Dora is a suburb north of Beirut

Beirut

Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...

 in the Matn District

Matn District

Matn , sometimes spelled Metn, is a district in the Mount Lebanon Governorate of Lebanon, east of the Lebanon's capital Beirut...

 of Mount Lebanon Governorate

Mount Lebanon Governorate

Mount Lebanon is one of the Governorates of Lebanon. Its capital is Baabda. The overwhelming majority of its population is Maronites, Greek Orthodox, and Melkite Greek Catholic Christians...

. The suburb has commercial and residential zones.
Dora is administered by Bourj Hammoud

Bourj Hammoud

Bourj Hammoud is a suburb in North-East Beirut, Lebanon in the Metn district. The suburb is heavily populated by Armenians as it is where most survivors of the Armenian Genocide settled...

 municipality.

Demographic

Dora is a mainly Christian

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 suburb of Beirut but Lebanese

Lebanon

Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

 of other faiths also call the suburb home. Foreign laborers, especially Egyptians

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

, Iraqis

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

 and Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

ns also live in Dora due to the lower-cost rents available.

Economy

Dora is one of Beirut's busiest suburbs with many companies and factories located in the suburb. The Dora Commercial Centre is a mixed-use commercial establishment and one of Lebanon's largest malls, City Mall, which formerly housed a branch of Giant, a European hypermarket chain based in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, now called TSC Mega. The center also hosts Cinema City, a nine-screen multiplex

Movie theater

A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....

 of 1,789 seats arranged around a central sky-lit atrium.

Hospitals

The suburb is home to Hôpital Saint Joseph des Soeurs de la Croix

Hôpital Saint Joseph des Soeurs de la Croix

Hôpital Saint Joseph des Soeurs de la Croix or the Hospital of Saint Joseph of the Sisters of the Holy Cross is a private, non-profit medical institution in Dora, Lebanon. It is a residency hospital for the students of the Université Saint-Joseph and the Lebanese University medical schools...

, which was founded in 1952 by the Venerable

Venerable

The Venerable is used as a style or epithet in several Christian churches. It is also the common English-language translation of a number of Buddhist titles.-Roman Catholic:...

 Père Jacques.

Religious Institutions

There are numerous churches in Dora, including the Church of Saint Joseph

Saint Joseph

Saint Joseph is a figure in the Gospels, the husband of the Virgin Mary and the earthly father of Jesus Christ ....

 and the Christian Endeavor Young Adults Association of the Armenian Evangelical Emmanuel Church.

Transportation

Dora is a major transport hub for buses, minibuses and service taxis to destinations north of Beirut.