french: Gouvernorat de l'Akkar , settlement_type =

Governorate A governorate is an administrative division of a state. It is headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either State (administrative division), states or province, provinces, the term ''govern ...

, image_skyline = Berkayl.jpg , image_caption = Berkayel, Akkar Governorate , image_flag = , image_seal = , image_shield = , image_map = Akkar in Lebanon.svg , map_caption = Location of Akkar Governorate in Lebanon , pushpin_map = , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 =

District A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

, subdivision_name1 =

Akkar District 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 ...

, subdivision_type2 =

Municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

, subdivision_name2 = see

list A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby union ...

, established_title = Gazetted , established_date = 16 July 2003 , seat_type = Capital , seat = Halba , leader_party = , leader_title = Governor , leader_name = Imad Labaki , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = 788 , area_land_km2 = , area_water_km2 = , elevation_footnotes = , elevation_m = , pop_est_footnotes = , population_est = 423596 , pop_est_as_of = 31 December 2017 , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone1 =

EET "Eet" is a song from Regina Spektor's fifth studio album, ''Far (album), Far''. It was released as the album's second official single in October 2009. In Europe it was released as a digital download on November 27, 2009. Music video A Viral vide ...

, utc_offset1 = +2 , timezone1_DST =

EEST Eastern European Summer Time (EEST) is one of the names of the UTC+03:00 time zone, which is 3 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. It is used as a summer daylight saving time in some European and Middle Eastern countries, which makes it ...

, utc_offset1_DST = +3 , postal_code_type = , postal_code = , area_code_type = , area_code = , website = Akkar Governorate ( ar, محافظة عكار) is the northernmost

governorate A governorate is an administrative division of a state. It is headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either State (administrative division), states or province, provinces, the term ''govern ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

. It comprises the single

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

Akkar 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 ...

, which in turn is subdivided into 121 municipalities. The capital is at Halba. It covers an area of and is bounded by the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

to the west,

North Governorate North Governorate ( ar, الشمال, ') (Lebanese pr. ''eš šmél'') (French: Gouvernorat du Liban-Nord) is one of the governorates of Lebanon. Its capital is Tripoli. Ramzi Nohra has been its governor since May 2, 2014. The population of North ...

to the south,

Baalbek-Hermel Governorate french: Baalbek-Hermel , settlement_type = Governorate , image_skyline = Baalbek (4594513263).jpg , image_caption = Baalbek , image_flag = , image_seal = , image_shield = , image ...

to the southeast, and the

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

governorates A governorate is an administrative division of a state. It is headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either State (administrative division), states or province, provinces, the term ''govern ...

Tartus ) , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , imagesize = , image_caption = Tartus corniche Port of Tartus • Tartus beach and boulevard Cathedral of Our Lady of Tortosa • Al-Assad Stadium&n ...

and

Homs Homs ( , , , ; ar, حِمْص / ALA-LC: ; Levantine Arabic: / ''Ḥomṣ'' ), known in pre-Islamic Syria as Emesa ( ; grc, Ἔμεσα, Émesa), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level ...

to the north and northeast. The governorate's western coastal plain constitutes Lebanon's second largest agricultural region after the

Beqaa Valley The Beqaa Valley ( ar, links=no, وادي البقاع, ', Lebanese ), also transliterated as Bekaa, Biqâ, and Becaa and known in classical antiquity as Coele-Syria, is a fertile valley in eastern Lebanon. It is Lebanon's most important ...

, while the east features forested mountains that have been considered for protection as a national park. The

UNHCR The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...

estimated the population of the governorate at 389,899 in 2015, including 106,935 registered refugees of the Syrian Civil War and 19,404

Palestinian refugees Palestinian refugees are citizens of Mandatory Palestine, and their descendants, who fled or were expelled from their country over the course of the 1947–49 Palestine war (1948 Palestinian exodus) and the Six-Day War (1967 Palestinian exodu ...

. The population is predominantly

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 ...

around 70-75% with a minority of

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 ...

and

Alawite The Alawis, Alawites ( ar, علوية ''Alawīyah''), or pejoratively Nusayris ( ar, نصيرية ''Nuṣayrīyah'') are an ethnoreligious group that lives primarily in Levant and follows Alawism, a sect of Islam that originated from Shia Isl ...

communities and very few

Shiites Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most n ...

. Akkar is Lebanon's least urbanized governorate, with 80% of the population living in rural areas. Akkar Governorate was created by the enactment of Law 522 on 16 July 2003, in which Akkar District was separated from

. Implementation of the new region only began in 2014 with the appointment of the first and current governor, Imad Labaki, and remains incomplete . Historically marginalized and neglected by the central government, Akkar is Lebanon's poorest region and has the country's highest illiteracy rate, and suffers from lack of basic infrastructure and services. The recent influx of Syrian refugees has exacerbated these problems, with the unemployment rate in the governorate reaching almost 60% in 2015.

References

Governorates of Lebanon States and territories established in 2003 2003 establishments in Lebanon {{Lebanon-geo-stub