Kharas
| Kharas | |
|---|---|
| Other transcription(s) | |
| • Arabic | خاراس |
| • Also spelled | Khuras (official) |
 Kharas
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| Coordinates: 31°36′51″N 35°02′35″E / 31.61417°N 35.04306°ECoordinates: 31°36′51″N 35°02′35″E / 31.61417°N 35.04306°E | |
| Palestine grid | 154/113 |
| Governorate | Hebron |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipality |
| • Head of Municipality | Issa Mahmoud Abu El |
| Area | |
| • Jurisdiction | 6,781 dunams (6.8 km2 or 2.6 sq mi) |
| Population (2007) | |
| • Jurisdiction | 6,665 |
| Name meaning | from personal name |
Kharas (Arabic: خاراس) is a Palestinian town in the southern West Bank, located twelve kilometers northwest of Hebron, part of the Hebron Governorate. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 6,665 inhabitants in 2007. It is situated at the northern mouth of the Wadi ’Arab near the ruins of 'Elah. Nearby towns include Nuba and Beit Ula to the south, Surif to the north and Halhul to the east. It has a total land area of 6,781 dunams.
In the late Ottoman era, in 1838, Edward Robinson noted Kharas S 14° E from Bayt Nattif.
Socin found from an official Ottoman village list from about 1870 that Charas had 38 houses and a population of 120, though the population count included men, only.Hartmann found that Charas had 40 houses.
In 1883, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described Kharas as "a small village standing high on the side of one of the lower hills, with olives round it. On the east is a well."
In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Kharas had a population of 577, all Muslim, increasing in the 1931 census to 739, still all Muslim, in 153 houses.
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