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( Mount Lebanon)
Mount Lebanon (Arabic ??? ??????), as a geographic designation, is the Lebanese mountain range, known as the Western Mountain Range of Lebanon. It extends across the whole country along about 160 km (100 mi), parallel to the Mediterranean coast with the highest peak, Qurnat as Sawda', at 3,088 m (10,131 ft).Lebanon has historically been defined by these mountains, which provided protection for the local population. The snowy peaks may have given Lebanon its name in antiquity; laban is Aramaic for "white". In Lebanon the changes in scenery are not connected to geographical distances, but to altitudes. The mountains were known for their oak and pine forests. Also, in the high slopes of Mount Lebanon are the last remaining groves of the famous Cedars of Lebanon (Cedrus libani). The Phoenicians used the forests from Mount Lebanon to build their ship fleet and to trade with their Levantine neighbors. However, the Phoenicians and successor rulers replanted and restocked the range so that even as late as the 16th century, its forested area was considerable. Starting in the 4th century, Maronite Christians from the Orontes valley in Northern Syria began settling in the northernmost parts of the mountain range. Later, In the 9th century, tribes from the northern areas of the Arabian Peninsula, known as the Tanukhiyoun, began settling in the southern areas of the mountain range and in the 11th century these tribes became Druze and ruled the areas of Mount Lebanon stretching from Metn in the north to Jezzine in the south, this entire area became known as the ‘Jabal el Duruz’. In the early 1600s, Emir Fakhreddine the 2nd ascended the throne in the Druze part of the mountains known as the Chouf. In an effort to unify Mount Lebanon, Emir Fakhreddine opened the door to Christian and in particular Maronite settlement of the Chouf and Metn. Throughout the 1700s and into the 1800s more and more Maronites settled in the Druze regions of the Mount. Seeing their numbers increasing the Maronites began to demand a larger share of the authority. The Druze viewed these Maronite settlements as a threat to their existence in Mount Lebanon and in a series of clashes in the 1840s and 1860s a mini civil war erupted in the area resulting in the death of thousands of Druze and Christians . The Druze won militarily but not politically because European powers (mainly France and Britain) intervened on behalf of the Maronites and divided Mount Lebanon into two areas; Druze and Maronite. Seeing their authority decline in Mount Lebanon, few Lebanese Druzes began migrating to the new Jabal ad-Duruz in southern Syria. In 1861 the "Mount Lebanon" autonomous district was established within the Ottoman system, under an international guarantee. The Mount Lebanon administrative region emerged in a time of rise of nationalism after the civil war of 1860 European powers (mainly France and Britain) intervened on behalf of the local Christian population after the 1860 massacres, when 10 000[1] Christians were killed in clashes with the Druze, who settled in mount Lebanon centuries before the Christians or Muslims in this region. In 1861 the "Mount Lebanon" autonomous district was established within the Ottoman system, under an international guarantee. It was ruled by a non-Lebanese Christian subject of the Ottoman Empire (known locally as the "Mutasarrif", (one who rules the district Mutasarrifiyya). Christians formed the majority of the population of Mount Lebanon, with a significant number of Druze.
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