Kafr Dan (Arabic: كفر ذان) is a Palestinian village in the Jenin Governorate, located 8 km northwest of Jenin in the northern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) census, the town had a population of 5,148 in 2007 and 6,591 in 2017.[1][3]
Kafr Dan
| |
|---|---|
| Arabic transcription(s) | |
| • Arabic | كفر دان |
| • Latin (official) | Kufr Dan |
  Kafr Dan Location of Kafr Dan within Palestine | |
| Coordinates: 32°28′43″N 35°15′15″E / 32.47861°N 35.25417°E / 32.47861; 35.25417 | |
| Palestine grid | 174/209 |
| State | State of Palestine |
| Governorate | Jenin |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipality |
| Population
(2017)[1]
| |
| • Total | 6,591 |
| Name meaning | "the village of adhan (call to prayer)"[2] |
Kafr Dan is located north-west of Jenin; just east of Al-Yamun and north of Burqin.
Pottery remains from the Roman, Byzantine, Early Islamic periods and the Middle Ages have been found here.[4]
Palmer suggested to identify Kafr Dan with Capher Outheni (Hebrew: כפר עותני), a village mentioned in the Talmud.[2]
Kafr Dan, like the rest of Palestine, was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517. During the 16th and 17th centuries, it belonged to the Turabay Emirate (1517-1683), which encompassed also the Jezreel Valley, Haifa, Jenin, Beit She'an Valley, northern Jabal Nablus, Bilad al-Ruha/Ramot Menashe, and the northern part of the Sharon plain.[5][6]
In the census of 1596, Kafr Dan appeared as "Kafradan”, located in the nahiya of Sha'ara in the liwaofLajjun. It had a population of 9 households, all Muslim. They paid a fixed tax rate of 25% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, goats and beehives, in addition to occasional revenues; a total of 6,000 akçe.[7] Pottery remains from the Ottoman era have also been found here.[4]
In 1838 Edward Robinson, calling it Kefr Adan, noted it among many other villages on the plain; Lajjun, Umm al-Fahm, Ti'inik, Silat al-Harithiya, Al-Yamun and el Barid,[8] located in the District of Jenin, also called Haritheh esh-Shemaliyeh.[9]
In 1870 Victor Guérin found at Kafr Dan “a broken column and a certain number of cut stones of ancient appearance.”[10] Guérin estimated that the village had 300 inhabitants.[11] In 1870/1871 (1288 AH), an Ottoman census listed the village in the nahiya of Shafa al-Gharby.[12]
In 1882 the PEF’s Survey of Western Palestine described the area as a "village of moderate size on the slope of the hills, built of stone, with olives below, and a well on the west.” They called the village “Kefr Adan”.[13]
In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Kufr Dan had a population of 486; all Muslims,[14] increasing in the 1931 census to 603, still all Muslim, in a total of 135 houses.[15]
In the 1945 statistics, the population was 850, all Muslims,[16] with 7,328 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.[17] 5 dunams were used for citrus and bananas, 2,680 for plantations and irrigable land, 3,799 for cereals,[18] while 34 dunams were built-up (urban) land.[19]
In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Kafr Dan came under Jordanian rule.
The Jordanian census of 1961 found 1,262 inhabitants.[20]
Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Kafr Dan has been under Israeli occupation.
In 2009, Kafr Dan Village Council was upgraded into a municipality. The mayor, Bilal Mer'i, joined with Prime Minister Rami Hamdullah for the ceremony.[21]
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
