Kharas

Kharas
Other transcription(s)
 • Arabic خاراس
 • Also spelled Khuras (official)
Kharas

Location of Kharas within the Palestinian territories

Coordinates: 31°36′50.78″N 35°02′35.28″E / 31.6141056°N 35.0431333°E / 31.6141056; 35.0431333Coordinates: 31°36′50.78″N 35°02′35.28″E / 31.6141056°N 35.0431333°E / 31.6141056; 35.0431333
Governorate Hebron
Government
 • Type Municipality
 • Head of Municipality Issa Mahmoud Abu El
Area
 • Jurisdiction 6,781 dunams (6.8 km2 or 2.6 sq mi)
Population (2007)
 • Jurisdiction 6,665
Name meaning from personal name[1]

Kharas (Arabic: خاراس‎‎) is a Palestinian town in the southern West Bank, located twelve kilometers northwest of Hebron, part of the Hebron Governorate. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 6,665 inhabitants in 2007.[2] It is situated at the northern mouth of the Wadi ’Arab near the ruins of 'Elah. Nearby towns include Nuba and Beit Ula to the south, Surif to the north and Halhul to the east.[3] It has a total land area of 6,781 dunams.

History

In the late Ottoman era, in 1838, Edward Robinson noted Kharas S 14° E from Bayt Nattif.[4]

In 1883, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described Kharas as "a small village standing high on the side of one of the lower hills, with olives round it. On the east is a well."[5]

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Kharas had a population of 577, all Muslim,[6] increasing in the 1931 census to 739, still all Muslim, in 153 houses.[7]

In 1945 the population of Kharas was 970, all Muslims,[8] and the land area 6,781 dunams of land according to an official land and population survey.[9] 615 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 3,532 for cereals,[10] while 38 dunams were built-up (urban) land.[11]

1948–67

In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Kharas came under Jordanian rule.

Post 1967

After the Six-Day War in 1967, Kharas has been under Israeli occupation.

There are five schools in the town: a boy's secondary school, a girls' secondary school, Khaled ibn al-Walid basic mixed primary school, a girls' primary school and a mixed gender high school. There are four mosques, a sports club, a government-run health clinic and an olive press (olive oil manufacturing is a major industry in the town).[12]

References

  1. ↑ Palmer, 1881, p. 395
  2. ↑ 2007 PCBS Census Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. p.118.
  3. ↑ Finn, 1868, p. 151
  4. ↑ Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 2, p. 342
  5. ↑ Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 305
  6. ↑ Barron, 1923, Table V, Sub-district of Hebron, p.10
  7. ↑ Mills, 1932, p. 33.
  8. ↑ Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 23
  9. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 50
  10. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 93
  11. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 143
  12. ↑ About Kharas Town and Municipality (Arabic)

Bibliography

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