Etymology

The word ‘Qabeet’ is said to derive from Syriac words meaning the ‘acorn cup’. The town is likely to have been thus named on account of its abundant oak trees.

Location

Qabeet is located in the mountainous area of the Qada’a of Akkar at an altitude of 600 meters above the sea level and 120 kilometers from Beirut. It stretches across 720 hectares and may be reached via one of two roads:

• Tripoli-Halba-Berkayel- Bzal-Qabeet
• Qoubayyat-Hrar-Qabeet.

Population

The town’s registered population is estimated at 4400, all of whom are Sunni. They are distributed in 750 households.

Voters

According to electoral records, the number of registered voters stood at 942 in 2000, 526 of whom cast their ballots. The number rose to 1,568 and 1,864 voters in 2005 and 2009, of whom 1,095 and 1,227 cast their votes respectively. In 2013, Qabeet recorded 1,942 voters, i.e. an increase of 106% or 1000 voters over 13 years. Compared with the 25.6% increase in voters that Lebanon has seen during the same period, the percentage registered in Qabeet is considered to be relatively high and indicative of a fast-growing population.

Voters in Qabeet are distributed between the following families:

• Darweesh: 220 voters
• Khodr: 137
• Hamza: 110
• Tradiyeh: 160
• Assad: 103
• Jdeed: 85
• Hussein: 80
• Ismail: 66
• Etleb: 65
• Othman: 58
• Mohammad: 55
• Ali: 54
• Ahmad: 50
• Chahadi:40
• Qassem: 35
• Deeb: 35
• Mahmoud: 32
• Hassan (El-Hassan):28
• Abboud: 28
• Kanaan: 27
• Abdullah(Al-Abdullah): 26
• Abla: 25
• Awad: 24
• Al-Sheikh: 20
• Abdul Hamid: 18
• Abdul Latif: 14
• Mostafa: 13
• Abdo: 13
• Fattah: 13
• Abbas: 12
• Sheikh Hussein: 5
• Al-Hajj: 5

Local Authorities

The Qabeet municipality was formed pursuant to Decision No. 55 issued by Minister of Interior and Municipalities Elias el-Murr on January 23, 2004. The share its 15-member municipal council enjoyed of the Independent Municipal Fund revenues stood in 2008 at LBP 156 million. It rose to LBP 208 million and then further to LBP 255 million in 2009 and 2010 respectively. In 2011, the council was allocated LBP 226 million. Qabeet has 2 Muktars and a 3-member Ikhtiyariyah body.

NGOs

Qabeet is home to the 9 NGOs and agricultural co-ops as listed below:

• The Nour El-Shams Charity established in 2010
• The Education and Development Foundation established in 2010
• The Akkar Environmental and Charity Foundation established in 2009
• The Co-operative Society for the Development and Industrialization of Agriculture established in 2007
• The Social Culture Association established in 2006
• The Livestock and Poultry Co-operative established in 2005
• The Qabeet Agricultural Co-operative established in 1997
• The Bounyan and An-Nour Association established in 1992
• The Reform and Guidance Association established in 1988

Educational Institutions

The town has three schools, whose combined number of students is 1114 with 77 teachers.

• The Qabeet Official School: 565 students and 40 teachers
• The Kafroun Official School: 172 students and 18 teachers
• The Bounyan and An-Nour Private School: 377 students and 19 teachers

Economic Life

The majority of Qabeet residents suffer from dreary economic conditions. With 7 to 8 members per household on average (the average family size in Lebanon is 4), the income generated chiefly from agricultural activities can hardly meet the basic needs of Qabeet’s large families and residents rely heavily on remittances from expatriates and from employment in the military.