digifyworld
🇱🇧
Languages

Languages of Lebanon

BeirutLocal time

Languages, writing systems and language context

لبنان
COUNTRY LANGUAGE PROFILE
العربية
Arabic
Text direction: RTL

Arabic is Lebanon's official national language. The Constitution provides that a law determines the cases in which French may be used, so French is not presented as a co-equal nationwide core language.

1
Core language shown
Country-level reference set
Arabic
First listed core language
Not a speaker-share estimate
1
Writing system represented
Across the core language set
RTL
Primary text direction
Additional directions noted below

Language Overview

Arabic

Read the Characters

Arabic · 28 characters

Arabic · 28 characters
ا
a
ب
b
ت
t
ث
th
ج
j
ح
خ
kh
د
d
ذ
dh
ر
r
ز
z
س
s
ش
sh
ص
ض
ط
ظ
ع
ʿ
غ
gh
ف
f
ق
q
ك
k
ل
l
م
m
ن
n
ه
h
و
w
ي
y

How to Read the Language Landscape

PolicyLegal and administrative language status may differ between national and subnational government.
Everyday useA language can be socially dominant without being the only language used at home, school, work or in media.
Community diversityIndigenous, minority, migrant and sign languages can remain important even when they are not part of a short national headline list.

Frequently Asked Questions

What languages are used in Lebanon?

Arabic is Lebanon's official national language. The Constitution provides that a law determines the cases in which French may be used, so French is not presented as a co-equal nationwide core language.

What writing systems are used in Lebanon?

The represented writing system is Arabic and the primary direction shown is right to left.

Sources & methodology

View sources used for this page
Presidency of Lebanon: Lebanese Constitution, Article 11

Primary constitutional source stating that Arabic is the official national language and that a law determines the cases in which French may be used.

Unicode CLDR: Country/Region Names

Localized country display-name reference. CLDR names are customary UI/display names, not claims about a state’s full constitutional long-form name.

Unicode: Supported Scripts

Reference for the writing-system/script families represented in the character component.

Unicode: Writing Direction and Bidirectional Text

Reference for left-to-right and right-to-left script direction and bidirectional text behavior.

Unicode Character Database: NamesList

Reference for Unicode character names used as small readout labels under selected character samples; these labels are not presented as a complete transliteration standard.