Baabda District
District
بعبدا
Baabda District
Location in Lebanon
Country	Lebanon
Governorate	Mount Lebanon Governorate
Capital	Baabda
Area
• Total	75 sq mi (194 km2)
Population
• Estimate  (31 December 2017)	568,714
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)

Baabda District (Arabic: قضاء بعبدا, transliteration: Qada' Baabda), sometimes spelled B'abda, is a district (qadaa) of Mount Lebanon Governorate, Lebanon, to the south and east of the Lebanon's capital Beirut. The region is also popularly known as "Southern Matn District" (المتن الجنوبي, transliteration: al-Matn al-Janoubi), as distinct from Northern Matn District, (المتن الشمالي; transliteration: al-Matn ash-Shimali). The capital of Baabda District is the city of Baabda.

Demographics

The inhabitants of the Baabda district are mainly Maronite Catholics, Shi'a Muslims and Druze. The Maronites are the largest group, followed by Shia and Druze. However, Sunni Muslims, Melkite Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians also inhabit the area. It is important to note that Shiite Muslims in the Baabda district mostly inhabit the coastal area of the district which lies directly south of Beirut. This area is also known as "Dahieh" or the southern suburbs of Beirut. The Druze on the other hand, live in the mountainous area further inland.

As of the 2005 elections, Baabda has six seats allocated to it in the Lebanese Parliament. Three of these seats are allocated to Maronite Catholics, while two are allocated to the Shi'a Muslims and one to the Druze.

Environment and archaeology

Baabda District is the source of amber sites dating from 120 million years ago that have uncovered among the oldest lizards including the Baabdasaurus, and also many insects.

Cities and towns

• Abadieh
• Ain el Remmaneh
• Araya
• Arbiniyeh
• Baabda
• Baalchmay
• Betchay
• Bmariam
• Btekhnay
• Borj Al Barajneh
• Chebanieh
• Chiyah
• Falougha
• Jouar el-Haouz
• Furn el Chebbak
• Ghobeiry
• Hadath
• Hammana
• Haret Hreik
• Haret el Sitt
• Hazmieh
• Hlaliyeh
• Jamhour
• Kfarshima
• Kfar Selouane
• Khraybeh
• Knaisseh
• Kortada
• Krayyeh
• Ksaibe
• Laylakeh
• Qalaa
• Qarnayel
• Ras el-Matn
• Sebnay
• Tarchich
• Tohwita
• Wadi Chahrour
• Yarze
• Qoubbei

References

• Lizard in Amber
• Insects in Amber^{[permanent dead link]}

33°50′05″N 35°32′31″E / 33.8347°N 35.542°E / 33.8347; 35.542