Baabda () is the capital city of

Baabda District Baabda District (, 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 "Sou ...

and Mount Lebanon Governorate, western Lebanon. Baabda was also the capital city of the autonomous Ottoman Mount Lebanon that existed from 1861 to 1918. Baabda is home to the Italian, Japanese, Jordanian, Polish, Ukrainian, Romanian, Indonesian, Spanish and other embassies. It is also home to the Ministry of Defense and other administrative offices. Baabda is also known for its Seraglio. In 1956, Baabda Palace was built in Baabda as the official presidential residence, on a hill overlooking

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

. It remains the residence of the president of Lebanon. The first president to reside there was Charles Helou from 1964 to 1970. From 1988 to 1990, Lebanon's interim prime minister, Michel Aoun took up residence in the Baabda Palace surrounded by loyal soldiers. During the War of Liberation, Syrian forces attacked it on October 13, 1990, forcing Aoun to seek shelter in the French Embassy in Baabda. Eight days later, Dany Chamoun, son of former President Camille Chamoun, was assassinated with his family in their apartment in the city.

Demographics

In 2014,

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

made up 75.57% and

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

made up 24.13% of registered voters in Baabda. 59.02% of the voters were Maronite Catholics and 19.47% were Sunni Muslims.

Gallery

File:Baabda Serail Entrance.jpg File:Baabda Serail late 19th century cropped.jpg File:Station de babda.jpg File:Baabda Palace - 1947.jpg

References

Greater Beirut Populated places in Baabda District {{Lebanon-geo-stub