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See my post #23. That member is getting too technical. Every single source of data will list Lebanese Christians as Arab.

ethnicity: n : an ethnic quality or affiliation resulting from racial or cultural ties

Example: My wife's father was born in Italy, my wife's mother was born in Northern Spain. She was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and lived as a teenager Nicaragua. She is an American citizen now. Is she European? Technically, she is from an ancestry angle. Culture? No. She is South American. Her native language is Spanish with an Argentine accent. Her culture was Latin/South American. This example this member used about Lebanese Christians "not being Arab" and stating facts from hundreds of years ago or even more ancient history just is not practical.

My wife is in fact South American, Argentinian, even though here ancestors are European. Racially, she is European. Culturally, she is South American/Central American.

The short of it is this--with Syria dominating the lives of Lebanese for so many years, their culture and racial makeup is as Arab as you can get. The Parliament of Lebanon has the following "identities" based on religious and ethnic "identities":

Maronite ..........34
Greek Orthodox.....14
Greek Catholic.....8
Armenian Orthodox..5
Armenian Catholic..1
Protestant.........1
Other Christians...1

Total Christians...64

Sunni..............27
Shi'a..............27
Druze..............8
Alawite............2

Total Muslims......64

Now, are Lebanese who identify their religion as Greek Orthodox considered Greek? Of course not.

Lebanese are Arabs, regardless of their ancient family history or religious affiliation (assuming they are third generation or more Lebanese and been in Lebanon all these years).

I think that the CIA website was not supposed to go in the details of historical background and ethnicity of the Lebanese people. It is much easier for them to consider both Lebanese Muslims and Lebanese Christians as Arabs. The "Identity" of Lebanon has been always a subject of heated debate and controversy over the last 80 years in Lebanon, and in fact it was one of the main reasons for the 15 years of the Lebanese civil war from 1975 to 1990.

When present day Lebanon was first established as an independent nation in 1943 Lebanese Christian did not want to consider Lebanon as an Arab country but Lebanese Muslim wanted to so, therefore they came to an agreement in the middle where they called Lebanon a country with "Arabic Face" rather than an Arab country.

After the defeat of the Lebanese Christians at the end the civil war at the hand of the Syrian Baath terrorist regime and their Lebanese Muslim allies, the "Taaef agreement" which rewrote the Lebanese Constitution included the phrase that Lebanon is an Arab country. Despite this, still the vast majority of Lebanese Christians, including myself, do not consider themselves Arabs.