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Mount Lebanon Governorate

Arabic: محافظة جبل لبنان
Mount Lebanon Governorate Arabic: محافظة جبل لبنان
	The governorates of Lebanon, including Mount Lebanon (in pink, labelled 6)
	Coordinates: 33°50′N 35°32′E / 33.833°N 35.533°E
Country	Lebanon
Capital	Baabda
Government
• Governor	Charbel Tabet
Area
• Total	1,238 km2 (478 sq mi)
Population
• Estimate (31 December 2017)	1,520,016
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
ISO 3166 code	LB-JL

Mount Lebanon Governorate (Arabic: محافظة جبل لبنان) is one of the nine governorates of Lebanon, of which it is the most populous. Its capital is Baabda. Other notable towns and cities include Aley, Bikfaya, and Beit Mery.

This governorate is named after the mountainous region of Mount Lebanon and, except for the small Beirut Governorate which it surrounds, spans the stretch of the Mediterranean coast between Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate and South Governorate.

Geography

The Governorate of Mount Lebanon (except the area around Beirut) extends along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders the Northern Governorate in the northern part and the Southern Governorate in the southern part. On the eastern side, it borders the governorates of Bekaa and Baalbek-Hermel.

The governorate's altitude ranges from zero to 3,000 meters above sea level. It has diverse geographical features, including urban areas, mixed rural areas and natural areas. It is crossed by 5 rivers (Nahr El Kalb, Nahr Beirut, Damour, Awali River and Nahr Ibrahim) and includes the Shabrouh Dam with a capacity of 8 million cubic meters of water.

Districts

The governorate is divided into four districts (aqḍiyah, singular qaḍāʼ):

District	Arabic name	Capital
Aley	قضاء عاليه	Aley
Baabda	قضاء بعبدا	Baabda
Chouf	قضاء الشوف	Beiteddine
Matn	قضاء المتن	Jdeideh

The districts of Jbeil and Keserwan were part of Mount Lebanon Governorate until 7 September 2017, when they were separated to form Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate.^[3]^[4]

Demographics

Mount Lebanon has a Christian majority^[5]^[6] with the presence of other religious groups such as Druze and Muslims. Maronites live in the Metn and Baabda districts (other Christian denominations such as Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, and Greek Catholics make up the rest of the population alongside Muslims). The Druze are the majority in the Aley district and a plurality in the Chouf district (nearly equal in numbers with Sunni Muslims and Christians).^[7] Shia minorities live in the Coast areas of Baabda District like Borj Al Barajneh, Haret Hreik, Ghobeiry and Chiyah.^[8]

There are no accurate statistics, but according to the number of registered voters in 2005, the percentage of Christians is 65.8%, followed by Druze with 15.43%, then Sunnis with 8.23%, followed by Shiites with 7.76%.^[9]

The Christian and Druze communities have a long history of interaction dating back roughly a millennium, particularly in Mount Lebanon.^[10] Over the centuries, they have peacefully interacted and lived together, sharing common social and cultural landscapes, although occasional exceptions have occurred. This interaction been marked by shared economic activities, cultural exchange, and even political alliances in some cases.^[11] The two communities lived among each other and interacted socially on an everyday basis. The close bonds between Christian and Druze neighbors led to Christian communities thriving in some Druze towns.^[12]

Economy

The economy of Mount Lebanon Governorate depended mainly on industrial activities.^[when?]cn The Governorate includes the highest percentage of industrial establishments in Lebanon (about 58% of the total Lebanese industrial establishments). Most of these establishments work in the food industries sector (17.93%), thus representing 34% of the total number of companies engaged in food industries. This sector is followed by paper and printing companies, which constitute 13.15% of the industrial establishments in Mount Lebanon. There are more than 12 industrial zones in Mount Lebanon, near the port of Beirut.^{[citation needed]}

The Governorate of Mount Lebanon includes five tourist sites out of the nine most attractive sites for tourists. It also includes 260 hotels, which is the highest percentage among the governorates, with the exception of Beirut.^{[citation needed]}

References

^ Law, Gwillim. "Lebanon Provinces". Statoids. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
^ Brinkhoff, Thomas (2 March 2019). "Lebanon: Administrative Division". City Population. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
^ "Le découpage administratif du Liban en 2017" (in French). Localiban. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
^ "إنشاء محافظة جديدة في جبل لبنان باسم "كسروان الفتوح وجبيل"" (in Arabic). Legal Informatics Center, Lebanese University. 7 September 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
^ "Dividing Up The Middle East - The Creation of Lebanon". RTH - Real Time History GmbH. Retrieved 2022-08-14.
^ "Population of Lebanon". Fanack.com. Retrieved 2022-08-14.
^ Barakat, Halim (2011). Lebanon in Strife: Student Preludes to the Civil War. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-73981-9. the Druzes make up almost half the district, of Aley, one third of Rashaya, and more than a quarter of Shuf and Matn...
^ "Mapping Lebanon: Data and statistics". L'Orient-Le Jour. 2022-05-10. Retrieved 2022-07-08.
^ "The mountain electoral battle sums up Lebanese politics". Al Jazeera. 2016-11-16.
^ Mackey, Sandra (2006). Lebanon: A House Divided. W. W. Norton. p. 62. ISBN 9780393352764.
^ Hitti, Philip (2010). Lebanon in History: From the Earliest Times to the Present. University of Michigan Press. p. 408-410. ISBN 9789004129382.
^ Hitti, Philip (2010). Lebanon in History: From the Earliest Times to the Present. University of Michigan Press. p. 408-410. ISBN 9789004129382.