1920: Lebanon is placed under a League of Nations mandate after having been under French control since the First World War. Before that, it had been ruled by the Ottoman Empire since the 16th Century.
1926: The Lebanese constitution is drawn up and the Lebanese Republic is declared.
1941: Lebanon is occupied by Free French and British forces and the independence movement begins.
1943: France agrees to transfer power to the Lebanese government, although French troops do not leave until 1946.
1948: A wave of Palestinian refugees come to Lebanon following the Arab-Israeli war and the establishment of Israel.
1958: About 5,000 US marines are sent to Lebanon to after an appeal from the government to help control an uprising.
1967: A second wave of Palestinians come to Lebanon after the outbreak of the Six-Day War. Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Liberation Organisation uses the country as a base for attacks on Israel.
1968: Israel attacks Beirut airport, destroying 13 Arab airliners, in retaliation for what it claims is Lebanese support for Palestinian terrorists. Regular Israeli attacks on Lebanon continue for the next six years.
1975: Civil war begins when tensions between Muslims and Christians boil over into violence. On April 13, four people are killed when gunmen fire on a church in a Christian suburb of east Beirut and, later that day, 27 Palestinians die when a bus is ambushed.
1976: After fighting spreads throughout the country, President Suleiman Franjieh calls in Syrian troops. The Syrians side with the Maronites and attempt to control the Palestinians. Later that year, an Arab summit in Riyadh sets up the Syrian-led Arab Deterrent Force to maintain peace between the Muslim and Christian forces.
1978: After the PLO attacks an Israeli bus, killing 34, Israel invades and occupies southern Lebanon, resulting in about 2,000 deaths and the evacuation of 100,000 Lebanese. The UN Security Council calls on Israel to withdraw and sets up the UN Interim Force in Lebanon to monitor withdrawal. Instead Israel hands power to the Christian militia and continues to support their efforts in the civil war.
1981: America negotiates a ceasefire between Israel and the PLO but it only applies to Lebanon and PLO rocket attacks on Israel continue from Jordan and the West Bank. Israeli defence minister Ariel Sharon draws up plans for a new invasion of Lebanon, this time the plan is to take Beirut and destroy PLO bases there.
1982: Israel launches air raids on Beirut following the attempted assassination of Israeli ambassador Shlomo Argov in London, despite the international community's doubts that the PLO was involved. The PLO launches counter-attacks from southern Lebanon, prompting the UN Security Council to issue a resolution calling on all sides to adopt a ceasefire. The following day, Israel invades Lebanon.
In September, Bashir Gemayel, the Israeli-backed president-elect, is assassinated prompting Israeli forces to push into west Beirut, where the Christian militia massacres about 800 Muslims. Later that month a mainly US, French and Italian peacekeeping force, requested by Lebanon, arrives in Beirut.
1983: Israel agrees to withdraw from Lebanon on condition that Syria does the same but Damascus refuses. Eventually Israeli forces withdraw to the southern buffer zone, where they will remain, in contravention of UN resolution 425, for 17 years. Ariel Sharon resigns after an inquiry finds him indirectly responsible for the massacre of Muslims in Beirut. In late 1983, 241 US marines and 56 French paratroopers are killed in two bomb explosions in Beirut, responsibility for which is claimed by two militant Shia groups.
1984: US marines leave Lebanon and factional conflict worsens over the next five years.
1986: British journalist John McCarthy was taken hostage by Islamic Jihad. He was held for five years.
1987: Rashid Karami, prime minister, is assassinated and Salim al-Huss becomes acting PM. Church of England envoy Terry Waite is taken hostage in Beirut by Shia Muslims - he is not released until 1991.
1988: With no candidate chosen to replace him, President Amine Gemayel, (older brother of Bashir Gemayel) appoints a military government, led by Gen Michel Aoun, commander of the army. Lebanon effectively has two governments - Aoun's Israeli-backed military government in west Beirut and Huss's Syrian-backed civilian government in east Beirut.
1989: Aoun launches his War of Liberation against Syrian occupation and rival militia. The Taif Agreement is negotiated, marking the first steps in the ending of the civil war.
Rene Mouawad is elected president but is replaced by Elias Hrawi after his assassination.
1990: Syrian forces defeat Aoun, forcing him to take refuge in the French embassy in Beirut.
1991: All militias are dissolved, with the exception of Hizbollah. The Lebanese army defeats the PLO in Sidon, in the south of the country. An amnesty is granted for certain crimes committed during the civil war and Aoun is allowed to leave for France after receiving a pardon.
1992: Rafik al-Hariri becomes prime minister for the first time.
1993: In an attempt to combat Hizbollah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC), Israel launches its heaviest attack on southern Lebanon since 1982.
1996: Israel launches a two-week offensive aimed at Hizbollah positions in southern Lebanon. The offensive ends when America negotiates an "understanding" under which Hizbollah and Palestinian guerillas agree not to attack civilians in northern Israel. But the deal also recognises Hizbollah's right to resist Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon.
1998: Gen Emile Lahoud, a pro-Syria candidate, is elected president. Hariri resigns as prime minister, to be replaced by Salim al-Huss.
2000: Israel releases 13 Lebanese prisoners held without trial for more than 10 years and withdraws its troops from southern Lebanon after a 17 year occupation. In October, Hariri returns as prime minister.
2002: Elie Hobeika, who led the Christian militia behind the massacre of Palestinians in 1982, is killed by a car bomb, shortly after claiming he possessed documents that challenged Israel's account of the massacre.
2004: UN Security Council adopts a resolution calling for foreign troops to leave Lebanon. Hariri resigns after parliament votes to extend Lahoud's term as president by three years.
2005: Hariri is killed in a car bomb in Beirut leading to massive popular demonstrations that eventually force the resignation of the government and increasing international pressure on Syria to withdraw its troops. Syria agrees to a two-part withdrawal, with the first stage to be completed by April.
An anti-Syrian alliance led by Saad Hariri, son of the murdered former prime minister, wins a majority in the first parliamentary elections free of Syrian involvement for 30 years. Celebrations are dampened by the assassination one of Syria's most outspoken critics, and Lebanon's nascent democracy is threatened by a tit-for-tat bombing campaign.