JBEIL DISTRICT

Byblos /Jbeil (Qadaa' Jbail) (Arabic: قضاء جبيل‎) is a district (qadaa) in the Mount Lebanon Governorate (Arabic محافظة جبل لبنان), Lebanon, to the northeast of the Lebanon's capital Beirut. The capital is Byblos, also known as Jbeil. The rivers of Al-Madfoun and Nahr Ibrahim form the district's natural northern and southern borders respectively, with the Mediterranean Sea bordering it from the west and the Lebanon mountains from the east, separating it from the adjacent district of Baalbek in the Bekaa valley.

Demographics
The district's population is predominantly Maronite followed by a significant Shiite community, particularly in the villages of Aalmat, Ras Osta, Hjoula, Bichtlida, Lassa, and Mazraat Es Siyad. A Greek Orthodox minority forms part of the population and is spread among several villages know locally as "qornet el roum" (the corner of Orthodoxy). These are: Mounsef, Jeddayel, Helwe, Berbara, Gharzouz, and Chikhane.

Jbeil has 3 seats allocated to it in the Lebanese Parliament. Two of these seats are allocated to Maronite Catholics, while the other seat is allocated to the Shi'a Muslims.

Attractions
The Jbeil district hosts a number of significant sites. The capital Byblos is an important historical and archaeological site boasting Phoenician, Roman, and Crusader ruins. The mountain village of Aannaya hosts the Saint Maroun-Aannaya monastery and the holy shrine of Saint Charbel (1828-1898), the first Lebanese saint (officially canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1977), both significant religious Maronite Christian holy sites. The village of Laqlouq--with an altitude of 1750m to 2000m--is a ski resort. The village of Afqa boasts the Afqa grotto which is the sacred source of the Adonis river (modern Nahr Ibrahim). The village of Bentael (Bintaael) contains the first protected area in Lebanon, established in 1981. Finally, the village of Jaj is host to surviving cedar trees from the ancient cedar forests which were used to export cedar wood to Egypt and later to Jerusalem.