Buq'ata

Buq'ata بقعاتا
Buqata entry road
Buq'ata Buqata entry road
Coordinates: 33°12′N 35°47′E
Country	Golan Heights, (Internationally recognized as Syrian territory occupied by Israel)
Israeli District	North District
Israeli Subdistrict	Golan
Syrian Governorate	Quneitra Governorate
Syrian District	Quneitra District

Buq'ata (Arabic: بقعاتا‎; Hebrew: בֻּקְעָאתָא) is a Druze town in the northern Golan Heights, administered by Israel. It covers an area of 7,000 dunams (7 km²), at a height of 1,070 metres above sea level, between Mount Hermonit and Mount Varda. Buq'ata achieved Israeli municipal status as a local council in 1982. The population is 5,700 (2007), with an annual growth rate of 2%.

Economy

According to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics (2001), the village is ranked just 2 out of 10 on the national socioeconomic index. In 2000, only 72.5% of Grade 12 students were entitled to a matriculation certificate, and the average income was NIS 2,457 per month, as compared to the national average of NIS 6,835. The local economy is predominantly agricultural, with apples and grapes being the main crops. Many residents works as laborers in the neighboring settlements.

History

Buq'ata was founded in the 1880s by families from the neighboring town of Majdal Shams. It was destroyed in 1888, during a series of feuds between rival villages in the area, and again in 1925, during the Great Syrian Revolt against the French mandatory rule.

The city became part of independent Syria in 1946. In 1967, the town was captured by Israel from Syria during the Six-Day War.