Kafr Qara
| |
|---|---|
| Hebrew transcription(s) | |
| • ISO 259 | Kfar Qara |
| • Also spelled | Kfar Qara (official) Kfar Qari (unofficial) |
 | |
  Kafr Qara  Kafr Qara | |
| Coordinates:32°30′21″N35°3′14″E / 32.50583°N 35.05389°E /32.50583; 35.05389 | |
| Grid position | 155/212PAL |
| Country |  Israel |
| District |  Haifa |
| Government | |
| • Head of Municipality | Firas Badahi |
| Area | |
• Total | 7,000dunams (7.0 km2; 2.7 sq mi) |
| Population (2023)[1] | |
• Total | 20,580 |
| • Density | 2,900/km2 (7,600/sq mi) |
| Name meaning | "The village of thegourd"[2] |
Kafr Qara (Arabic:كَفْر قَرَع,Hebrew:כַּפְר קַרִע; is anArab city in Israel 22 miles (35 km) southeast ofHaifa. In 2023 its population was 20,580.[1] In 2007, Qara held the record for doctors relative to population size, with around 14.8 doctors per 1,000 citizens.[3]
An earlydefter entry noted that Kafr Qara had been incorporated into the "Diwan of theCircassian sultanate" after it had been seized by ‘theShaykhs of the mountain ofNablus’.[4]
Kafr Qara was incorporated into theOttoman Empire in 1517 with the rest ofPalestine, and in thedefter no. 610, which was written soon after 1540, the revenue of Kafr Qara was designated to anendowment inJerusalem; theMadrasahAl-Uthmaniyya. The whole of the revenue of Kafr Qara, a total of 3,400aspers annually, belonged to this endowment.[5]
In 1859 the population was 450 people, who cultivated 32feddans of land.[6]In 1883, thePEF'sSurvey of Western Palestine (SWP) describedKefr Kara as a "good-sized stone village on high ground, with awell to the east, and caves."[6]
A population list from about 1887 showed thatKiryat Kefr Kara had about 705 inhabitants, all Muslim.[7]
In the1922 census of Palestine conducted by theBritish Mandate authorities,Kufr Qara had a population 776; 767 Muslims and 9 Christians,[8] where the Christians were 7 Roman Catholics and 2 Maronites.[9] The population had increased by the1931 census to 1,109; 4 Christians and 1,105 Muslims, in 198 houses.[10]
In the1945 statistics, Kafr Qara had a population of 1,510 Muslims,[11] who owned 14,543 dunams of land.[12] Of this, 227 dunams were for plantations and irrigable land, 11,516 for cereals,[13] while 25 dunams were built-up (urban) land.[14]
Kafr Qara is part of theTriangle. It is located in theWadi Ara region, northwest of theGreen Line. Most of the inhabitants areMuslim. It is governed by alocal council. Kafr Qara encompasses 7811 dunams of land.[15] WAC, an independentlabor association, has its headquarters there.[16]
In September 2003, a group of local parents founded a bilingual, multicultural elementary school in Kafr Qara, namedHand in Hand – Bridge over the Wadi, or "Bridge over the Wadi". Kafr Qara high school, established in 1970 as a vocational school, is now a comprehensive high school for 10th–12th graders from Kafr Qara and environs. The school has participated in multicultural projects such asJitli, and offers a joint leadership program for Arab and Jewish teenagers.[17]
Kafr Qara holds the highest record for doctors relative to population size in the country, around 14.8 doctors per 1,000 citizens(2007, with more than 50 medicine student back then), Kafr Qara known as well for recording a high rate of academics and master's degree holders.[18]
