Al Kharsaah

Al Kharsaah (Arabic: الخرسعة‎; also spelled Al Khuraisa) is a village in Qatar located in the municipality of Al-Shahaniya, approximately 80 km west of the capital Doha. Nearby areas include Umm Washah, Umm Al-Jaljam, Umm Bab and Umm Taqa.[2] It hosts a stage of the Qatar International Rally.[3]

Al Kharsaah

الخرسعة
Village
Al Kharsaah
Location in Qatar
Coordinates: 25.2712°N 50.9680°E / 25.2712; 50.9680
Country Qatar
MunicipalityAl-Shahaniya
Elevation105 ft (32 m)
Sketch map of the Qatar Peninsula drawn in 1935 depicting Al Kharsaah

History

In 1908, J.G. Lorimer documented Al Kharsaah in his Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, giving its location as "11 miles north-east of the foot of Dohat as-Salwa and 6 from the west coast". He refers to it as a Bedouin camping ground and notes that there is good water at 18 fathoms in a masonry well.[4]

Geography

Al Kharsaah has a very low elevation and there is a small amount of vegetation.[5] Locals speculate that the area was the site of a meteorite impact, owing to its low elevation and rough surface. However, Qatari geologists believe that the area was once a large cave, but that natural factors caused the ceiling of the cave to collapse.[6]

Infrastructure

The village has 30 houses, half of which are inhabited full-time, and the other half of which are inhabited only on the weekends by locals who spend most of their time in Doha. Public services are limited. There are two primary schools; one for boys and one for girls.[5]

The Qatar Electricity and Water Company (QEWC) designated land in Al Kharsaah for a major solar power project in 2017. As part of the project, a solar power plant with a production capacity of 500 MW is planned to be inaugurated by 2020. Costs of the projects predicted to be upwards of $500 million.[7]

References
  1. "Al Kharsaah, Zone 85, Qatar on the Elevation Map". elevationmap.net. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  2. "خرسعة الأجداد تعاني الإهمال" (in Arabic). Al Sharq. 1 February 2015. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  3. "Abu Dhabi Racing heading to Qatar International Rally with 6 cars". UAE Interact. 17 February 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  4. "'Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf. Vol. II. Geographical and Statistical. J G Lorimer. 1908' [1522] (1637/2084)". Qatar Digital Library. Retrieved 6 July 2018. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. "الخرسعــــــــة روضة خلابة زهراتها البشرية بمدرسة من «بـــــــــــــــورت كابن»" (in Arabic). Al Watan. 28 April 2014. Archived from the original on 9 August 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  6. "GIS Portal". Ministry of Municipality and Environment. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  7. "Qatar Plans First Significant Solar Capacity". MEES. 29 September 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
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