Baqa ash-Sharqiyya
Baqa ash-Sharqiyya (Arabic: باقه الشرقية) is a Palestinian town in the northern West Bank, located 16 kilometers (9.9 mi) northeast of Tulkarm in the Tulkarm Governorate. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the town had a population of 4,892 inhabitants in 2017. Refugees made up 20.4% of the Baqa ash-Sharqiyya's population in 1997.
Baqa ash-Sharqiyya | |
|---|---|
Municipality type C | |
| Arabic transcription(s) | |
| • Arabic | باقه الشرقية |
| • Latin | Baqa al-Sharqiyya (official) Baqa ash-Sharkiya (unofficial) |
Baqa ash-Sharqiyya Location of Baqa ash-Sharqiyya within Palestine | |
| Coordinates: 32°24′38″N 35°04′09″E | |
| Palestine grid | 156/201 |
| State | State of Palestine |
| Governorate | Tulkarm |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipality |
| • Head of Municipality | Abdul Rahim Mustafa Janim |
| Area | |
| • Total | 4,211 dunams (4.2 km2 or 1.6 sq mi) |
| Population (2017) | |
| • Total | 4,892 |
| • Density | 1,200/km2 (3,000/sq mi) |
| Name meaning | "The eastern bouquet [of flowers]" or "The eastern Baka" |
Approximately 3 kilometers (1.9 mi) to the west, on the other side of the Green Line, lies Baqa al-Gharbiyye, ("the western bouquet of flowers") which is under Israeli jurisdiction. Both towns were originally one town, known as Baqa, until the aftermath of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Prior to the Second Intifada, Baqa ash-Sharqiyya consisted of 4,000 dunams; Israel confiscated about 2,000 dunams of land in order to build the Israeli West Bank barrier.