Beirut

Beirut is mentioned as far back as the 15th century bc, its name appearing in the Tel al-Amarna tablets. Prominence came when it was given the status of a colony of Rome in the year 14 bc, when it was named the Colonia Julia Augusta Felix Berytus. The original town was located in the valley between Ashrafiya and Musaytibah. Under the Romans Beirut was famous for its law school, which existed for over three centuries. The Roman city was destroyed by a succession of natural disasters, culminating in the year 551 ad. The Arab invaders found little to suggest earlier development when they occupied the city in 635. King Baldwin I conquered the city from the Fatimids in 1110 during the First Crusade, though the city had little importance at that time. Primarily serving as a port for trade with Europe, the town was vulnerable to attack by Arabs from the adjacent mountain area, thus its orientation was to the sea. The city changed hands several more times, its fortunes rising and falling according to trade with Europe in spices and silk. Though nominally under the authority of the Ottoman Empire after 1516, the city was ruled by a variety of local powers. Outside interest grew in the city as it became a gateway for the products of the industrial revolution occurring in Europe, particularly in the 19th century. The town began to grow as commerce increased, and by the middle of the 19th century Beirut's population of roughly 15,000 had spread beyond the city walls. It was in this environment that the missionaries of the West and the intellectuals of the Arab world began to shape the city.

At the conclusion of World War I Lebanon was stripped from the Ottoman Empire, and the French were granted a Mandate by the League of Nations. Their rule in Lebanon lasted until 1943, and it was during this period that the city absorbed many of its European elements; these included architecture, language, and outlook, particularly affecting the Christian Lebanese. The city continued to prosper as the Mandate ended, but growth was less channelled than during French rule, and Beirut became the urban mix that persists to this day. With the rapid development of banking and tourist industries the city was home to great wealth, along with the urban underclass common to all developing countries.

These elements helped fuel the flames of ethnic strife, and the Lebanese civil war, which erupted in 1975, pitted not just ethnic communities against one another, but also vested interests against newcomers, rich against poor. Particularly volatile was the Palestinian community, largely composed of refugees from the Israeli War of Independence in 1948. Thus, beyond the division into East and West Beirut, the city was dominated by factionalism, with Sunni, Shi'ite, Druze, Palestinian, Maronite, and other groups all controlling territory within the city. Many Lebanese fled the capital, and the city ceased to function in many respects, such as the orderly supply of power and water.

In 1986 the government of Lebanon, representing a number of factions, invited the Syrian government to send troops to quell the fighting in Beirut. The Syrians began a period of rule that saw numerous shifts in alliance, and continued destruction. The city suffered again when Israel pursued the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO)'s leadership in Beirut in 1982. Refusing to surrender, the PLO barricaded itself in West Beirut, and the Israelis besieged the city. After much destruction, the PLO was evacuated to Tunisia, and the Israelis withdrew to the south. Factional fighting persisted in Beirut through 1990.

By the end of the 20th century, the situation in Lebanon had become more stable, and ambitious plans for the reconstruction of the city were underway. In June 2001 Syria agreed to withdraw its troops from Beirut; the last Syrian soldiers left in April 2005. By then, most of central Beirut had been rebuilt, with much of the damage of the war years no longer visible; the city's central business district was reinvigorated and the cosmopolitan air that Beirut sacrificed in war had largely been restored.

In July 2006 Israeli forces launched a combined land-sea-air offensive on targets in Lebanon after two Israeli soldiers were captured by Iranian-backed Shiite Hezbollah (Party of God) militia. Beirut and its surrounding suburbs were specifically targeted by the air strikes, which caused severe loss of life and widespread destruction of the city’s buildings and infrastructure.