Khan Yunis
Khan Yunis | |
|---|---|
| Arabic transcription(s) | |
| • Arabic | خان يونس |
Location of Khan Yunis within Palestine | |
| Coordinates: 31°20′40″N 34°18′11″E / 31.34444°N 34.30306°E | |
| Palestine grid | 83/83 |
| State | Palestine |
| Governorate | Khan Yunis |
| Founded | 1387 |
| Government | |
| • Type | City |
| • Head of Municipality | Muhammad Jawad Abd al-Khaliq al-Farra |
| Area | |
• Total | 54,560 dunams (54.56 km2 or 21.07 sq mi) |
| Population (2017) | |
• Total | 205,125 |
| • Density | 3,800/km2 (9,700/sq mi) |
| Name meaning | "Caravansary [of] Jonah" |
Khan Yunis (Arabic: خان يونس, lit. 'khan (caravanserai) [of] Yunis'), also spelled Khan Younis or Khan Yunus, is a city in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestine, and serves as the capital of the Khan Yunis Governorate. It has been largely destroyed during the Gaza war.
Before the 14th century, Khan Yunis was a village known as "Salqah". A vast caravanserai, today known as Barquq Castle, was constructed there by the emir Yunis al-Nawruzi in 1387–88, an official of the Mamluk Empire to protect caravans, pilgrims, and travellers.
According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Khan Yunis had a population of 205,125 in 2017. Khan Yunis, which lies only four kilometres (2+1⁄2 miles) east of the Mediterranean Sea, has a semi-arid climate with temperature of 30 °C maximum in summer and 10 °C minimum in winter, with an annual rainfall of approximately 260 mm (10.2 in).