While both Lebanon and Syria were under Ottoman rule until 1918,[10] what was then known as Mount Lebanon became home to Maronite Christian and Druze minorities who immigrated from all over the region, including modern day Syria.[11] These religious differences, as well as the relative isolation due to the mountainous terrain, accompanied with the fact that Mount Lebanon maintained a self-governing status in the Ottoman empire, were some of the main factors that led to the division of the two countries under the French Mandate from 1923, following a period of uncertainty in the region.[11]