Beirut is a city defined not by its economy but by its religious, social and ethnic lines. A blend of Arab and European influences seeping in its roots, the city currently suffers from the sordid realities of poverty and warfare. Around its historic core, areas of poverty have swelled like cancerous cells, multiplying and affecting the city and its suburbs. The city's organization is chaotic, with residential and commercial areas intermingled, with high-rise buildings next to tenement slums. But, in spite of these unwelcome aspects of the city life, the warmth of its pulsating nightlife makes the city truly extraordinary.
Today, the southern area of Beirut is dotted with lots of refugee camps mass housing for Lebanese Shiite Muslims and Palestinians. This combination of ethnic and religious groups and their spatial distribution has contributed to the violence widespread in Lebanon. It somehow mirrors the sorrow and displacement of a city tormented and divided by war.
On the city's northern edge, the port area dominates the life of that part of the city while the important tourist facilities and institutions including many of the city's hotels and foreign embassies and the American University of Beirut are located along the shore on the Avenue de Paris. The Avenue de Paris forms part of the corniche, a wide boulevard that continues south along the Mediterranean and encircles much of the city. Avenue de l'Aéroport, a major thoroughfare, runs from the port area to the Beirut International Airport at the city's center.