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| Beit Fajjar |
| Arabic |
بيت فجّار |
| Government |
Municipality |
| Also Spelled |
Bayt Fajjar (officially)
Beit Fujar (unofficially)
|
| Governorate |
Bethlehem |
| Population |
10,910 (2006) |
| Jurisdiction |
7,933 dunams (7.9 km²) |
| Head of Municipality |
Umar Abdel Aziz Taqatqa |
Beit Fajjar (Arabic: بيت فجّار) is a Palestinian town located eight kilometers south of Bethlehem in the Bethlehem Governorate, in the central West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of over 10,900 in mid-year 2006.[1] The town's primary economic sectors are agriculture and stone-cutting; the town has 52 stone-cutting factories.[2]
Beit Fajjar is believed to have been a camping area for the Islamic Caliph, Umar ibn al-Khattab. Beit Fajjar was mostly farmland until the 1700s, when it gradually transformed into an urban settlement. The site's high altitude was the highest point in the area and later the town expanded into other hills. During British rule in Palestine during the 1920s-40s, Beit Fajjar was used as an observation point.[2]
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