Mahrouna

{{short description|Town in South Governorate, Lebanon}} {{Infobox settlement  | name = Mahrouna | native_name = محرونة | native_name_lang = ara | settlement_type = Municipality | image_skyline = Town Mosque Mahrouna By H.Makki-05-08.jpg | image_alt = | image_caption = Mahrouna Mosque in 2008 | image_flag = | flag_alt = | image_seal = | seal_alt = | image_shield = | shield_alt = | nickname = | motto = | image_map = | map_alt = | map_caption = | pushpin_map = Lebanon | pushpin_label_position = | pushpin_map_alt = | pushpin_map_caption = | coordinates = {{coord|33|13|8.25|N|35|20|33.92|E|display=inline,title}} | grid_position = 182/291 [[Palestine grid|PAL]] | coor_pinpoint = | coordinates_footnotes = | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = [[Lebanon]] | subdivision_type1 = [[Governorates of Lebanon|Governorate]] | subdivision_name1 = [[South Governorate]] | subdivision_type2 = [[Districts of Lebanon|District]] | subdivision_name2 = [[Tyre District|Tyre]] | subdivision_type3 = | subdivision_name3 = | established_title = | established_date = | founder = | seat_type = | seat = | government_footnotes = | leader_party = | leader_title = | leader_name = | unit_pref = Meteric UK | area_footnotes = | area_total_km2 = 12.65 | area_land_km2 = | area_water_km2 = | area_water_percent = | area_note = | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = 400 | population_footnotes = | population_total = 3800 | population_as_of = 2014 | population_density_km2 = auto | population_demonym = | population_note = {{efn|Estimate, based on 2014 voter registration data and demographic assumptions.<ref name="2014vote" />}} | timezone = +2 | utc_offset = | timezone_DST = +3 | utc_offset_DST = | postal_code_type = | postal_code = 00961 | area_code_type = | area_code = | iso_code = | website = | footnotes = }}

'''Mahrouna''' ({{langx|ar|محرونة|Maḥrūnah}}) is a municipality in the [[Tyre District]] of the [[South Governorate]] in southern [[Lebanon]]. Located approximately 100 km south of [[Beirut]] and 18 km southeast of [[Tyre, Lebanon|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 [[Edward Henry Palmer|E. H. Palmer]] suggested the name ''Mahrûneh'' derives from the Arabic term for "'carded' (as cotton)."<ref>Palmer, 1881, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp00conduoft#page/29/mode/1up 29]</ref>

==History== In 1875, French archaeologist [[Victor Guérin]] documented Mahrouna as a village inhabited by [[Metawileh|''metawileh'']] (Shia Muslims), noting ancient structural remains, rock-cut tombs, [[Quarry|quarries]], and a repurposed stone tank.<ref>Guérin, 1880, p. [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongogr00gugoog#page/n448/mode/1up 408]</ref><ref>Guérin, 1880, p. [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongogr00gugoog#page/n448/mode/1up 408]; as cited in Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp01conduoft#page/135/mode/1up 135]</ref> The 1881 [[PEF Survey of Palestine|''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.<ref>Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp01conduoft#page/93/mode/1up 93]</ref>

A prominent feature of the area is a hill covered in [[oak]] and [[olive]] 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]], portions of the hill sustained damage from aerial bombardments by Israeli jets, resulting in the destruction of oak trees.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Makki |first=Hassan |date=7 July 2011 |title=Baldati eDialogue - Mahrouna |url=http://www.baldati.com/forums/thread.php?tid=64 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707210045/http://www.baldati.com/forums/thread.php?tid=64 |archive-date=2011-07-07 |access-date=23 December 2018}}</ref>

