Travel-World Photography
Beirut has at present a population of about 2.4 million, having declined slightly due to war and unrest. South of the city is dominated by people with a Muslim background, while north of the city the communities are Christian and more liberal.
Beirut used to be called "The Paris of the Middle East". Part of the reason for that was that people from Arab nations used Lebanon as a vacation retreat. And before the common use of air conditioning, the apartment buildings were built high up in the mountains, at 1000 m elevation and above.
A notable feature of Beirut is "Te Cornice", a street at the waters edge, running north, west and south of the Beirut peninsula.
When I arrived in Beirut in October 1994, I did not observe a single building without pockmarks from bullets, and a large number of houses were shot into total ruins. In the pictures below, you will see several examples of that. However, in ruined buildings new businesses were opened up, including a fashion store. The Lebanese people have always been traders.
The 4th image below shows the state of the telecom systems that the new project were to replace; the picture emphasizing the dire need for something new.
