Beirut (, ),(Greek:????????), is the capital, largest city, and chief seaport of Lebanon. It is sometimes referred to by its French name, Beyrouth. There are wide-ranging estimates of Beirut's population, from as low as 938,940 people,[LINK: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/DYB2003/Table08.pdf] United Nations: "Demographic Yearbook 2003", page 53, 2003 to 1,303,129 people,[LINK: http://www.moe.gov.lb/NR/rdonlyres/2B3E4CAE-BD18-4106-A6B3-F42DDD72AAC9/0/Chap1Population.pdf] Lebanese Ministry of Environment: "Lebanon State of the Environment Report", Chapter 1, page 11, 2001. to as high as 2,012,000.[LINK: http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Asia-and-Oceania/Lebanon-POPULATION.html] Encyclopedia of the Nations The lack of an exact figure is due to the fact that no "comprehensiv