Population

 

The total population of the district is estimated at 140,000 Palestinians and 8,500 Israeli settlers. Out of the total Palestinian population, 44.8% live in the rural areas and 39% in urban communities, 7.5% in refugee camps. The broader Bethlehem area has a population of 61, 000, half of whom are Moslems and half are Christians; Bethlehem having 22,000 inhabitants, Beit Jala and Beit Sahour have respectively 13,000 and 12,000 inhabitants.

The Palestinian population in general, including that of Bethlehem, is young with 46.9% aged less than 15. Fifty percent of Palestinians live in households of seven members or less. Out of the households, 91% live in crowded conditions, i.e. with more that 1 person per room. The natural annual growth rate of the population is estimated at about 3.5%. The Bethlehem district just as the rest of the Palestinian areas, suffered an increasing drop in income during the last few years. It is estimated that for the period 1992-1996 real GNP per capita dropped by 39.4% for the West Bank and unemployment rate for the West Bank averaged 29% in mid 1996.

 

The area's silhouette is dominated in equal measure by churches and mosques, a symbol of the increased intermingling of the region's people. The religious and cultural diversity of the local population is further enriched by the social diversity of the urban population versus villagers and farmers of the western rural slopes, the Bedouins of the eastern desert slopes and the refugees who, since the war of 1948, live in refugee camps in the peripheries of the town of Bethlehem.

The Bethlehem area, like the rest of the Palestinian Territories, suffered from a migration drain through the twentieth century. The first strong wave of migration took place after the First World War and mostly to Latin America. The continuous economic difficulties forced this migration to continue until today where we find close to 55% of the local Christians residing in the Diaspora within prosperous communities. The emigration of some of the district's urban population and successful international trade with east and west at the turn of the century allowed the repatriation of riches and the construction of the beautiful homes in greater Bethlehem area. On the other hand this movement caused the loss of the young, and educated elements. Of the Palestinians living in the Bethlehem District, 9.9% are migrants according to Place of Birth, and 5.8% are migrants according to Place of Residence in 1987. About 57.38% of the households in the Bethlehem District have close relatives living abroad. Most (60.3%) of the relatives abroad live in Jordan. About 32.2% of the relatives living abroad have an Israeli identity card, and 18.2% lost their ID card. The corresponding figures for the remaining West Bank are 42.5% and 15.4% respectively.

Christians constitute(28%) of the district total population and (72%) are Moslems, (92%) of the working force in the Bethlehem district are permanent residents, while (2%) live elsewhere in the West Bank, (2%) in Jordan, (2%) in other Arab countries and 2% outside the Middle East region. Bethlehem Governorate population makes up (7.3%) of the West Bank population.

Overall the total fertility rate (the number of children a woman will get under prevailing fertility conditions) is 4.97, and it is 5.61 for the remaining West Bank. There is evidence that fertility has started to decline in this District as in the remaining West Bank as a whole. On the average, a married Palestinian woman has 4.86 children, of which 0.31 are dead. The corresponding figures for the remaining West Bank are 4.82 and 0.30, respectively. Currently the age at first birth is 19.51 years. Of the households, about 2 1 % have no children below 1 5 living with one or both of their parents, compared to 22% in the remaining West Bank.

Having shown a steady decline in recent years, the infant mortality rate was 3 per thousand births, while the child mortality (U5MR) was 38, on average

Total population of Bethlehem Governorate by type of locality and sex:

	Both sexes	Female	male
Urban	45471	22432	23039
Rural	76056	63836	39220
Camps	10563	5225	5338

 

Total population by housing unit, household, persons, and by type of locality:

	Total	Urban	Rural	Camps
Housing units	22105	8849	11383	1873
Households	22680	8949	11806	1925
Persons	130970	44390	76017	10563

 

Total Population of Major Cities and Towns:

 

Palestinian Population by sex and age groups in year in Bethlehem Governorate:

	Less than 1	1-9	10-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50-59	60-69
	Year	years	years	years	years	years	years	years
Male	2,189	17,861	13,437	10,860	7,264	3,827	2,041	1,419
Female	2,092	17,138	12,295	8,997	6,033	3,148	2,151	1,661
Total	4,281	34,999	25,732	19,857	13,297	6,975	4,192	3,080
%	3.7	30.4	22.3	17.2	11.5	6.01	3.6	2.3

 

Population in 2000

 

'Arab ar-Rashayida	787
Abu Nujeim	574
Ad-Doha	5199
ad-Duheisha Camp	6893
al-Beida	256
al-Furdis	525
al-Hujeila	74
al-'Iqab	654
al-Khushna	49
al-Haddadiya	49
al- Walaja	1243
al-'Azazima	59
al-'Asakira	734
al-'Aza Camp	1279
al-Halqum	132
al-Khadr	6809
al-Khas	253
al-M'sara	580
Al-Maniya	571
al-Manshiya	266
al-'Ubeidiya	6277
ar-Rawa'in	112
Artas	2686
ath Thabra	181
'Ayda Camp	2391
Battir	3095
Beit Fajar	8001
Beit Falouh	373
Beit Jala	12239
Beit Sahur	11285
Beit Ta'mir	851
Bethlehem (Beit Lahm)	21947
Bureld'a	243
Dar Salah	731
Dhahrat an Nada	294
Fakht al-Jul	187
Harmala	555
Hindaza	1576
Husan	4186
Jubbet ad-Dhib	93
Jubdum	1020
Jurat ash Sham'a	1099
Kbirbet Tuqu'	76
Khallet Afana	4
Khallet al Louza	328
Khallet al-Balluta	125
Khallet al-Haddad	307
Khallet al-Qaranin	102
Khallet an Nu'man	145
Khallet Hamad	349
Khallet Sakariya	72
Khirbet ad-Deir	1147
Khirbet an Nabla	27
Kisan	292
Marah Ma!aila	452
Marah Rabah	833
Nahhalin	4700
Rakhme	680
Ras al Wad	577
Shawawra	1937
Tuqu'	4891
Umm 'Asla	119
Umm Salamuna	592
Umrn al Qasseis	268
Wadi al-'Arayis	1591
Wadi an-Nis	545
Wadi Fukin	881
Wadi Muhammad	87
Wadi Rahhal	418
Wadi Umm Qal'a	195
Za'tara	3942