Barouk (Arabic: الباروك‎) is a village in the Chouf District of Lebanon (1000-1250). Historically, the village is known for being the "land of good", because of its fountain (Nabeh-el-Barouk). The poet Rachid Nakhleh, the writer of the national hymn (kulluna lel watan), was born in Barouk. The village is also famous for its apples and other fruits, and for its many forests such as pine trees and oak trees which are well known in Lebanon. Barouk is crowned by its mountain "Jabal el Barouk" that stands 1943 m above sea level. The mountain also has the largest natural reserve in Lebanon, the Al Shouf Cedar Nature Reserve, and contains the oldest and most elegant cedar forest in Lebanon, the "Cedrus Libani". That cedar is considered, among with other cedar forests, the real Cedars of Lord "Arz el Rab."

Photo of the forest

Another photo of the forest

View from the Barouk Forest

Forest stretching on the horizon

600 year old tree with younger 50 year old trees

Slope view

6,000 ft above sea level

Ariana Barouk is a tv host, model, singer and actress, who represented Cuba in the seventh edition of the environmentally oriented Miss Earth,International Beauty Pageant.

She became the first Miss Cuba in several decades to compete in a major International Beauty Contest which she drew global publicity.

In 2007, Carousel Productions awarded the license to Miss Cuba Organization of Miami, Florida to select a Cuban representative for the Miss Earth beauty pageant.

The Miss Cuba Organization held a national contest in Miami, home of the largest Cuban community in the United States. Ariana, a student of Florida International University won the Miss Cuba pageant. She majored in Public Relations with minors in Spanish, Sports Management, Theater and Art History. Before leaving for Miss Earth, she was working as an intern for the public relations firm Crossover Agency. She also worked part-time for high-end boutiques such as Burberry, Carolina Herrera and Chloé. One of her goals is to open her own PR firm.

Cheb Hasni (Arabic : الشاب حسني) born Hasni Chakroun (February 1, 1968 – September 29, 1994) was a performer of Algerian Raï music. He was popular across North Africa, having reached the height of his career in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was the son of a welder and grew up in a working class family where he was one of seven children. Hasni is most well known for his love songs, but he also dealt with taboo subjects such as divorce and alcohol. He was murdered in 1994.

Born in Oran, Algeria, Cheb Hasni was interested in performing from an early age. In an interview published in the French newspaper Libération in 1992, Hasni recounted how "everyone knew me in our neighbourhood when I was a kid. I was always walking up the road with my school bag thrown off my shoulder, singing my head off"^{[citation needed]}. Hasni was also talented in football and a good student, but these traits were overshadowed by his musical interests.

Hasni's first significant performance as a singer occurred when he attended a local wedding party, where the group led by the famous Naoui brothers was playing. Impressed by his voice, they invited him to perform on stage at a well-known cabaret, La Guinguette.