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 Sea to the west, North Governorate to the south, Baalbek-Hermel Governorate to the southeast, and the Syrian governorates of Tartus and Homs to the north and northeast. The governorate's western coastal plain constitutes Lebanon's second largest agricultural region after the Beqaa Valley, while the east features forested mountains that have been considered for protection as a national park.
The UNHCR estimated the population of the governorate at 389,899 in 2015, including 106,935 registered refugees of the Syrian Civil War and 19,404 Palestinian refugees. The population is predominantly Sunni Muslim around 70-75% with a minority of Christian and Alawite communities and very few Shiites. Akkar is Lebanon's least urbanized governorate, with 80% of the population living in rural areas.
Akkar Governorate was created by the enactment of Law 522 on 16 July 2003, in which Akkar District was separated from North Governorate. Implementation of the new region only began in 2014 with the appointment of the first and current governor, Imad Labaki, and remains incomplete .
Historically marginalized and neglected by the central government, Akkar is Lebanon's poorest region and has the country's highest illiteracy rate, and suffers from lack of basic infrastructure and services. The recent influx of Syrian refugees has exacerbated these problems, with the unemployment rate in the governorate reaching almost 60% in 2015.
Ottoman and pre-independence period Akkar was long under the political and military influence of the Al Merehb family, a lineage of sharifian decent that controlled the territory, and at its height, extended influence toward Tripoli and Hama, from their arrival in the region in the early 18th century until the end of the Ottoman rule.
During the 1970s, Akkar's peasantry organized against a highly unequal land ownership system in which roughly % of the population held about 73% of the land, in a movement led by Khalid Saghiya, a Syrian Baathist lawyer. The unrest escalated after Black September in Jordan made firearms more widely available in the region and was shaped further by Syrian involvement and the area's sectarian diversity.
Governorate's creation Akkar Governorate was established when Law 522, enacted on 16 July 2003 under Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, separated Akkar District from the former North Governate. Implementation of the new governate did not being until over a decade later, with the appointment of its first governor, Imad Labaki.
Demographics
According to registered voters in 2014:
Year Christians Muslims Druze Total Greek Orthodox Maronites Greek Catholics Other Christians Total Sunnis Alawites Shias Druze2014
References