Al-Rafid, Syria

{{About| the Syrian town | |Rafid (disambiguation)}} {{Infobox settlement | official_name = Al-Rafid | native_name = {{lang|ar|الرفيد}} | image_skyline = | imagesize = | image_caption = | pushpin_map = Syria Golan#Syria | pushpin_mapsize = 250 | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = {{SYR}} | subdivision_type1 = Governorate | subdivision_name1 = Quneitra | subdivision_type2 = District | subdivision_name2 = Quneitra | subdivision_type3 = Subdistrict | subdivision_name3 = Khishniyah | subdivision_type4 = Control | subdivision_name4 = Israel | settlement_type = Town | government_type = | leader_title = | leader_name = | established_title =  | established_date = | established_title2 =  | established_date2 = | established_title3 =  | established_date3 = | area_magnitude = | unit_pref = Metric  | area_footnotes = | area_total_km2 = | area_land_km2 = | area_water_km2 = | area_total_sq_mi = | area_land_sq_mi = | area_water_sq_mi = | area_water_percent = | area_urban_km2 = | area_urban_sq_mi = | area_metro_km2 = | area_metro_sq_mi = | population_as_of = 2004 census | population_note = | population_total = 2,263 | population_footnotes = <ref name="CBS"/> | timezone = AST | utc_offset = +3 | timezone_DST = | utc_offset_DST = | coordinates = {{coord|32|57|18|N|35|54|5|E|region:SY|display=inline}} | grid_position = 234/262 PAL | elevation_footnotes =  | elevation_m = | postal_code_type =  | postal_code = | area_code = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Al-Rafid''' ({{langx|ar|الرفيد}}) is a village in southern Syria, administratively part of the Quneitra Governorate (Golan Heights), in the portion of the province under the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force Zone. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, al-Rafid had a population of 2,263 in the 2004 census.<ref name="CBS">{{cite web|title=General Census of Population 2004.|url=https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/sites/www.humanitarianresponse.info/files/syr_pop_2004_sycensus_0.xls |archive-url= |archivedate= |language= |accessdate= 2014-07-10}}</ref> By June 2015, the population had increased to roughly 7,100 (of whom 3,100 were IDPs from the surrounding region).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-07-13 |title=Southern Syria: Population & Internally Displaced Persons - June 2015 (5 July 2015) - Syrian Arab Republic {{!}} ReliefWeb |url=https://reliefweb.int/map/syrian-arab-republic/southern-syria-population-internally-displaced-persons-june-2015-5-july |access-date=2025-02-06 |website=reliefweb.int |language=en}}</ref>

Transhumance shaped settlement in the Golan for centuries because of its harsh winters. The winters "forced tribespeople until the 19th century to live in hundreds of rudimentary 'winter villages' in their tribal territory. Starting in the second part of the 19th century, villages like al-Rafid became "fixed and formed the nucleus of fully sedentary life in the 20th century Golan."<ref>Roy Marom, “Sukayk and al-Summāqah: Mamluk Rural Geography in the Northern Jawlān/Golan Heights in the Light of Qāytbāy’s Endowment Deeds,” in Kate Raphael and Mustafa Abbasi (ed.s), ''The Golan in the Mamluk and Ottoman Periods: an Archaeological and Historical Study: Excavations at Naʿarān and Farj, In Honour of Moshe Hartal, Yigal Ben Ephraim and Shuqri ‘Arra''f, Annual of the Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology Hebrew Union College—Jewish Institute of Religion Volume xiv (2024): 69-70.</ref> The inhabitants largely belong to the Na'im tribe, which has been established in the Golan region since the 15th–16th centuries.<ref name="Assaf">{{cite web |last1=Assaf |first1=Faten |title=قبيلة "النعيم"... "أنا راعي الصفرا" (Al-Naim Tribe... I am the Yellow Shepherd) |url=https://www.esyria.sy/2010/07/%D9%82%D8%A8%D9%8A%D9%84%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B9%D9%8A%D9%85-%D8%A3%D9%86%D8%A7-%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B9%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D9%81%D8%B1%D8%A7 |access-date=20 December 2024 |language=Arabic |date=7 July 2010}}</ref>

The town has been claimed by pro-Assadist forces during the Syrian Civil War.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-quneitra/syrian-flag-raised-in-quneitra-on-syrian-side-of-golan-heights-idUSKBN1KG1Y5 |publisher=Reuters |quote=Pro-Assad forces have raised the flag in several other towns along the frontier, including al Hamidiyah and Rafid, that overlooks a U.N. observation post. |title=Syrian flag raised in Quneitra on Syrian side of Golan Heights |date=July 26, 2018 |first=Ammar |last=Awad |first2=Maayan |last2=Lubell |first3=Suleiman |last3=al Khalidi |editor-first=Andrew |editor-last=Bolton}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== *[http://www.nla.gov.au/apps/cdview/?pi=nla.map-vn745520-s20k Boutmiye-map, 20K] {{Quneitra Governorate}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rafid}} Category:Towns in Quneitra Governorate