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
Area (sq km) Founding Year Founding Year Elevation (m) Latitude31.288611 degrees north 2 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 FoundationSource 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 SourceWikidata: Rafah
Wikidata Q172343, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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