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City

Rafah

Western Asia

Rafah is a largely destroyed and depopulated city in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestine, serving as the capital of the Rafah Governorate, located 30 kilometers south-west of Gaza City. It had a population of 171,889 in 2017; amid the Gaza war, about 1.4 million people from Gaza City and Khan Yunis, roughly 70 percent of Gaza's population, were displaced to Rafah as of February 2024, and by April 2025 most of the city had been destroyed by Israeli forces and had fallen under Israeli control.

Facts
Population
171,899 1
Area (sq km)
64 2
Founding Year
1303 BCE 1
Founding Year
1303 BCE 1
Elevation (m)
54 2
Latitude
31.288611 degrees north 2
Longitude
34.251944 degrees east 2
Elevation Band
Lowland 3
Climate Zone
Dry 4
Time Zone
UTC+02:00 5
FAQs

How old is Rafah?

Rafah was first recorded in an inscription of Seti I from 1303 BCE as Raphia.

Rafah has a history stretching back thousands of years. Its earliest known mention is in an inscription of the Egyptian pharaoh Seti I from 1303 BCE, where the city appears as Raphia. That date marks when the place was first recorded in writing, not a founding date, which the sources do not give.
Sources
1. Rafah (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Source text, founding-year-range-start: -1303
    It was first recorded in an inscription of Egyptian Pharaoh Seti I, from 1303 BCE as Raphia (Rph).
  • Source text, founding-year-range-end: -1303
    It was first recorded in an inscription of Egyptian Pharaoh Seti I, from 1303 BCE as Raphia (Rph).
  • Source text, founding-year: 1303
    It was first recorded in an inscription of Egyptian Pharaoh Seti I, from 1303 BCE as Raphia (Rph).
  • Infobox: population_total
    171,899
View the Source
2. Rafah (Wikidata)
  • P625 (coordinate location)
    latitude 31.288611, longitude 34.251944
  • P2044 (elevation above sea level)
    elevation 54 m
  • P2046 (area)
    area 64.0 sq km
  • In Group: Cities of Western Asia (World), Wikipedia infobox, country field
View the Source
3. GeoNames: Rafaḩ - GeoNames
GeoNamesPlace record, elevation
Quote, Place record, elevation
Elevation ca. 30 m
View the Source
4. Koeppen-Geiger map (Kottek et al., University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna): World Map of the Koeppen-Geiger Climate Classification, present climate data
Koeppen-Geiger map (Kottek et al., University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna)Koeppen-Geiger-ASCII.txt grid cell 31.25, 34.25
Quote, Koeppen-Geiger-ASCII.txt grid cell 31.25, 34.25
31.25 34.25 BSh
View the Source
5. GeoNames: Rafaḩ - GeoNames
GeoNamescities500 record 281102
Quote, cities500 record 281102
31.29722 34.24357 P PPLA2 PS GZ 7870260 126305 30 Asia/Gaza
View the Source
Wikidata: Rafah
Wikidata Q172343, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source
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