Southern Lebanon () is the area of

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 lie ...

comprising the South Governorate and the

Nabatiye Governorate Nabatieh Governorate ( ar, محافظة النبطية, ') is one of the nine governorates of Lebanon. The area of this governorate is 1,058 km2. The capital is Nabatieh. Districts The governorate is divided into four districts (Aqdiya, singu ...

. The two entities were divided from the same province in the early 1990s. The Rashaya and Western Beqaa Districts, the southernmost districts of the Beqaa Governorate, in Southern Lebanon are sometimes included. The main cities of the region are

Sidon Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast. ...

, Tyre,

Jezzine Jezzine ( ''Jizzīn'') is a town in Lebanon, located from Sidon and south of Beirut. It is the capital of Jezzine District. Surrounded by mountain peaks, pine forests (like the Bkassine Pine Forest), and at an average altitude of 950 m ( ...

and

Nabatiyeh Nabatieh ( ar, النبطية, links=no, ', ), or Nabatîyé (), is the city of the Nabatieh Governorate, in southern Lebanon. The population is not accurately known as no census has been taken in Lebanon since the 1930s; estimates range from ...

. The cazas of Bint Jbeil, Tyre, and Nabatieh in Southern Lebanon are known for their large

Shi'a Muslim 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, mo ...

population with a minority of

Christians 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'' (Χρ� ...

is predominantly

Sunni 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 dis ...

, with the rest of the caza of Sidon having a Shi'a Muslim majority, with a considerable Christian minority, mainly

Melkite Greek Catholic el, Μελχιτική Ελληνική Καθολική Εκκλησία , image = Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Damascus, Syria.jpg , imagewidth = 200px , alt = , caption = , abbreviatio ...

s. The cazas of

and Marjeyoun have a Christian majority and also Shia Muslims. The villages of

Ain Ebel ʿAin Ebel ( ar, عين إبل; Syriac: ), the ancient 'En Bol, is a village located in the Lebanese Upper Galilee in the Caza of Bint Jbeil in the Nabatiye Governorate in Lebanon. Etymology Historian Taissier Khalaf writes that the name of th ...

, Debel,

Qaouzah Qaouzah ( ar, القوزح) is a Lebanese village located in the Caza of Bint Jbeil in the Nabatiye Governorate in Lebanon. Geography Qaouzah occupies a hill with elevation ranging from 700 to 800 meters above sea level. The main agricultural ...

, and

Rmaich Rmeish ( ar, رميش) is located in the District of Bint Jbeil, Lebanon near the Lebanese-Israeli border covering an area of . The ruins found in the village indicate that the area was occupied by the Romans and the Crusaders at some stage in hi ...

are entirely

Christian Maronite The Maronite Church is an Eastern Catholic ''sui iuris'' particular church in full communion with the pope and the worldwide Catholic Church, with self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. The current head of the Maron ...

. The caza of Hasbaya has a

Druze The Druze (; ar, دَرْزِيٌّ, ' or ', , ') are an Arabic-speaking esoteric ethnoreligious group from Western Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion based on the teachings of ...

majority.

History

Free Lebanon State and South Lebanon security belt

Southern Lebanon became the location of the self-proclaimed Free Lebanon State, announced in 1979 by Saad Haddad. The state failed to gain international recognition, and its authority deteriorated with the death of Saad Haddad in 1984. Southern Lebanon has also featured prominently in the Israel-Lebanon conflict.

Ahmadinejad's state visit

In October 2010 Iranian President

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ( fa, محمود احمدی‌نژاد, Mahmūd Ahmadīnežād ), born Mahmoud Sabbaghian ( fa, محمود صباغیان, Mahmoud Sabbāghyān, 28 October 1956),

visited South Lebanon. This was his first visit to Lebanon since he first assumed office in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

in 2005. Both

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

condemned the trip as being "provocative." Ahmadinejad was welcomed by tens of thousands of supporters of

Hezbollah Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's parami ...

, Iran's Shiite Muslim ally in Lebanon which has been branded a terrorist organization in part or whole by much of South America, the EU, the Arab League, the United States and Israel. This is despite its participation in Lebanon's fragile government.

