Baqat al-Hatab

Baqat al-Hatab (Arabic: باقة الحطب‎) is a Palestinian town in the Qalqilya Governorate in the western area of the West Bank, located 20 kilometers southwest of Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the village had a population of approximately 1,748 inhabitants in 2006.[3]

Baqat al-Hatab
Local Development Committee
Arabic transcription(s)
• Arabic	باقة الحطب
Baqat al-Hatab
Baqat al-Hatab Location of Baqat al-Hatab within Palestine
Coordinates: 32°12′17″N 35°06′53″E
Palestine grid	161/179
State	State of Palestine
Governorate	Qalqilya
Government
• Type	Local Development Committee
Elevation [1]	464 m (1,522 ft)
Population  (2006)
• Total	1,748
Name meaning	Baka, from personal name[2]

Location

Baqat al-Hatab is located 14.35 kilometers (8.92 mi) northwest of Qalqiliya. It is bordered by Hajja to the east, south and north; Kafr Laqif and Khirbet Sir to the south; ‘Izbat Abu Hamada to the west; and Kafr ‘Abbush to the west and north.[1]

History

Ottoman era

Baqat al-Hatab was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517 with all of Palestine, and in 1596 it appeared in the tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Bani Sa'b of the Liwa of Nablus. It had a population of 59 households, all Muslims. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 33,3% on various agricultural products, such as wheat, barley, summer crops, goats and/or beehives, in addition to "occasional revenues"; a total of 23,900 akçe. 5,25/24 of the revenues went to a Muslim charitable endowment.[4]

In 1882 the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Baka (Beni Sab): "A well-built stone village in a conspicuous position on a bare ridge, with a few olives, and a well to the north; it is a small place. A high house on the north side formed a trigonometrical station in 1873."[5]

British Mandate era

In a 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Baqa had a population of 207 Muslims,[6] increasing in the 1931 census, when Baqa had a population of 282 Muslims, with 63 houses.[7]

In the 1945 statistics the population was 390 Muslims,[8] with 8,950 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.[9] Of this, 645 dunams were for plantations or irrigated land, 1,688 were for cereals,[10] while 36 dunams were built-up land.[11]

Jordanian era

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

The Jordanian census of 1961 found 569 inhabitants in Baqa Hatab.[12]

1967-present

Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Baqa has been under Israeli occupation.

After the 1995 accords, about 58.4% of the village land is defined in Area B, while the remainder 41.6% is in Area C.[13]

References

1. Baqat al Hatab Village Profile, ARIJ, p. 4
2. Palmer, 1881, p. 179
3. Projected Mid -Year Population for Qalqiliya Governorate by Locality 2004- 2006 Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
4. Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 139
5. Conder and Kitchener, 1882, p. 164
6. Barron, 1923, Table IX, Sub-district of Nablus, p. 24
7. Mills, 1932, p. 59
8. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 18
9. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 59
10. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 105
11. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 155
12. Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 25
13. Baqat al Hatab Village Profile, ARIJ, p. 14

Bibliography

• Barron, J.B., ed. (1923). Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922. Government of Palestine.
• Conder, C.R.; Kitchener, H.H. (1882). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. 2. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
• Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics (1964). First Census of Population and Housing. Volume I: Final Tables; General Characteristics of the Population (PDF).
• Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics (1945). Village Statistics, April, 1945.
• Hadawi, S. (1970). Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine. Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center.
• Hütteroth, Wolf-Dieter; Abdulfattah, Kamal (1977). Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century. Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. ISBN 3-920405-41-2.
• Mills, E., ed. (1932). Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas. Jerusalem: Government of Palestine.
• Palmer, E.H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.

External links

• Welcome To Baqat al-Hatab
• Survey of Western Palestine, Map 11: IAA, Wikimedia commons
• Baqat Al Hatab (Fact Sheet), Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem (ARIJ)
• Baqat al Hatab Village Profile, ARIJ
• Baqat al Hatab - aerial photo, ARIJ
• Development Priorities and Needs in Baqat al Hatab, ARIJ