Shaqra, Daraa


Shaqra is a village in southern Syria, administratively part of the Izraa District in the Daraa Governorate. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Shaqra had a population of 487 in the 2004 census. Its inhabitants are predominantly Christian, with a Sunni Muslim minority.

History

In 1596, Shaqra appeared in the Ottoman tax registers named Saqra; part of the nahiya of Bani Kilab in the Hauran Sanjak. It had an entirely Muslim population consisting of 12 households and 7 bachelors. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 40% on various agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, goats and beehives, in addition to "occasional revenues" ; a total of 8,160 akçe. 1/3 of the revenue went to a waqf.
In 1838, it was noted as a Sunni Muslim village, situated "in the Luhf, west of the Lejah".

Demographics

In 2011, the Melkite Greek Catholic Church had approximately 2,300 believers.

Religious buildings