Cities and districts

Aaramta Aaramta (عرمتى) is a village in the Jezzine District in southern Lebanon. History In the 1596 tax records, it was named as a village, Aramta'', in the Ottoman ''nahiya'' (subdistrict) of Sagif under the ''liwa (district) of Safa ...

* Al Rihan * Alma ash-Shab (Aalma ach Chaab) * Abbasieh *

Adlun Aadloun, Adloun or Adlun ( ar, عدلون) is a coastal town in South Lebanon, south of Sidon famous for its cultivation of watermelons. It is also the site of a Phoenician necropolis and prehistoric caves where four archaeological sites hav ...

* Al Mansuri *

Ain Baal Ain Baal ( ar, عين بعال) is a Lebanese village located in the Caza of Tyre in the South Governorate of Lebanon. The municipality is member of Federation of Tyr (Sour) District Municipalities. Origin of name E. H. Palmer wrote that the ...

or Ayn Bal *

Aitaroun Aitaroun (or Aytaroun; ar, عيترون) is a Lebanese village located in the caza of Bint-Jbeil at 33.1156° North, 35.4722° East. It is on the northern border of Israel and 125 km from Beirut. The village's name origin is Itruma, whic ...

or Aytarun * Ansariyeh or Insariye * Ansar * Ash Shawmara * At Tayyabah *

At Tiri :''See Tira for other sites with similar names.'' At Tiri ( ar, الطيري) is a village located in the Caza of Bint Jbeil in the Nabatiye Governorate in Lebanon. It is also the location of two pre-historic archaeological sites. History T ...

Aitit Aitit is a town located in Tyre District, South Lebanon, north of Qana. Aitit's residents are primarily Shiite Muslim. History In the early 1860s Ernest Renan noted: "Its antiquities are a stone with three circles, two with rays, in which are ...

Aynata Aynata ( ar, عيناتا) is a village in Lebanon. It is located in the southern portion of the country. A stronghold for Hezbollah, during the war with Israel in 2006, about 60% of the homes in the town were destroyed. The terrain consists of ...

* Ayta ash Shab (Ayta al-Sha'b, Ayta) * Baraachit * Barish * Bayt Lif * baytulay * Bazouryeh * Beit Yahoun * Bint Jbeil * Blida, Lebanon * Borj el Shamali or Borj Chemali * Borj Qalaouiyeh * Borj Rahal * Boustane * Brashit * Braikeh * Chaqra *

Chtoura Chtaura ( ar, شتورا) is a town in Lebanon in the fertile Beqaa valley located between the Mount Lebanon and Syria. It is located halfway on the Beirut - Damascus highway. It is located from Beirut. Chtaura is the valley's hub for banking, ...

* Deir Kifa * Deyrintar * Dayr Qanunc *

Deir Qanoun En Nahr Deir Qanoun En Nahr ( ar, دير قانون النهر) is a municipality in Southern Lebanon, located in Tyre District, Governorate of South Lebanon. Name According to E. H. Palmer in 1881, Deir Kânûn meant: the convent of the rule (can ...

* Derdghaya * Dibil or Debel * Dibbine *

Doueir Doueir (Arabic: دوير, ''ad-Duwayr''), or Dweir, is a village of 7,500 inhabitants in Southern Lebanon near Nabatieh, and north of the Litani River. It is located directly next to the village of Charkiyeh. Although Doueir is considered a big ...

* Ebel el Saki * El Biyyadah or Al Bayyadah * El Hennyeh or Al Hinniyah * El Mansoun or Al Mansuri * El Qlaile or Al Qulaylah * El Soultaniyeh * Fardis * Frun *

Ghandouriyeh Ghandouriyeh ( ar, غندورية) is a Lebanese municipality located in the Bint Jbeil District, south of Froun. It was formerly known as ''Aidib''. Name In the 1800s, the village was called Aidib, and E. H. Palmer wrote in 1881 that t ...

* Ghaziyeh * Ghassaniyeh * Hadata or Haddathah *

Hanaway Hanaouay, Henawei, ( ar, حانويه) is a village in the Tyre District in Southern Lebanon, located north-west of Qana. Name According to E. H. Palmer, ''Henawei'' means "the little bend". History In the early 1860s, Ernest Renan noted: ...

