This village is located in the Koura district on the hills overlooking the Mediterranean to the south of Tripoli. It is divided between the northern and southern regions.
Northern Ras Maska, is the lowest part of the village, located at 60 meters (200 ft) above sea level. The religious majority of the northern population is Sunni Muslim.[5] It hosts many coastal beach resorts. Northern Ras Maska is known for its olive agriculture.[6]
Southern Ras Maska is the highest part of the village, located at 200 meters (660 ft) above sea level. The religious majority is Christian, including Greek Orthodox and Maronites.[5]
Etymology and names
The name of the village is probably derived from the Aramaic language, ras meaning top and maska meaning drinking stream." The equivalent meaning could be the top of the stream. Due to the geography of the village, this translation is more likely correct than the equivalent Arabic translation: top of irrigation.[7]
History
Ras Maska first appears in the Ottoman census of 1519. It belonged to the Nahiyat Koura / Anfeh and was inhabited by 14 male adults (more than 15 years old), 80% of them being married.[8] If we adopt the estimation of the Historians[9]), 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 26. 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.[8]
In 1953, Ras Maska had a population of 251 living in 40 households.[10]
Landmarks
Lebanese University - North Lebanon Campus
Centre universitaire du Liban-Nord - Université Saint-Joseph
^El Nabbout, Khaled (June 2007) - Geo-Visualization Tools for Participatory Urban Planning The Case of Tripoli, Lebanon - Ph.D. thesis - Technischen Universität Dresden - page 39 - Pdf document (Last access: 28, October 2007)
^Moubarac, Youakim (1984), Pentalogie antiochienne / domaine Maronite, volume 2, Tome II, Editions Cenacle Libanais, Beirut, page 713. OCLC62029897