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.<ref name=":0" />

On 6 November 2024, during the [[2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon|Israeli invasion of Lebanon]], the Mahrouna Mosque was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Editorial-C |date=2024-11-06 |title=العدو يحول مسجد بلدة محرونة جنوب لبنان إلى ركام بعد استهدافه بغارة جوية |url=https://cedarsvoice.com/?p=18625 |access-date=2025-03-12 |website=Cedars Voice |language=ar}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=لبنان{{!}} طيران العدو يغير على بلدة محرونة بقضاء صور |url=https://www.alahednews.com.lb/fastnewsdetails.php?fstid=283517 |access-date=2025-03-12 |website=www.alahednews.com.lb |language=ar}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=finianos |first=damo |date=2024-11-06 |title=العدو يحول مسجد بلدة محرونة جنوب لبنان إلى ركام |url=https://www.almada.org/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%AF%D9%88-%D9%8A%D8%AD%D9%88%D9%84-%D9%85%D8%B3%D8%AC%D8%AF-%D8%A8%D9%84%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D9%85%D8%AD%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%86%D8%A9-%D8%AC%D9%86%D9%88%D8%A8-%D9%84%D8%A8%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%86/ |access-date=2025-03-12 |website=AlMada - أخبار لبنان والعالم |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Demographics== According to 2014 voter registration data from [[Ministry of Interior and Municipalities (Lebanon)|Lebanon's Ministry of Interior and Municipalities]], Mahrouna had 1,133 registered voters. Of these, 99.12% identified as [[Islam in Lebanon|Muslim]], with [[Lebanese Shia Muslims|Shia Muslims]] comprising 98.53%. Common family names include [[Wehbe]] (432 registered voters), [[Nehme (surname)|Nehme]] (163), Shorba (91), [[Awada]] (47), and [[Makki (disambiguation)|Makki]] (45).<ref name="2014vote">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/</ref>

==Notable people== * [[Haifa Wehbe]] (born 1976): Lebanese singer, actress and former beauty pageant titleholder.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ما لا تعرفه عن هيفاء وهبي .. من هي؟ سيرتها الذاتية، إنجازاتها وأقوالها، معلومات عن هيفاء وهبي |url=http://www.arageek.com/bio/haifa-wehbe |access-date=23 May 2019 |website=أراجيك |language=ar}}</ref> She was crowned Miss South Lebanon in 1992,<ref>{{Cite news |date=1 May 2008 |title=هيفاء وهبي تثير زوبعة في الخليج |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/arabic/middle_east_news/newsid_7376000/7376714.stm |access-date=23 May 2019 |language=ar}}</ref> and was first runner-up in [[Miss Lebanon]] 1996.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Haifa Wehbe |url=https://www.ticketingboxoffice.com/artist/72/haifa-wehbe/en |access-date=2018-12-23 |website=www.ticketingboxoffice.com |language=en}}</ref>

==Gallery== <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 </gallery>

==Notes== {{Notelist}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Bibliography== {{refbegin}} * {{cite book|last1=Conder|first1=C.R.|author-link1=Claude Reignier Conder|last2=Kitchener|first2=H.H.|author-link2=Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener|year=1881|url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp01conduoft|title=The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology|location=London|publisher=[[Palestine Exploration Fund|Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund]]|volume=1}} * {{cite book|last=Guérin|first=V.|author-link=Victor Guérin|title=Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine|url=https://archive.org/details/descriptiongogr00gugoog|volume=3: Galilee, pt. 2|year=1880|publisher= L'Imprimerie Nationale|location=Paris|language=fr}} * {{cite book|last=Palmer|first=E.H.|author-link=Edward Henry Palmer|year=1881|url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp00conduoft|title=The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer|publisher=[[Palestine Exploration Fund|Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund]]}} {{refend}}

==Sources== * {{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZztBRV4_s4 |title=تعرف على بلدة محرونة الجنوبية |date=26 October 2021 |type=Video |language=ar |publisher=Mahrouna news |trans-title=Learn about the southern town of Mahrouna}} * [http://www.moim.gov.lb/ Ministry of Interior and Municipalities]

==External links== {{commonscat}} * Survey of Western Palestine, Map 2: [http://www.iaa-archives.org.il/zoom/zoom.aspx?folder_id=93&type_id=6&id=8365 IAA], [[c:File:Survey_of_Western_Palestine_1880.02.jpg|Wikimedia Commons]] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20160506072142/https://www.localiban.org/article3843.html Mahrouna] at Localiban

[[Category:Populated places in Tyre District]] [[Category:Shia Muslim communities in Lebanon]]