other · Anatolia and the Levant
Greater Lebanon
Origins
On 1 September 1920 General Henri Gouraud proclaimed the State of Greater Lebanon in Beirut. Responding to the wishes of the Maronite Patriarch Elias Hoayek and others, France added Beirut, Tripoli, Sidon, Tyre and the Beqaa Valley to the former Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate.
Rule and society
The state was administered by French governors under the high commissioner, with an elected representative council from 1922 organised on confessional lines. The enlargement made it economically viable but brought in large Sunni and Shia populations, many of whom wanted union with Syria. Beirut became the seat of the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon.
Decline and legacy
In May 1926 a constitution was adopted that turned the state into the Lebanese Republic, with Charles Debbas as its first president.
Lineage
On the connections map
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- Greater Lebanon was part of French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon1920 CE – 1926 CE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Greater Lebanon. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/greater-lebanon
- MLA
- “Greater Lebanon.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/greater-lebanon. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Greater Lebanon.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/greater-lebanon.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Greater Lebanon’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/greater-lebanon (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