Akkar District ( ar, قضاء عكار) is the only district in
Akkar Governorate,
Lebanon. It is coextensive with the governorate and covers an area of . The
UNHCR estimated the population of the district to be 389,899 in 2015, including 106,935 registered refugees of the
Syrian Civil War and 19,404
Palestinian refugees.
[ The capital is at Halba.
The district is characterized by the presence of a relatively large coastal plain, with high mountains to the east. The largest cities in Akkar are Halba, ]Bire Akkar
Bire Akkar ( ar, (بيرة (عكار)) ) is a small town in Akkar Governorate, Lebanon, close to the border with Syria.
The population in Bire Akkar is mainly Sunni Muslims. History
In 1838, Eli Smith noted the village, whose inhabitan ...
and Al-Qoubaiyat
Al Qoubaiyat, Koubeiyat, Kobayat or Qoubayat ( ar, ٱلْقُبَيَّات) is the biggest Christian village in the Akkar Governorate, Lebanon. Its population is mostly composed of Maronites numbering around 12,000 persons according to the civil ...
.
Akkar has many important Roman and Arabic archaeological sites. One of the most famous archaeological sites and the birthplace of the Roman emperor Severus Alexander (d.235) is the Tell of Arqa near the town of Miniara. Several prehistoric sites were found in the Akkar plain foothills that were suggested to have been used by the Heavy Neolithic Qaraoun culture at the dawn of the Neolithic Revolution
The Neolithic Revolution, or the (First) Agricultural Revolution, was the wide-scale transition of many human cultures during the Neolithic period from a lifestyle of hunting and gathering to one of agriculture and settlement, making an incre ...
.
History
2021 Akkar explosion
At least 33 people were killed by a fuel tanker explosion in Tleil, Akkar District, Lebanon on 15 August 2021. The disaster was reportedly exacerbated by the ongoing Lebanese liquidity crisis; in which the Lebanese pound has plummeted and fuel ha ...
killed dozens of people.
Geography
Akkar is divided into the following regions:
* Al-Jouma: represents multiple villages connected to each other by a network of roads, and is located around fertile land that enable it to adopt greenhouse and fruit crops.
* Najd Akkar: It is divided into three sub-regions according to the geographical situation that makes the crops change according to the height and irrigation: Al-Shafat, Al-Dreib Al-Awsat, Al-Dreib Al-A'la
* The plateaus where the al-Qayt'a region is.
* Jarad Akkar: It occupies an area in the east of the entire region, starting from the borders of the Akkar governorate to Abu Musa River in the south to the Syrian border in the north, and it consists of the following villages.
* The plain: in itself it is the source of agricultural wealth, where its inhabitants live from the land, and 6% of the properties include half of the lands.
Demographics
The majority of the residents in the Akkar District is composed by a majority of Sunni Muslim
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word ''Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagree ...
s, followed by a large minority of Greek Orthodox Christians. Maronites are the second largest Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
denomination, and have typically lived around the city of Al-Qoubaiyat. Melkite Christians
The term Melkite (), also written Melchite, refers to various Eastern Christian churches of the Byzantine Rite and their members originating in the Middle East. The term comes from the common Central Semitic root ''m-l-k'', meaning "royal", an ...
are also present in small numbers in the region.
This region is also home to the largest population of Alawites in Lebanon.
Turkish people form a majority in Kouachra and Aydamun.
References
{{Akkar District
Districts of Lebanon