Al Bīrah

Bireh has been associated with several ancient sites. Because of its location Al-Bireh served as an economic crossroad between the north and south, along the caravan route between Jerusalem and Nablus. Under Crusader rule, it was one of the fief villages of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It was captured and destroyed by Saladin, but it was rebuilt during the Ayyubid period. Throughout the Ottoman era, it was a predominantly Muslim village. Following the British Mandate, its population grew. After the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, it came under Jordanian rule until the Six-Day War in 1967, when it was occupied by Israel.

Since the Oslo Accords, Bireh has been governed by the Palestinian Authority and now serves as a significant administrative center, hosting various governmental and non-governmental organizations. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the city had a population of approximately 45,975 in the 2017 census.