<P> Some Lebanese Christians particularly Maronites, identify themselves as Lebanese rather than Arab, seeking to draw "on the Phoenician past to try to forge an identity separate from the prevailing Arab culture". They argue that Arabization merely represented a shift to the Arabic language as the vernacular of the Lebanese people, and that, according to them, no actual shift of ethnic identity, much less ancestral origins, occurred . with their own histories and lore, and that therefore they do not belong to the one pan-Arab ethnicity, and thus such categorisation is erred or inapplicable . Certain portions of Lebanon's Christian population in particular tend to stress aspects of Lebanon's non-Arab prior history to encompass all Lebanon's historical stages, instead of considering the beginning of Lebanese history being with the Arab conquests . </P> <P> In light of this "old controversy about identity", some Lebanese prefer to see Lebanon, Lebanese culture and themselves as part of "Mediterranean" and "Levantine" civilization, in a concession to Lebanon's various layers of heritage, both indigenous, foreign non-Arab, and Arab . Arab influence, nevertheless, applies to virtually all aspects of the modern Lebanese culture . </P> <P> The total population of Lebanese people is estimated at 13 - 18 million . Of these, the vast majority, or 8.6 - 14 million, are in the Lebanese diaspora (outside of Lebanon), and approximately 4.3 million in Lebanon itself . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Th_colspan="5"> Ethnic Groups in Lebanon </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Ethnicity </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> Percent </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Arabs </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td_colspan="2"> 95% </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Armenians </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td_colspan="2"> 4% </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Various other ethnicities: Mideast (Kurds, Turks, Assyrians, Iranians), Europeans (Greeks, Italians, French) and others </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td_colspan="2"> 1% </Td> </Tr> </Table>

How many lebanese are there in the world