20120301

Ethnic background is an important factor in Lebanon. The country encompasses a great mix of cultural, religious, and ethnic groups which have been building up for more than 6,000 years. Although most of the population is today considered Arab, in the sense that Arabic is the national language, the ethnic self-designation vary. The majority of the Maronite population is non-Arab in terms of ancestry. The predominant cultural backgrounds and ancestry of the Lebanese vary from Aramean (Syriac) to Canaanite (Phoenician), and Greek (Byzantine). The question of ethnic identity has come to revolve more around aspects of cultural self-identification more than descent. Religious affiliation has also become a substitute in some respects for ethnic affiliation. Generally it can be said that all religious sects and denominations comprise many different ethnic backgrounds, and that clear ethnic boundaries are difficult to define.

Still, religious and ethnic distinctions sometimes coincide, since religious sects and denominations have tended to marry within their own group, thus preserving not only religious but ethnic characteristics.
The Maronite Christians, are a part of the Aramean people and belongs to the West Syriac Rite. Their liturgical language is the Aramaic language.