Ein Qiniya or 'Ayn Kiniya (
Arabic: عين قينيا) is a
Palestinian village in the northern
West Bank, located 7 kilometers (4.3 mi) northwest of
Ramallah and is a part of the
Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate. Ein Qiniya has existed since the
Roman-era of rule in
Palestine.[3] The village is very small with no public structures or institutions and is governed by a local development committee. Ein Qiniya is regionally notable for being a spring and autumn time picnic resort.[3]
There is an annual walk on March 4 from Ramallah to Ein Qiniyya in celebration of the spring.[4]
During the Mamluk era, it was stipulated that the whole of the revenue from Ein Qiniya should go to the
al-Tankiziyya in Jerusalem. The building was completed in 1328–29.[12]
Ottoman era
In 1517, the village was included in the
Ottoman empire with the rest of
Palestine, and in the 1596
tax-records it appeared as Ayn Qinya, located in the Nahiya of Jabal Quds of the Liwa of
Al-Quds. The population was 32 households, all
Muslim. They paid a tax rate of 33.3% on agricultural products, which included wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, vineyards and fruit trees, occasional revenues, goats and beehives; a total of 4,760
akçe. 1/3 of the income went to a
waqf.[13][14]
In 1838 it was noted as 'Ain Kinia, a Muslim village, located in the Beni Harith district, north of Jerusalem.[15]
An official Ottoman village list from about 1870 showed that Ain Kina had 54 houses and a population of 205, though the population count only included men.[16][17]
In 1896 the population of 'Ain kinja was estimated to be about 135 persons.[19]
British Mandate era
In 1917, most of the village's inhabitants were evacuated by the British army on suspicion that residents killed a British officer. The residents were relocated to
Beitunia and
Yalo.[3] In the
1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the
British Mandate authorities, 'Ain Qinia had a population of 56, all
Muslims.[20] This had increased in the
1931 census to 83, still all Muslims, in a total of 26 houses.[21]
In the
1945 statistics the population was 100, all Muslims,[22] while the total land area was 2,494
dunams, according to an official land and population survey.[23] Of this, 1,276 were allocated for plantations and irrigable land, 569 for cereals,[24] while 19 dunams were classified as built-up (urban) areas.[25]
In 1982, residents numbered 101, then after a mass migration of other Palestinians to the Ein Qiniya, the population rose to 464 in 1984.[29] According to the
Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, in 2006 it had a population of 807.[30] In the 2007 PCBS census, there were 817 people living in the village.[31] The village had a population of 721 by 2017.[1]
^"Ein Qinia". BirdLife Data Zone. BirdLife International. 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
^
abcFinkelstein, Israel; Lederman, Zvi; Bunimovitz, Shlomo (1997). Finkelstein, Israel; Lederman, Zvi (eds.). Highlands of Many Cultures. Jerusalem: Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University Publications Section. p. 337.
ISBN965-440-007-3.