Beirut resident Hoda Melki captures the moment her mother plays Auld Lang Syne on the piano among the debris and damage of her apartment one day after a major explosion in Lebanon’s capital. The blast killed 135 people, injured 5,000 and damaged the houses of up to 300,000 after ripping through Beirut’s port
In This Story: Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. No recent population census has been conducted, but 2007 estimates ranged from slightly more than 1 million to 2.2 million as part of Greater Beirut, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region and the fifteenth-largest in the Arab world.
9 Recent Items: Beirut
In This Story: Lebanon
The official language, Arabic, is the most common language spoken by the citizens of Lebanon. Its capital is Beirut.
Lebanon was a founding member of the United Nations in 1945 and is a member of the Arab League (1945), the Non-Aligned Movement (1961), Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (1969), and the Organisation internationale de la francophonie (1973).