lebanese people are Shias (27%), Sunnis (27%), Maronites (21%), Greek Orthodox (8%), Melkites (5%), Druze (5%), and Protestants (1%). There is a large diaspora in North America, South America, Europe, Australia and Africa. The term may also include those who had inhabited Mount Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon mountains prior to the creation of the modern Lebanese state.

The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Lebanese people is a blend of both indigenous Phoenician elements and the foreign cultures that have come to rule the land and its people over the course of thousands of years. In a 2013 interview the lead investigator, Pierre Zalloua, pointed out that genetic variation preceded religious variation and divisions: "Lebanon already had well-differentiated communities with their own genetic peculiarities, but not significant differences, and religions came as layers of paint on top. There is no distinct pattern that shows that one community carries significantly more Phoenician than another."