Bir Nabala | |
---|---|
Arabic transcription(s) | |
• Arabic | بير نبالا |
• Latin | Beer Nabala (official) |
Location of Bir Nabala within Palestine | |
Coordinates: 31°51′06″N 35°12′03″E / 31.85167°N 35.20083°E | |
Palestine grid | 168/139 |
State | Palestine |
Governorate | Jerusalem |
Government | |
• Type | Village council |
Area | |
• Total | 1,904 dunams (1.9 km2 or 0.7 sq mi) |
Population (2017)[1] | |
• Total | 6,004 |
• Density | 3,200/km2 (8,200/sq mi) |
Name meaning | The well of apparatus[2] |
Bir Nabala (Arabic: بير نبالا; Hebrew: ביר נבאלא) is a Palestinian enclave town in the West Bank located eight kilometers northeast of Jerusalem. In mid-year 2006, it had an estimated population of 6,100 residents.[3] By 2017, the population was 6,004[1] Three Bedouin tribes — Abu Dhak, Tel al ‘Adassa[4] and Jahalin — live in Bir Nabala. Bir Nabala has a built-up area of 1,904 dunams, which combined with nearby al-Jib, Beit Hanina al Balad and al-Judeira form an enclave in the Seam Zone, walled in by the Israeli West Bank barrier.[5]
The enclave as a whole is home to approximately 15,000 Palestinians.[6] It is linked to Ramallah by underpasses and a road that is fenced on both sides. From the Biddu enclave, residents travel along a fenced road that passes under a bypass road to Bir Nabala enclave, then on a second underpass under Bypass Road 443 to Ramallah.[7]
Prior to the construction of the barrier, Bir Nabala was a commercial center linking Jenin and Tulkarm with the Jerusalem area and the town contained about 600 shops and six tyre factories. In 2007, there were 180 shops and two tyre factories.[8]