Teqoa
Teqoa | |
|---|---|
| Arabic transcription(s) | |
| • Arabic | تقوع |
| • Latin | Taqua (official) Teqoa (unofficial) Tuqu' (historical) |
A sketch of "Tekoa - Fureidis, Palestine" | |
Location of Teqoa within Palestine | |
| Coordinates: 31°38′11″N 35°12′52″E / 31.63639°N 35.21444°E | |
| Palestine grid | 170/115 |
| State | State of Palestine |
| Governorate | Bethlehem |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipality (from 1997) |
| • Head of Municipality | Khaled Ahmad Hamida |
| Area (built-up) | |
• Total | 590 dunams (0.6 km2 or 0.2 sq mi) |
| Population (2017) | |
• Total | 8,767 |
| • Density | 15,000/km2 (38,000/sq mi) |
| Name meaning | "The ruin of Tekua", or "the place for pitching tents" |
Teqoa (Arabic: تقوع, also spelled Tuquʿ) is a Palestinian town in the Bethlehem Governorate, located 12 km (7.5 mi) southeast of Bethlehem in the land Samaria And Judah West Bank. The town is built adjacent to the biblical site of Tekoa (Hebrew: תְּקוֹעַ, romanized: Təqōaʿ; also called Thecoe), now Khirbet Tuqu', from which it takes its name. Today's town includes three other localities: Khirbet ad-Deir, al-Halkoom, and Khirbet Teqoa. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), Teqoa had a population of 8,767 in 2017.
The town is a part of the 'Arab al-Ta'amira village cluster, along with Za'atara, Beit Ta'mir, Hindaza, Khirbet ad-Deir, Nuaman, Ubeidiya and al-Asakra. Tuqu has a municipal jurisdiction of over 191,262 dunams, but its built-up area consists of 590 dunams, as 98.5% of the village's land was classified as Area C, and 1.5% as Area B in the 1995 accords. Situated in the immediate vicinity is the modern Israeli settlement of Tekoa, established in 1975 as a military outpost. Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are illegal under international law.