South Governorate ( ar, الجنوب;

transliterated Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus ''trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or L ...

: al-Janub) is one of the

governorates of Lebanon Lebanon is divided into nine governorates ('' muhafazah''). Each governorate is headed by a governor (''muhafiz''): All of the governorates except for Beirut and Akkar are divided into districts, which are further subdivided into municipa ...

. South Lebanon has a population of 500,000 inhabitants and an area of 929.6 km². The capital is

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. ...

. The lowest elevation is sea-level; the highest is 1,000 meters. The local population is religiously diverse and includes

Shia 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, mos ...

and

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 ...

Muslims,

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 ...

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...

Maronite The Maronites ( ar, الموارنة; syr, ܡܖ̈ܘܢܝܐ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and Levant region of the Middle East, whose members traditionally belong to the Maronite Church, with the lar ...

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

, and Greek Catholic Christians. Temperatures can drop to 4 °C during winter with much rain and snow on the higher ground. In the humid summer, temperatures can rise to 30 °C in the coastal areas. The governorate has several rivers: the Litani, Deir El Zahrani,

Naqoura Naqoura (, ''Enn Nâqoura, Naqoura, An Nāqūrah'') is a small city in southern Lebanon. Since March 23, 1978, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has been headquartered in Naqoura. Name According to E. H. Palmer (1881), the nam ...

Awali Awali is a small municipality located approximately in the centre of the Kingdom of Bahrain, a small island in the Persian Gulf. Founded in the 1930s by the Bahrain Petroleum Company, it is populated mostly by workers of various nationalities ...

, Qasmiye, and

Hasbani The Hasbani River ( ar, الحاصباني / ALA-LC: ''al-Ḥāṣbānī''; he, חצבני ''Ḥatzbaní'') or Snir Stream ( he, נחל שניר / ''Nahal Sənir''), is the major tributary of the Jordan River. Local natives in the mid-19th centu ...

. The area is famous for its citrus and banana farms. Its main cities are

, Tyre and

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 ( ...

Local attractions and events

The area offers a great number of attractions, including pristine white sandy beaches south of Tyre, and the opportunity to snorkel or dive among submerged Phoenician and Roman ruins near the ancient cities of

and Tyre. Culture-lovers will enjoy the bustling Ottoman-era Pazars, and one can relax after a long day at a seafood restaurant overlooking the Mediterranean.

Southern Lebanon Southern Lebanon () is the area of Lebanon comprising the South Governorate and the Nabatiye Governorate. The two entities were divided from the same province in the early 1990s. The Rashaya and Western Beqaa Districts, the southernmost distri ...

also hosts the Tyre festival, which attracts thousands of tourists each year.

Religion in the South Governorate

Shias make up the majority of the governorate and are the main residents of the Zahrani Tyre districts. Sunnis are the main residents of Saida the capital of the governorate and the third largest city in Lebanon after Beirut and Tripoli. Christians are mainly residents of the Jezzine district and form a small community in the city of Tyre, which is the fourth-most-populous city in Lebanon. Jezzine 1

Districts

* Tyre

Cities

or Saida * Tyre *

Ghazieh Ghazieh ( ar, الغازية) is a town in South Lebanon, 4 kilometres south of Saida, ( Sidon). It has an area of about 15sq km. Ghazieh is one of the largest businesses hubs in South Lebanon and it houses a large fuel refinery (TapLine). Ghaz ...

References

Governorates of Lebanon {{Lebanon-geo-stub

Local attractions and events

Religion in the South Governorate

Districts

Cities

See also

References