In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Selbit had a population of 296, all Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Jerusalem, p. 15 increasing in the 1931 census, when it was counted together with Bayt Shanna, to 406, still all Muslims, in a total of 71 houses.Mills, 1932, p. 43
