Where Is the Nahr el Litani River Located?

The Nahr el Litani (Leontes River) is Lebanon’s longest and largest river — entirely within its borders.

Key Facts

• Source: Baalbek, in the Beqaa Valley (between Mount Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon ranges).
• Course: Flows southwest ~140 km (87 mi) through the Beqaa, then cuts west through the Mount Lebanon range via a dramatic gorge.
• Mouth: Empties into Mediterranean Sea near Tyre (Sour).
• Basin: ~2,110 km² — ~20% of Lebanon’s area.

Significance

• Water supply: Irrigation (Beqaa agriculture), hydropower (Qaraoun Dam, 1959), domestic use.
• Pollution crisis: Severe industrial, agricultural, sewage contamination — "dead river" stretches.
• Restoration: Litani River Authority + international projects targeting wastewater treatment, reforestation, monitoring.

Vital to Lebanon’s water security, food production, and ecology — but critically degraded.