French people in Lebanon (or French Lebanese) are French citizens resident in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, including many binationals and persons of mixed ancestry. French statistics estimated that there were around 23,000 French citizens living in Lebanon in 2020. There are neither official Lebanese statistics nor any scientific information regarding their spoken languages and supposed religious affiliations.

History

In the 13th century, the

king of France France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I, king of the Fra ...

Louis IX Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), also known as Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death in 1270. He is widely recognized as the most distinguished of the Direct Capetians. Following the death of his father, Louis ...

pledged to protect the Maronites. In the 16th century, Francis I of France forged an alliance with the sultan of the

Ottoman empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I (; , ; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the Western world and as Suleiman the Lawgiver () in his own realm, was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman sultan between 1520 a ...

; the Ottomans controlled the region and granted the French monarch the role of "protector of eastern Christians". In the 19th century, French

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

established schools in Lebanon as well as

Saint Joseph University Saint Joseph University of Beirut (; French: ''Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth'', commonly known as USJ) is a private Catholic research university in Beirut, Lebanon, founded in 1875 by French Jesuit missionaries and subsidized by the Go ...

, established in 1875. According to Alex Issa, the French played a major role in the education of the Christian elite of Lebanon, amongst other things, teaching the elites French history and the French language. After the defeat of the Ottoman empire in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, a French mandate was established over

in the

Treaty of Sèvres The Treaty of Sèvres () was a 1920 treaty signed between some of the Allies of World War I and the Ottoman Empire, but not ratified. The treaty would have required the cession of large parts of Ottoman territory to France, the United Kingdom, ...

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its ow ...

. In 1943, Lebanon became independent from France. In 1989 following Syrian attacks on Lebanon, France sent an armada to protect 6000 French citizens according to the French government and according to the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

, unofficially to protect the Christian population of Lebanon.

Political representation

For the elections at the Assembly of French Citizens Abroad, Lebanon is part of the Beirut electoral district, including also

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

and

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

, where there are small French communities. The three representatives elected on 18 June 2006 (4,156 votes in total, 3,787 in Lebanon) are all members of right-wing groups in the Assembly: Jean-Louis Mainguy (born in 1953 in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

, Union of Democrats, Independents and Liberals), Denise Revers-Haddad (born in 1940 in

Varennes-Jarcy Varennes-Jarcy () is a commune in the Essonne department in northern France, located between Périgny (Val-de-Marne) and Combs-la-Ville (Seine-et-Marne) 25 km from the center of Paris. Population Inhabitants of Varennes-Jarcy are known ...

, Rally of French Citizens Abroad) and Marcel Laugel (born in 1931 in

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

, then

French Algeria French Algeria ( until 1839, then afterwards; unofficially ; ), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of History of Algeria, Algerian history when the country was a colony and later an integral part of France. French rule lasted until ...

, Union of Democrats, Independents and Liberals). For the June 2012 French legislative election, Lebanon is part of a large constituency for French residents overseas, the tenth, including Central, Eastern and Southern Africa and much of the Middle East. On December 31, 2011, there were 21,428 registered French electors in Lebanon out of 147,997 for the whole constituency. Out of 11 candidates presently known, only two are – at least partially – living in Lebanon, none from the two main parties.�
10ème circonscription : Moyen-Orient / Afrique de l’Est
”, ''Le Petit Journal''

French Lebanese in France

At the

French National Assembly The National Assembly (, ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral French Parliament under the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (France), Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known ...

, there were two French Lebanese deputies for the 2007-2012 mandate,

Henri Jibrayel Henri Jibrayel (; born on in Marseille) is a French politician with Lebanon, Lebanese and Assyrian people, Assyrian roots. His father was an Assyrians in Turkey, Assyrian survivor of the Assyrian genocide, that took place in present-day Turkey ...

(member of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

) and

Élie Aboud Élie Aboud (; born 12 October 1959 in Beirut, Lebanon) is a French-Lebanese politician and doctor. As a member of the National Assembly of France, he represents the 6th circonscription of the Hérault department, and is a member of the Les Re ...

(born in Beirut in 1959, member of the

Union for a Popular Movement The Union for a Popular Movement ( ; UMP ) was a Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative List of political parties in France, political party in France, largely inspired by the Gaullism, Gaullist tradition. During its existence, the UMP was o ...

). In the 2007-2012 Union for a Popular Movement governments, there was a French Lebanese member,

Éric Besson Éric Besson (born 2 April 1958 in Marrakesh) is a French politician and businessman. From 2009 to 2010, he was the Minister of Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Co-Development in the government of François Fillon. He left the Soc ...

, whose mother is Lebanese.

References

{{Demographics of Lebanon

Ethnic groups in Lebanon

History

Political representation

French Lebanese in France

See also

References