Beit Sahour
Beit Sahour or Beit Sahur (Arabic: بيت ساحور, romanized: ⓘ; Palestine grid 170/123) is a Palestinian town east of Bethlehem, in the Bethlehem Governorate of the State of Palestine. The city is under the administration of the Palestinian National Authority. The population was of 13,281 in 2017, consisting of approximately 80% Christians (most of them Greek Orthodox) and 20% Muslims.
Beit Sahour | |
|---|---|
Municipality type B | |
| Arabic transcription(s) | |
| • Arabic | بيت ساحور |
| • Latin | Bayt Sāḥūr |
Beit Sahour with the Herodium in the background | |
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Municipal seal of Beit Sahour | |
Beit Sahour Location of Beit Sahour within the West Bank Beit Sahour Location of Beit Sahour within Palestine | |
| Coordinates: 31°42′1″N 35°13′30″E | |
| State | State of Palestine |
| Governorate | Bethlehem |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipality |
| • Head of Municipality | Hani Hayek |
| Area | |
| • Municipality type B | 6,945 dunams (6.9 km2 or 2.7 sq mi) |
| Population (2017) | |
| • Municipality type B | 13,281 |
| • Density | 1,900/km2 (5,000/sq mi) |
| • Metro | 97,559 (Bethlehem area) |
| Name meaning | "House of vigilance", "house of the night watch", or "house of the magicians" |
| Website | Beit Sahour Municipality |
Christian tradition holds Beit Sahour to be the site of the Annunciation to the Shepherds. There are two enclosures in the eastern part of Beit Sahour that are claimed by different Christian denominations to be the actual 'Shepherds Field': one belonging to the Greek Orthodox Church, and the other, the Catholic site, belonging to the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land.
The mainly Christian Palestinian inhabitants are being pressured by encroaching Israeli settlements, with one housing development threatened with demolition.