Douma, Lebanon

Douma was populated since ancient times. In the town square sits a sarcophagus, bearing a Greek inscription recording that this was the burial place of Castor, who died in 317 AD.{{Cite web |last=Kadi |first=Samar |date=7 April 2019 |title=Lebanon’s Douma village where Levantine traditions survive |url=https://thearabweekly.com/lebanons-douma-village-where-levantine-traditions-survive |access-date=25 October 2024 |website=The Arab Weekly}} The village was almost abandoned until the 16th century, during Ottoman rule, when the modern village was founded by the Christian maalouf and chalhoub Families.{{cite book |last=Harris |first=William |title=Lebanon: A History, 600–2011 |date=2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-19-518-111-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XwUTDAAAQBAJ |page=90}} The families continue to inhabit the village until the present day. In 1880 the Ottoman mutasarrif of Mount Lebanon, Rustum Pasha, appointed a municipal council to administer Douma, the sixth locality to receive a council in Mount Lebanon.{{cite news |title=Joseph Khairallah Maalouf - Head of the Municipality of Douma |url=https://monthlymagazine.com/article-desc_947_ |accessdate=26 June 2020 |work=The Monthly Magazine |date=8 March 2014}}

File:Douma, rue avec arbres.JPG

The Great Famine of Mount Lebanon during World War I precipitated a wave of emigrants from Douma to the Americas and their remittances significantly contributed to boosting the village's economy.{{cite news |last1=Kadi |first1=Samar |title=Lebanon's Douma village where Levantine traditions survive |url=https://thearabweekly.com/lebanons-douma-village-where-levantine-traditions-survive |accessdate=26 June 2020 |work=The Arab Weekly |date=4 July 2019}} Most infrastructure and houses in Douma were built between 1881 and 1914, largely financed by emigrants from the village in Brazil, Argentina and the United States of America.{{citation needed|date=April 2010}} In the 1920s, the leaders of Syria who had just rebelled against the French Mandatory rule, were detained and exiled to Douma of Lebanon. One of those leaders was Sa’dallah al-Jabiri who was destined to become Syria's first Prime Minister after its independence in the 1940s. Another one was a main author of Syria's constitution: lawyer Safadi.{{citation needed|date=April 2010}}

Starting even before the 1920s, emigrants from Douma had settled in thirteen countries across five continents.{{Cite journal |last=Khuri |first=Fuad I. |date=1967 |title=A Comparative Study of Migration Patterns in Two Lebanese Villages |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44124524 |journal=Human Organization |volume=26 |issue=4 |pages=207 |issn=0018-7259}}

File:Douma, centre du village.JPG

Douma is also named Dūma al-Hadīd (literally "Douma of iron" or "Iron Douma") due to the abundance of iron found in its soil and the superior craftsmanship of its blacksmiths. The arming industry established under Ibrahim Pasha's rule encouraged many people from Choueir to come and settle in Douma since opportunities of work were plentiful at the time.{{citation needed|date=April 2010}}

In 2014 Christians made up 99.10% of registered voters in Douma. 48.95% of the voters were Greek Orthodox, 33.20% were Roman Catholics and 15.57% were Maronite Catholics.https://lub-anan.com/المحافظات/الشمال/البترون/دوما/المذاهب/

Douma has a Mediterranean climate. Rainfall is higher in winter than in summer. The Köppen-Geiger climate classification is Csa. The average annual temperature in Douma is {{convert|15.2|°C|1}}. About {{convert|1210|mm|2|abbr=on}} of precipitation falls annually.

{{Weather box|location = Douma

|metric first = Y

|single line = Y

|Jan high C = 10.7

|Feb high C = 11.0

|Mar high C = 13.8

|Apr high C = 18.9

|May high C = 23.4

|Jun high C = 27.2

|Jul high C = 29.5

|Aug high C = 30.1

|Sep high C = 27.2

|Oct high C = 23.6

|Nov high C = 17.9

|Dec high C = 13.3

|Jan low C = 2.8

|Feb low C = 3.1

|Mar low C = 4.7

|Apr low C = 8.1

|May low C = 11.6

|Jun low C = 14.7

|Jul low C = 16.4

|Aug low C = 17.2

|Sep low C = 14.7

|Oct low C = 12.3

|Nov low C = 8.4

|Dec low C = 4.9

|Jan precipitation mm = 265

|Feb precipitation mm = 222

|Mar precipitation mm = 202

|Apr precipitation mm = 87

|May precipitation mm = 35

|Jun precipitation mm = 2

|Jul precipitation mm = 1

|Aug precipitation mm = 1

|Sep precipitation mm = 9

|Oct precipitation mm = 43

|Nov precipitation mm = 124

|Dec precipitation mm = 219

|year precipitation mm= 1210

|source = Climate-Data.org, Climate data

|date=19 January 2018}}

• {{flagicon|FRA}} Digne-les-Bains, France

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.localiban.org/article707.html Duma], Localiban

{{Batroun District}}

Category:Populated places in Batroun District