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The economy of Lebanon has been experiencing a large-scale multi-dimensional crisis since 2019,including a banking collapse,a liquidity crisis and a sovereign default. It is classified as a developing,lower-middle-income economy. The nominal GDP was estimated at $19 billion in 2020,with a per capita GDP amounting to $2,500. In 2018 government spending amounted to $15.9 billion,or 23% of GDP.
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. As of 2014,Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million,which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region and the thirteenth-largest in the Arab world. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coast. Beirut has been inhabited for more than 5,000 years,making it one of the oldest cities in the world.
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Events in the year 2020 in Lebanon.
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In Lebanon, the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 has resulted in 1,238,552 confirmed cases and 10,936 all-time deaths after COVID-19 was confirmed to have reached Lebanon in February 2020.
The Lebanese liquidity crisis is an ongoing financial crisis affecting Lebanon,that became fully apparent in August 2019,and was further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic in Lebanon,the 2020 Beirut port explosion and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The country experienced liquidity shortages in the years prior to 2019 but the full extent of the fragility of the economy were concealed through financial engineering by the governor of the central bank. Lebanon's crisis was worsened by United States sanctions targeting Syria's government and Iran-backed Hezbollah.
On 4 August 2020,a large amount of ammonium nitrate stored at the Port of Beirut in the capital city of Lebanon exploded,causing at least 218 deaths,7,000 injuries,and US$15 billion in property damage,as well as leaving an estimated 300,000 people homeless. A cargo of 2,750 tonnes of the substance had been stored in a warehouse without proper safety measures for the previous six years after having been confiscated by Lebanese authorities from the abandoned ship MV Rhosus. The explosion was preceded by a fire in the same warehouse.
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References
- ↑ "Who is in the new Lebanese government?". The National. 22 January 2020. Archived from the original on 26 February 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ↑ "Beirut explosion: Lebanon's government resigns as public anger mounts". BBC News . August 10, 2020. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
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