Hod HaSharon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hod HaSharon

The Four Seasons Park

Hebrew הוֹד הַשָּׁרוֹן
Arabic هود هاشرون
Name meaning Splendor of the Sharon plain
Government City (from 1990)
District Center
Population 44,600 (2006)
Jurisdiction 19,239 dunams (19.2 km²)

Hod HaSharon (Hebrew: הוֹד הַשָּׁרוֹן‎, meaning "Splendor of the Sharon") is a city in the Center District of Israel. Officially declared a city in 1990, Hod HaSharon was created from the union in 1964 of four neighboring small towns: Magdiel, Ramatayim, Kfar Hadar, and Ramat Hadar. Its official land area is 19.239 square kilometers, and according to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), in December 2006 the city had a total population of 44,600.[1]

Contents

[edit] History

Hod HaSharon was created in 1964 when the settlements of Magdiel, Ramatayim, Kfar Hadar, and Ramat Hadar were merged. The newly formed local council grew to become designated as a city in 1990.[2]

[edit] Magdiel

The settlement of Magdiel was founded on August 2, 1924 after a meeting of its 12 founders of Ashkenazi heritage in Tel Aviv earlier in July. In the meeting the founders collectively decided to establish a new Hebrew settlement in which Hebrew workers would work. They were allocated the land by Yoshua Hankin and cultivated it making it fertile and suitable for agriculture.[2]

[edit] Ramatayim

Ramatayim was founded in 1925, also by settlers from Tel Aviv who dreamed of a "rural characterized village". It was founded on the two principles of private initiative and opposition to salaried labor and consists of two hills and a valley between them explaining the name of Ramatayim which means literally 'two hills'.[2]

Today, what was Ramatayim forms the center of Hod HaSharon, connecting them all by a main street, called HaSharon road (דרך השרון). Ramatayim is the mostly populated section of the city with medium size (10 - 20 apartments) residential buildings, private houses and villas. Ramatayim includes many restaurants, shops and a small business area.

[edit] Kfar Hadar

Kfar Hadar was established in 1927 by a group of pioneers who purchased land from the Abou Kishk Bedouin tribe. Also city dwellers in origin, the pioneers decided to build a rural settlement based on citrus crops. In its early development, Kfar Hadar also carried out chicken and poultry farming. In the early 1940's, Yemenite immigrants moved to Kfar hadar in an area which later became known as "Shikun Hateymanim" (Yemenite housing), which today is a part of the Ganney Tzvi neighborhood.[2]

[edit] Ramat Hadar

The last of the four settlemetns which make up Hod HaSharon to be founded was Ramat Hadar, established in December 1938 by German immigrants coming with the Fifth Aliya. Ramat Hadar was built on a hill between Kfar Hadar, Ramatayim, and the main road from Petah Tikva to Ramatayim. The focus of Ramat Hadar was specialised small farms usually carrying out chicken and poultry farming.[2]

[edit] Geography

Hod HaSharon is located around 32°09′N, 34°53′E on central Israel's Sharon Plain, part of the Israeli Coastal Plain. The city is located approximately 10 km east of the Mediterranean coastline, to the south of the city of Kfar Saba, the south east of Raanana, and the north east of Ramat HaSharon. The city is approximately 8 km west of the West Bank and 8 km north east of central Tel Aviv.

[edit] Demographics

According to the CBS, the ethnic makeup of the city was in 2006 was 99.9% Jewish and other non-Arab, with no significant Arab population. In 2006 77 immigrants from out of Israel settled in Hod HaSharon as their first place of residence in the country, of whom 68.8% were under 18 years of age. 6.8% of the population of the city consists of immigrants to Israel since 1990. By 2025, the city is planned to have 80,000 inhabitants. The population density of Hod HaSharon is the lowest in the Sharon Plain.[2]

According to the CBS, in 2006 there were 21,700 males and 22,800 females. The population of the city was spread out with 33.2% 19 years of age or younger, 13.0% between 20 and 29, 23.2% between 30 and 44, 18.5% from 45 to 59, 3.6% from 60 to 64, and 8.6% 65 years of age or older. The population growth rate in 2006 was 3.3%.[1]

According to the CBS, as of 2005, there were 18,612 salaried workers and 2,006 are self-employed in the city. The mean monthly wage in 2004 for a salaried worker in the city was ILS 9,698, a year-on-year increase of 7.1%. Salaried males had a mean monthly wage of ILS 13,326 (a real change of 9.5%) versus ILS 6,306 for females (a real change of 1.6%). The mean income for the self-employed is ILS 8,490. There are 335 people who receive unemployment benefits and 300 people who receive an income guarantee.[1]

[edit] Education

According to the CBS, there are 18 schools and 8,083 students in the city. They are spread out in 11 elementary schools with 4,406 elementary school students, 4 middle schools with 1,628 students, and 4 high schools with 2,049 high school students. 71.7% of 12th grade students were entitled to a matriculation certificate in 2001.[1]

One campus, known as Mosenson, is home to different schools that house Israelis, Russians, Ethiopians, Germans, Canadians and Americans.It hosts all of these countries through a program known as Naale. The notable Alexander Muss High School in Israel allows American juniors and seniors to study abroad for between two months and a full semester while living in and touring around Israel.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d [www1.cbs.gov.il/www/publications/local_authorities2006/pdf/124_9700.pdf Municipality Profile] (2006).
  2. ^ a b c d e f Identiy Card. Retrieved on 2008-04-07.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Coordinates: 32°09′N, 34°53′E

v • d • e
Center District
Cities
Local councils
Regional councils
Brenner · Gan Raveh · Gederot · Gezer · Drom HaSharon · Hefer Valley · Hevel Modi'in · Hevel Yavne · Hof HaSharon · Lev HaSharon · Lod Valley · Nahal Sorek
Boroughs