page_title: Al-Bireh
section_title: Post-1967 era
hierarchical_section_title: Al-Bireh / History / Post-1967 era
caption_attribution_description: עברית: צילום אוויר של אל בירה, בפינה השמאלית התחתונה ההתנחלות פסגות
context_page_description: Al-Bireh, al-Birah, or el-Bira is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank, 15 kilometers north of Jerusalem. It is situated on the central ridge running through the West Bank and is 860 meters above sea level, covering an area of 22.4 square kilometers.
  Because of its location Al-Bireh served as an economic crossroad between the north and south, along the caravan route between Jerusalem and Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the city had a population of approximately 39,202 in the 2007 census.
context_section_description: During the Six-Day War, on June 6, 1967, Israeli troops occupied the city, and Al-Bireh has been under Israeli occupation since.
  Israel confiscated 346 dunams of land from Al-Bireh in order to build the Israeli settlement of Beit El (established in 1977) in addition to 780 dunams in order to build Pesagot (established in 1981).
  In 1994, the civil administration of the city was turned over to the Palestinian National Authority under the Oslo Accords. Al-Bireh is the second largest center of Palestinian administration after Gaza. Besides the governor's headquarters, it also hosts a considerable number of governmental, non-governmental, and private organizations, including the Ministries of Transportation, Supply, Information, Public Works and Higher Education, as well as the Palestine Broadcasting Corporation and the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. Due to its proximity with Ramallah, the cities form a single constituency for elections to the Palestinian National Authority.
  After the 1995 accords, 39.8% of village land was classified as Area A, 5% as Area B, while the remaining 55.2% was classified as Area C.
caption: Al-Bireh Aerial photo
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