More than 60% of the town’s population have emigrated to Brazil, Argentina, United States, Canada, France, Spain, Italy and Portugal.

Many others emigrated to São Paulo, Brazil; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Montreal, Quebec and Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

[citation needed] In 1838, Eli Smith noted el-Bireh as a Sunni Muslim village in the Beqaa Valley.

A Heavy Neolithic archaeological site of the Qaraoun culture was discovered by Auguste Bergy along a south to west track that lead from the road to a small spring.

Bergy originally suggested it was a "Chellean factory site" before the Heavy Neolithic was defined by Henri Fleisch.

[citation needed] In January 2009 a street in town was named after president Hugo Chávez, after Venezuela expelled an Israeli ambassador due IDF attack in Gaza Strip.