Barkan

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Barkan (Hebrew: ברקן), is an Israeli settlement located in the West Bank region of Samaria, about 25 km east of Tel Aviv, under the administrative local government of the Shomron Regional Council.

Founded in June 1981 by non-religious Israelis from the Beitar and Herut movements, the yishuv is part of a chain of settlements built along the Trans-Samaria Highway, and adjacent to the Barkan Industrial Park in which Israelis and Palestinians work side by side in dozens of factories.

The original name of the town was Beit Abba after Abba Achimeir who was one of the leaders of the Lehi.

Barkan was named after the archeological site of Burak, east of the town, which is the remnant of an Israelite settlement during the time of the first and second temples.

Barkan's population was approximately 1,200 at the end of 2004 (according to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics), in over 380 families.