Maronites are a 'Pre-Arab' Semitic Christian ethnoreligious group in the Levant that has been historically tied with Lebanon.

They derive their name from the Syriac saint Mar Maron, whose followers moved to Mount Lebanon from northern Syria establishing the Maronite Church.

The Maronite are able to maintain an independent status in Lebanon after the Arab Islamic conquest, maintaining their religion and language until the 13th century.

he Ottoman Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate and later the Republic of Lebanon are created under the auspice of European powers with the Maronites as their main ethnic component.

Mass immigration to the Americas at the wake of the 20th century and the Lebanese Civil War decreases their numbers greatly in the Levant.

The Maronites form today less than one quarter of the total population of Lebanon.