Beqaa Governorate

Beqaa (Arabic: البقاع Al-Biqā') is a governorate in Lebanon and one of the eight districts of the country. It is located in the eastern part of Lebanon and borders with Syria. The capital of the district is the city of Zahlé.^[2][3]

Beqaa Governorate مقاطعة البقاع
Governorate of Lebanon
Map of Lebanon with Beqaa highlighted
Coordinates: 33°50′N 35°54′E
Country	Lebanon
Capital	Zahlé
Government
• Governor	Kamal Abou Jaoudeh
Area
• Total	1,433 km2 (553 sq mi)
Population
• Estimate  (31 December 2017)[1]	534,342
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)

Districts

Beqaa Governorate

Since 2014, Beqaa Governorate contains three districts:

• West Beqaa
• Rashaya
• Zahle

A law was passed in 2003 to separate Baalbek District and Hermel District from Beqaa Governorate to form a new governorate, Baalbek-Hermel Governorate.^[4] Implementation of Baalbek-Hermel began in 2014 with the appointment of its first governor.^[5]

Demographics

According to registered voters in 2014:

Religion in the Beqaa Governorate

1. Christianity (41.3%)
2. Sunni Islam (36.5%)
3. Shia Islam (15.1%)
4. Druze (6.79%)
5. Other (0.33%)

Religion in the Beqaa Governorate including the Baalbek-Hermel Governorate

1. Shia Islam (43.0%)
2. Sunni Islam (25.5%)
3. Christianity (27.8%)
4. Druze (3.45%)
5. Other (0.37%)

Year	Christians							Muslims				Druze
	Total	Greek Catholics	Maronites	Greek Orthodox	Armenian Orthodox	Syriac Orthodox	Other Christians	Total	Sunnis	Shias	Alawites	Druze
2014[6]	41.29%	13.04%	12.74%	8.76%	2.95%	1.74%	2.06%	51.59%	36.52%	15.07%	0.01%	6.79%