Lebanon: Some Interesting Facts

Public Holidays

Date 2005 Occasion
January 1 New Year's Day  
January 6 Christmas (Armenian community holiday, not general)  
January 7 Christmas (Orthodox old calendar community holiday, not general)  
January 21 Eid ul Adha
February 9 St Maron's Day
Februry 10 Islamic New Year
March 25 Good Friday
March 28 Easter Monday
April 21 Prophet's Anniversary
May 1 Labour Day
May 6 Martyrs' Day
August 15 Assumption of the Virgin Mary
November 1 All Saints Day
November 22 Independence Day
December 25 Christmas Day  
December 31 Evacuation Day

Weekend - The Christian communities and some Muslim areas (mainly in downtown Beirut) observe Saturday and Sunday weekends. Some Sunni, most Druze and almost all the Shi'a communities observe Thursday and Friday. Government offices in Beirut close on Saturday afternoon and Sunday all day. Banks are closed on Sunday. Shops are often open 7 days a week.

Customs

Visitors can bring in either, 400 cigarettes or one bottle of liquor, or 200 cigarettes and two bottles of liquor. There are no restrictions on the import and export of local or foreign currencies.

Electricity

Visitors can bring in either, 400 cigarettes or one bottle of liquor, or 200 cigarettes and two bottles of liquor. There are no restrictions on the import and export of local or foreign currencies.

Post & Communications

Though the main GPO is in Downtown Beirut, and out of the way, there are smaller post offices in other places, one of the most efficient being the post office of the American University of Beirut (AUB). Post offices are open Monday to Saturday from 8 am to 1.30 pm. Though slow, the Lebanese postal service is reliable. You can only send letters from a post office. Receiving mail takes a very long time. There are no post restante facilities. Fax and Telegraph can be sent from large hotels and from many private bureaus in Beirut. There are several around American University Campus.

Public phone service is not common, though private phone service is widely available. Most people in Beirut use cellular phones and if you take a GSM mobile there are a couple of networks here. There is a government run telephone, near the office of the Ministry of Tourism, from where you can make both local and international calls.