Keserwan District

This article is about the administrative district in Lebanon. For the historic region of the same place, see Kisrawan.

Keserwan District (Arabic: قضاء كسروان, transliteration: Qaḍā' Kisrawān) is a district (qadaa) in Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate, Lebanon, to the northeast of Lebanon's capital Beirut. The capital, Jounieh, is overwhelmingly Maronite Christian. The area is home to the Jabal Moussa Biosphere Reserve.

Keserwan District قضاء كسروان
District
Jounieh Bay
Motto:  "The Christians' Castle"
Location in Lebanon
Country	Lebanon
Governorate	Keserwan-Jbeil
Capital	Jounieh
Area
• Total	336 km2 (130 sq mi)
Population
• Estimate  (31 December 2017)	182,834
• Density	544/km2 (1,410/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)

Etymology

According to the medieval historian Gabriel ibn al-Qilai, the name “Kesrwan” derives from the Maronite muqadam Kisra of Baskinta.^[1] During the time of the Crusades, Keserwan was the northern frontier of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Demographics

According to registered voters in 2014:

Year	Christians						Muslims			Druze
	Total	Maronites	Greek Catholics	Greek Orthodox	Armenian Orthodox	Other Christians	Total	Shias	Sunnis	Druze
2014[2]	96.96%	82.80%	5.06%	3.73%	1.74%	3.63%	2.36%	1.78%	0.58%	0.03%

Electoral constituency

The district is part of the Keserwan-Byblos electoral district, with the district of Keserwan being allocated 5 Maronite seats (and the overall constituency having 7 Maronites and 1 Shi'ia).

Cities, towns, and villages

• Aazra
• Adma
• Ain El Delbeh
• Ain el-Rihaneh
• Aintoura
• Ajaltoun
• Aramoun
• Ashqout
• Attine
• Ballouneh
• Batha
• Bekaata Ashqout
• Bekaata Kenaan
• Bezhel
• Bkerké
• Bouar
• Bqaatouta (Bkaatouta)
• Bzoummar
• Chahtoul
• Chnaniir
• Daraoun
• Daraya
• Dlebta
• Faitroun
• Faraya
• Fatqa
• Ghadir
• Ghbaleh
• Ghidras
• Ghineh
• Ghosta
• Harissa
• Hrajel
• Jdaidet Ghazir
• Jeita
• Jounieh
• Jouret Bedran
• Jouret Mhad
• Jouret el-Termos
• Jwar El Hous
• Kaslik
• kfardebian biggest region in kesserwan
• Kfaryassine
• Kfour
• Kleiat
• Maarab
• Mayrouba
• Nammoura
• Okaibe
• Rayfoun
• Safra
• Sahel Alma
• Sarba
• Sehaileh
• Tabarja
• Wata El Jawz
• Yahchouch
• Zouk Mikael
• Zouk Mosbeh

Notable families

• Assaf dynasty Sultan Selim I assigned the Assafs as his chief agents in the region between Beirut and Tripoli, confirming their control of Keserwan, and awarding them tax farms in the nawahi of Byblos and Beirut.^[3] While Emir Assaf had lived in Aintoura in the winter and elsewhere along the Nahr al-Kalb ridge prior to the Ottoman conquest, in 1517, he moved his headquarters to Ghazir. ^[4]
• Khazen family^[5][6]
• Sfeir^[7][8]

Gallery

• 
  Our Lady of Lebanon church, Keserwan District
• 
  Cathedral of Our Lady of Lebanon, Harissa

See also

• Assaf dynasty
• Kisrawan
• Mount Lebanon revolts of 752 and 759

Bibliography

• Crawford, Robert (April 1955). "William of Tyre and the Maronites". Speculum. 30 (2). The University of Chicago Press: 222–228. doi:10.2307/28448470. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
• Fahd, Butros (1974). Arciescovo Pietro Sfair grande orientalista e predicatore, vita e opere [Archbishop Pietro Sfair great orientalist and preacher, life and work] (in Italian). Rome: Matabi al-Karim al-Hadithath.
• Antoine Khoury Harb, The Maronites: History and Constants (ASIN B000B0F6NU)
• Matti Moosa, The Maronites in History (ISBN 1-59333-182-7)
• Richard Van Leeuwen, Notables and Clergy in Mount Lebanon: The Khāzin Sheikhs and the Maronite Church (1736-1840) (ISBN 90-04-09978-6)
• Farid el-Khazen, The Breakdown of the State in Lebanon, 1967-1976 (ISBN 0-674-08105-6)
• Harris, William (2012). Lebanon: A History, 600-2011. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-518111-1.
• Salibi, Kamal (September 1957). "The Maronites of Lebanon under Frankish and Mamluk Rule (1099-1516)". Arabica. 4 (3). Brill: 288–303. doi:10.1163/157005857X00057. JSTOR 4055054.
• Salibi, Kamal S. (1959). Maronite Historians of Medieval Lebanon. Beirut: American University of Beirut.
• Salibi, Kamal (June 1967). "Northern Lebanon under the Dominance of Ġazīr (1517–1591)". Arabica. 14 (2): 144–166. doi:10.1163/157005867X00029. JSTOR 4055631.
• Salibi, Kamal S. (1988). A House of Many Mansions: The History of Lebanon Reconsidered. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520071964.
• Catholic-Hierarchy
• The sword of the Maronite Prince
• Origins of the "Prince of Maronite" Title
• National Geographic Magazine DNA sample from Khazen member
• An Interview with Cheikh Malek el-Khazen