Ras Maska

Infobox City Lebanon
official_name = Ras Maska
native_name = راس مسقا


image_size =
image_caption =
governorate = North Governorate
district = Koura District
lat_deg = 34
lat_min = 23
lat_sec = 0
lat_hem = N
lon_deg = 35
lon_min = 50
lon_sec = 0
lon_hem = E
elevation_m = 150
mapx = 34.3833
mapy = 35.8333

Ras Maska (also Ra's Maska or Ras Masqa, _ar. رأس مسقا ) is a village located in the Koura District in the North Governorate of Lebanon.

Geography

This village is located on the hills overlooking the Mediterranean to the south of Tripoli. It is composed of two parts:

- the Northern Ras Maska, nearest to Tripoli is the lowest part of the village located at 60 meters (200 ft) above sea level. It is the most populated and developed area in the village. Since the 1990's, it's considered as part of the Greater Tripoli and was included in the urban Master Plan of Tripoli. It witnessed an important economic development due to the low price of land and its excellent location. [El Nabbout, Khaled (June 2007) - "Geo-Visualization Tools for Participatory Urban Planning The Case of Tripoli, Lebanon" - PHD thesis - Technischen Universität Dresden - page 39 - [http://hsss.slub-dresden.de/documents/1181302716111-3064/1181302716111-3064.pdf Pdf document (Last access: 28, October, 2007)] ]

- the Southern Ras Maska is the highest part of the village at 200 meters (660 ft) above sea level.

Population

Given the recent development, Ras Maska became a lush suburb of Tripoli. It is estimated that the village has 2,250 households and 12,690 inhabitants. [El Nabbout, Khaled (2007) - "Geo-Visualization Tools for Participatory Urban Planning The Case of Tripoli, Lebanon" - PHD thesis - Technischen Universität Dresden - page 42 - [http://hsss.slub-dresden.de/documents/1181302716111-3064/1181302716111-3064.pdf Pdf document (Last access: 28, October, 2007)] ]

Etymology and names

The name of the village is probably derived from the Aramaic language, "Ras" meaning "Top" and "Maska" coming from the Aramaic "Masqo" meaning "Hill". The equivalent meaning could be the "Top of the Hill". The geography of the village incites us to favor this meaning more than the equivalent Arabic of "Top of Irrigation" [Moubarac, Youakim (1984), "Pentalogie antiochienne / domaine Maronite", volume 2, Tome II, Editions Cenacle Libanais, Beirut, page 713. OCLC|62029897] .

History

Ras Maska is an old village. It figures in the first Ottoman census of 1519. It belonged to the Nahiyat Koura / Anfeh and was inhabited by 14 male adults (more than 15 years old), all muslim, 80% of them being married [Khalifeh, Issam (1995), "Abhath Fi Tarikh Shamal Loubnan", Private Editor, Hadtoun, page 34.] . If we adopt the estimation of the Historians (5 inhabitants by male adult [Khalifeh, Issam (1995), "Abhath Fi Tarikh Shamal Loubnan", Private Editor, Hadtoun, page 24.] ), the number of inhabitants of Ras Maska in 1519 would have been of 70 persons.

In the Ottoman census of 1571, the number of male adults was of 26, all Muslim. The population of Ras Maska practically doubled over the period, growing on average by 12 per mil per year to be compared to a growth of the number of inhabitants in the Nahiyat of 6.7% per mil per year. [Khalifeh, Issam (1995), "Abhath Fi Tarikh Shamal Loubnan", Private Editor, Hadtoun, page 34.]

Facilities and services

* [http://www.ceuln.usj.edu.lb/ Centre universitaire du Liban-Nord - Université Saint-Joseph]
* [http://www.lycee-tripoli.edu.lb/ Lycée Franco-Libanais Alphonse De Lamartine] - A school and high-school of la [http://www.mission-laique.asso.fr/ Mission laïque française] ] with more than 1,400 students.
* Albert Haykal Hospital

External links

fr icon [http://www.lycee-tripoli.edu.lb/ Lycée Franco-Libanais Alphonse De Lamartine]

References