Mahrouna () is a municipality in the

Tyre District The Tyre District is a district in the South Governorate of Lebanon. Municipalities The following 72 municipalities are all located in the Tyre District: * Al-Aabbassiyah * Aaitit * Aalma ash-Shaab * Ain Abu Aabdallah * Ain az-Zarqa * Ain ...

of the

South Governorate South Governorate (, or simply ) is one of the governorates of Lebanon, with a population of 590,000 inhabitants and an area of 929.6 km2. The capital is Sidon. The lowest elevation is sea-level; the highest is 1,000 meters. The local popul ...

in southern

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 ...

. Located approximately 100 km south of

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 18 km southeast of Tyre, the town sits at an elevation of 400 m above sea level. The only official demographic data available is from the 2014 voter registration records, which list 1,133 registered voters. The population is estimated around 3,800 residents.

Etymology

British orientalist E. H. Palmer suggested the name ''Mahrûneh'' derives from the Arabic term for "'carded' (as cotton)."

History

In 1875, French archaeologist

Victor Guérin Victor Guérin (; 15 September 1821 – 21 September 1890) was a French people, French intellectual, explorer and amateur archaeologist. He published books describing the geography, archeology and history of the areas he explored, which included ...

documented Mahrouna as a village inhabited by ''metawileh'' (Shia Muslims), noting ancient structural remains, rock-cut tombs,

quarries A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to manage their safet ...

, and a repurposed stone tank. The 1881 ''Survey of Western Palestine'' described it as a stone-built village of approximately 150 ''metawileh'' residents, surrounded by olive groves, fig trees, and farmland, with access to a spring and cisterns. A prominent feature of the area is a hill covered in

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

and

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...

trees, which functions as a natural park. The site includes ancient ruins, with large squared stones forming sections of a wall. Local tradition holds these remains to be part of a former fortress. During conflicts in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, including the

2006 Lebanon War The 2006 Lebanon War was a 34-day armed conflict in Lebanon, fought between Hezbollah and Israel. The war started on 12 July 2006, and continued until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect in the morning on 14 August 2006, thoug ...

, portions of the hill sustained damage from aerial bombardments by Israeli jets, resulting in the destruction of oak trees. Mahrouna was designated a municipality in 2004, with a nine-member council elected for a six-year term. Kamal Wehbe served as its inaugural president. As of 2011, the municipality managed local services under the oversight of Lebanon’s central government. On 6 November 2024, during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the Mahrouna Mosque was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike.

Demographics

According to 2014 voter registration data from Lebanon's Ministry of Interior and Municipalities, Mahrouna had 1,133 registered voters. Of these, 99.12% identified as

Muslim 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 ...

, with Shia Muslims comprising 97.53%. Common family names include Wehbe (432 registered voters), Nehme (163), Shorba (91), Awada (47), and Makki (45).https://www.lub-anan.com/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AD%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%B8%D8%A7%D8%AA/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D9%86%D9%88%D8%A8/%D8%B5%D9%88%D8%B1/%D9%85%D8%AD%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%86%D9%87/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AA/

Notable people

Haifa Wehbe Haifa Mohammed Wehbe (, ; born 10 March 1976) is a Lebanese singer and actress. She is considered one of Lebanon's most famous and successful singers, and one of the best-known artists in the Arab world. She has been among the highest-selling ...

(born 1972): Lebanese singer, acrtress and former beauty pageant titleholder. She was crowned Miss South Lebanon in 1992, and was first runner-up in

Miss Lebanon Miss Lebanon () is the national beauty pageant of Lebanon. The winner is a representative of the Ministry of Tourism (Lebanon), Ministry of Tourism and is sent to represent Lebanon at Miss Universe and Miss World. History Since 1995, the pagea ...

1996.

Gallery

File:Town-House-By-Haasan-Makki-05-08 (2).jpg, Old Town House File:Mahrouna Green View-05-08- By H-Makki.jpg, Town's Green View File:Mahrona-OakTreeHill-By-H-Makki-5-2008.jpg, Oak Tree Hill

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * *

Sources

*
Ministry of Interior and Municipalities

External links

* Survey of Western Palestine, Map 2
IAA

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Mahrouna
at Localiban {{Tyre District Populated places in Tyre District Shia Muslim communities in Lebanon