Palestine grid 152/188 Name meaning "Pharaoh" | Governorate Tulkarm | |
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Weather 30°C, Wind E at 18 km/h, 17% Humidity | ||
Far'un (Arabic: فرعون) is a Palestinian town in the Tulkarm Governorate in the northeastern West Bank, located five kilometers south of Tulkarm near the border with Israel. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Far'un had a population of 3,100 inhabitants in 2007.
Contents
Map of Far'un
History
The place is shown by Marino Sanuto on his map as Farona.
Ottoman era
During the Ottoman period, Far'un was marked as a village named "Faroun" on Pierre Jacotin's map surveyed during Napoleon's 1799 invasion.
In 1863, the French explorer Victor Guérin noted that it was situated on a hill, and contained 500 inhabitants. In 1882, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described it as "a small village on a slope, at the edge of the plain, with a few trees and a well to the east. The inhabitants are Greek Christians. [..] The name means "Pharaoh" but may perhaps be a corruption of Pharathoni or Pirathion."
British Mandate era
In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Far'un had a population of 341, all Muslims, increasing by the 1931 census to 456, 450 Muslims and 6 Christians, in 107 houses.
In 1945 the population of Far'un was 710, 700 Muslims and 10 Christians, and the land area was 8,851 dunams, according to an official land and population survey. 390 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 6,479 used for cereals, while 24 dunams were built-up (urban) land.
1948-1967
After the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Far'un came under Jordanian rule.
Post-1967
After the Six-Day War in 1967, Far'un has been under Israeli occupation. The total land area of the town 8,800 dunams, however nearly half of Far'un's land has been confiscated by Israeli authorities. It currently has a land area of 4,333 dunams of which 495 is built-up area. About 70% of the town's land is planted with olive groves, 5% is cultivated with citrus, guava and almond trees.
Most of the town's labor force is employed in agriculture or work inside Israel. Far'un is governed by a Village Council and contains a mosque, two schools, a medical clinic and a child care center. Just outside Far'un lies Khirbet Nus Jbeil which was built in 1265, dedicated to the Mamluk leader Baibars.