Charbila (

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: شربيلا ) is a village in

Akkar Governorate Akkar Governorate () is the northernmost governorate of Lebanon. It comprises the single district of Akkar, which in turn is subdivided into 121 municipalities. The capital is at Halba. It covers an area of and is bounded by the Mediterranean ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

. Its population is mostly composed of

Greek Orthodox Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Rom ...

numbering around 737 eligible voters according to the civil state registers. During summer the population grosses to 500 but declines during winter. It is located in a region called "Drayb el-gharbi" (

: الدريب الغربي) of Akkar. The most common family names are: "Elias", "Chedrawi", "Warrak", “Chaluat”, "Bachour", "Hanna".

Etymology

The origin of the name "Charbila" is Syriac. The word "Sharbila" means light.Yechezkel (Ezekiel) 27:9

History

In 1838,

Eli Smith Eli Smith (September 13, 1801 – January 11, 1857) was an American Protestant missionary and scholar. Biography Smith was born in Northford, Connecticut, to Eli and Polly (née Whitney) Smith. He graduated from Yale College in 1821 and from A ...

noted the village (under the name ''Shurbila'') as a Greek Christian village, located east of

esh-Sheikh Muhammed Cheikh Mohammad () is a village situated in Akkar Governorate, Lebanon. Situated 400 metres above sea level, in between two mountains, it overlooks the Akkar plains and sea. It is made up of approximately 450 houses, with 99% of the population b ...

Geography

Charbila is located at the northeast of the Lebanese republic. to the North of the Lebanese capital

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 ...

and it is 300 meters above sea level. It is limited at the west by the village "Rihaniyeh", at the East by the village "Msalla". Its surface is approximately 5.19 km2.

Economy and services

In Charbila there is only one tile factory (Riad Chedrawi) and the Warrak olive press factory. The agriculture sector is the dominant one in Charbila since 80% of the land is agriculture. The most common trees are olive, almonds, lemons and pine, but the olive trees are the most important ones since olive is used for making

olive oil Olive oil is a vegetable oil obtained by pressing whole olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea'', a traditional Tree fruit, tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin) and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking for frying foods, as a cond ...

and oil soap. The most common vegetables are tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, zucchini... And the most common fruits are pomegranate, prickly pear and grapes. Plus grapes are commonly used for producing arak.

Municipality

It is run by a town council consisted of 9 members and one

Mukhtar A mukhtar (; ) is a village chief in the Levant: "an old institution that goes back to the time of the Ottoman rule". According to Amir S. Cheshin, Bill Hutman and Avi Melamed, the mukhtar "for centuries were the central figures". They "were ...

that are elected every 6 years. But in 2016 a mutual agreement by the families of Charbila established a council without elections.

Religion and demographics

The population of Charbila is 210 who 40 of them (22.8%) are under 18, and almost half of its population is over 40 years old, they are distributed in three main areas in the village: 42% in the "Seha" which is located on the main road, 17% in "Kamouu" which is in the highest elevation, and 8% in the lowest elevation, and others are dispersed in different locations in the village. And all of its inhabitants belong to the Greek Orthodox faith. There are 3 churches in Charbila, "Al Saydeh" Church, "Saint Elias" Church and "Al Bael" Church. The "Al Saydeh" Church is located inside the village and was built in 1885, St. Elias church in 1960, and "Al Bael" church in 1968. But the "Saydeh" church is the only one that has a mass every Sunday, and its current priest is Spiridon Tannous who replaced the late Ramez Chedrawi. Also the MJO (Mouvement de jeunesse Orthodoxe) which is an

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

movement for the youth founded in 1942 in Lebanon is active in Charbila since the 1990s. And this movement is the main reason for making Charbila an attraction for neighboring towns and residents that moved, by organising Kermesses and

camps Camps may refer to: People *Ramón Camps (1927–1994), Argentine general *Gabriel Camps (1927–2002), French historian *Luís Espinal Camps (1932–1980), Spanish missionary to Bolivia *Victoria Camps (b. 1941), Spanish philosopher and professor ...

and activities with other villages and towns where MJO is active.

Notable People From Charbila

Fayçal El-Khoury Fayçal El-Khoury (born May 15, 1955) is a Canadian Liberal politician of Lebanese descent, who was elected to represent the riding of Laval—Les Îles in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2015 federal election, El-Khoury won with 47.7% ...

, Member of the

Canadian Parliament The Parliament of Canada () is the federal legislature of Canada. The Crown, along with two chambers: the Senate and the House of Commons, form the bicameral legislature. The 343 members of the lower house, the House of Commons, are styled a ...

for Laval-Les Îles

Gallery

File:Inside Al Saydeh.jpg, Inside Al Saydeh church

References

Bibliography

External links

Municipality of Charbila
(Official account of the municipality)
Municipality of Charbila
(Account of the municipality on facebook)
Official website of MJOCharbila in google maps
{{Akkar District Populated places in Akkar District Eastern Orthodox Christian communities in Lebanon