Kafr Kila, Lebanon

KafarKila
كفركلا
Village
Map showing the location of  KafarKila within Lebanon
KafarKila

Location within Lebanon

Coordinates: 33°17′N 35°33′E / 33.283°N 35.550°E / 33.283; 35.550Coordinates: 33°17′N 35°33′E / 33.283°N 35.550°E / 33.283; 35.550
Grid position 201/298 PAL
Country  Lebanon
Governorate Nabatieh Governorate
District Marjeyoun District
Elevation 400 m (1,300 ft)
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
  Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Dialing code +961

KafarKila (Arabic: كفركلا , also, Kfarkila, Kfarkela, Kafarkela) is a small village in Southern Lebanon.

Kafarkila name means "The village of the pasturage".[1]

History

In 1596, it was named as a village, Kafr Kuk, in the Ottoman nahiya (subdistrict) of Tibnin under the liwa' (district) of Safad, with a population of 31 households and 2 bachelors, all Muslim. The villagers paid a taxes on agricultural products, such as wheat, barley, olive trees, goats, beehives and winter pastures; a total of 4,700 akçe.[2][3]

In 1875 Victor Guérin visited, and noted that the village had about 1,000 Metawileh inhabitants.[4] He further noted: "The mosque and several of the houses are built of old materials. The spring is partly ancient."[5]

In 1881, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it as "a village, built of stone and mud, containing about 150 Moslems, situated on sloping ground, with figs, olives, and arable land around. A good spring near."[6]

Modern era

The total population of the village is about 14,500. The occupants' number increases dramatically during summer. Its altitude is around 700 m from sea level.[7] Kafarkila is well known for its high quality olive oil, grapes, and bee honey in addition to many other farming activities.

Many developments are currently taking place due to the efforts and the determinism of the municipality side by side with the people in order to mitigate the problems that accumulated over the years from central government indifference, civil war, occupation and border wars.

References

  1. Palmer, 1881, p. 23
  2. Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 184
  3. Note that Rhode, 1979, p. 6 writes that the register that Hütteroth and Abdulfattah studied was not from 1595/6, but from 1548/9
  4. Guérin, 1880, p. 277
  5. Guérin, 1880, pp. 277-278; as given in Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, pp. 117
  6. Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, pp. 87-88
  7. http://www.collinsmaps.com/maps/Lebanon/Nabatiye/Kfar-Kila/P1070450.00.aspx. Retrieved 28 May 2013. Missing or empty |title= (help)

Bibliography

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