More than 174,000 Palestinian refugees live in Lebanon, authorities announced Thursday, in the first-ever census of its kind for a country where demographics have long been a sensitive subject. The census was carried out by the government's Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee in 12 Palestinian camps as well as 156 informal "gatherings" across the country.
The result of 174,422 Palestinian refugees is much lower than previous estimates of up to 500,000. Palestinians began taking refuge in Lebanon with the creation of Israel in 1948, setting up camps that have since transformed into bustling, urban districts.
But their presence has long been a controversial in Lebanon, with many blaming it for the eruption of the bitter war that ravaged the country between 1975 and 1990. Lebanon has not carried out a census of its own citizens since 1932, making the 2017 count even more remarkable.
It sheds light on the living conditions of 174,422 Palestinian refugees, as well as another 18,601 Palestinians who fled the neighbouring conflict in Syria to camps in Lebanon. It found the population split evenly between men and women, but nearly half of the total are 24 or younger.
Around 7.2 percent are illiterate, but an impressive 93.6 percent of children aged between three to 13 were enrolled in schools. Around 18 percent of the workforce is unemployed.
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