* Harris or Harres *

Hula Hula () is a Hawaiian dance form accompanied by chant (oli) or song ( mele). It was developed in the Hawaiian Islands by the Native Hawaiians who originally settled there. The hula dramatizes or portrays the words of the oli or mele in a visua ...

or Houla * Hounin *

Jabal Amel Jabal Amil ( ar, جبل عامل, Jabal ʿĀmil), also spelled Jabal Amel and historically known as Jabal Amila, is a cultural and geographic region in Southern Lebanon largely associated with its long-established, predominantly Twelver Shia Musl ...

Jarjouh Jarjouh is a village in Lebanon, located in the Nabatieh District, Nabatieh Governorate. between the villages of Houmin Al Fawqa, Arabsalim, Jbaa, Ain Bouswar, Alwayizeh, Soujod, Ain Qana. The village sits on the shoulder of Mleeta hills, with Oa ...

* Jarmaq * jebchet * Jmaijmah * Joiya or Jouaya or Jwayya * Qabrikha or Kabrikha * Kaakaeit al-Jesser *

Kafra, Lebanon Kafra ( ar, كفرا), is a village in Nabatiye Governorate, in the Bint Jbeil District of southern Lebanon, about from Beirut. The village is located in the south-western outskirts of the town of Tebnine, in the heart of the Lebanese Shia Mu ...

Kafr Dunin Kfar Dunin ( ar, كفردونين) is a village in Lebanon, 102 km from the capital Beirut and 580 m from sea coast remote. Adjacent villages: Deir Kifa, Alkaline, Khirbat Silm, Der Ntar. It is considered first of villages in Bent Jb ...

* Kafr Kila *

Kawkaba Kawkaba (), known to the Crusaders as Coquebel, was a Palestinian Arab village that was occupied by Israel during Operation Yoav during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and depopulated. Location The village was situated on an uneven stretch of red-br ...

or Kaoukaba * Kfar Melki * Kafarrouman *

Khirbet Selm Kherbet Selm ( ar, خربة سلم) is a village in southern Lebanon. The municipality of Khirbet Selm is located in the Kaza of Bent Jbayl, one of the eight mohafazats (governorates) of Lebanon. Khirbet Selm is 104 kilometers (64.6256 mi) ...

* Khiam * Kfarchouba *

Kfarfila Kfar Fila ( ar, كفرفيلا), is a town in the Nabatieh Governorate, ( ar, links=no, النبطية) al-Nabatiya, or Nabatiye southern Lebanon. It is one of the 243 towns of Nabatieh Governorate, situated at the northern region of this distric ...

* Kfarhamam * Kfar Tebnit * Kounin * Maachouq *

Mahrouna Mahrouna ( ar, محرونة) is a small agribusiness town located in the south of Lebanon. It is situated at a distance of 100 kilometres from Beirut, the capital, and 18 kilometres to the southeast of the city of Tyre, Lebanon, Tyre. Mahrouna s ...

* Majdel Balhis *

Majdel Selm Majdal Selem, or Mejdel Islim and Majdal Zun, ( ar, مجدل سلم) is a village the Marjeyoun District in Southern Lebanon. Name According to E. H. Palmer, the name ''Mejdel Islim'' means ''Islim’s watch-tower'', p.n. Majdel Selem means ...

or Majdal Zun * Marakeh *

Marjayoun Marjayoun ( ar, مرج عيون: Lebanese pronunciation), also Marj 'Ayoun, Marjuyun or Marjeyoun (lit. "meadow of springs") and Jdeideh / Jdeida / Jdeidet Marjeyoun, is a Lebanese town and an administrative district, the Marjeyoun District, in ...

—a Lebanese Christian village * Markaba (Marqaba) * Maroun al-Ras *

Marwahin Marwahin ( ar, مروحين; ''Marwāḩīn'') is a town in Lebanon, on its border with Israel. A group of 23 residents, mostly children, were killed by Israel during the 2006 Lebanon War while attempting to evacuate under Israeli orders. Name A ...

* Maaroub * Mayfadoun * Meiss el Jabal or

Mays al Jabal Meiss Ej Jabal ( ar, ميس الجبل ) is a village in the Marjeyoun District in Lebanon. Name According to E. H. Palmer, the name ''Meis'' comes from the name of a tree. Location The municipality of Meiss Ej Jabal is located in the Kaz ...

Mlikh Mlikh () is a mountain village in the Jezzine district, located in the South Governorate in Southern Lebanon. It lies on the Al Rihan mountain chain (around 4,000-7,000 feet above sea level, Mlikh is located at around 1,280 meters and higher at o ...

* Miye ou Miye * Maghdouche *

Nabatiye Nabatieh ( ar, النبطية, links=no, ', ), or Nabatîyé (), is the city of the Nabatieh Governorate, in southern Lebanon. The population is not accurately known as no census has been taken in Lebanon since the 1930s; estimates range from ...

* Naqoura (Nakoura, An-Naqurah) * Niha * Nmairiyeh * Odaisseh * Oum el Ahmad * Qlayaa * Qana * Qantara * Rab El Thalathine * Rachaf—a small town * Rachaya El Foukhar—Hasbaya Qaza * Ramyah * Ras Al-Biyada *

* Rmadyeh * Roûm * Selaa * Shabriha *

Shebaa Shebaa (), also transliterated as Chebaa. is a town on the south-eastern tip of Lebanon. It has a largely Sunni Muslim population of 25,000 people. It is situated at an altitude of approximately above sea level; spread across two steep rocky mou ...

and Shebaa Farms (ownership disputed, occupied by Israel since 1967) * Shihin, Lebanon * Shhur * Siddiqine *

or Saida * Sir el Gharbiyeh *

Srifa Srifa ( ar, صريفا) is a town in Southern Lebanon, located in Tyre District, Governorate of South Lebanon. It is located 22 kilometres east of the city Tyros and 90 kilometers south of the capital Beirut. It is the birthplace of Rima Fakih, ...

* Sujod * As-Sultaniyah * Tallousa * Tair Debbe * Tayr Harfa or Tair Harfa * Tayr Falsayh * Taibeh * Tebnine (Tebnine, Tibneen), site of the former

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

town Toron * Tulin, Lebanon (Toulin) * Tura * Tyre or Sur * Saida district *

district * Tyre district * Wadi al-Taym *

Yarin Yarine ( ar, يارين) is a village in the Tyre District in South Lebanon, located 19 kilometres south of Tyre. The people of the village are Sunni Muslims. Name According to E. H. Palmer in 1881, the name ''Kh. Yarin'' comes from "the ruin of ...

* Yaroun or Yarun * Yahun * Yater or Yatar * Zibdine * Zibqin

Other notable sites

* Abou Assouad River * Awali River * El Zahrani River * Litani River * Saitaniq River * Kasmieh River *

Blue Line (Lebanon) The Blue Line is a demarcation line between Lebanon and Israel and Lebanon and the Golan Heights published by the United Nations on 7 June 2000 for the purposes of determining whether Israel had fully withdrawn from Lebanon. It has been describe ...

* Beaufort Castle *

Palestinian refugee camps Camps are set up by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to accommodate Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA, who fled or were expelled during the 1948 Palestinian e ...

in Lebanon, including

Ain al-Hilweh Ain al-Hilweh ( ar, عين الحلوة, lit. meaning "sweet natural spring"), also spelled as Ayn al-Hilweh and Ein al-Hilweh, is the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon. It had a population of over 70,000 Palestinian refugees but swell ...

, Nabatieh camp and

Wavel Wavel ( ar, وافل) is a Palestinian refugee camp near the city of Baalbeck in Lebanon. It was originally a French army barrack, but in 1948 refugees from the 1948 Arab-Israeli war found shelter there. In 1952, UNRWA took over responsibility for ...

Ras al-Ain, Lebanon Ras el Ain ( ar, راس العين) (Lit. Fountain-head; The head of the Spring) is a place abounding with immense fountains, with reservoirs and aqueducts south of Tyre, and ca. south of Beirut, in the South Governorate (Liban-Sud), in the mun ...

References

External links

South Lebanon Website
{{Coord missing, Lebanon Regions of Lebanon Geography of Lebanon Israeli–Lebanese conflict 2006 Lebanon War