Etymology

In his book entitled Names of Lebanese Towns and Villages, author Anis Fraiha mentions that the name ‘yaroun’ appeared in the Book of Joshua, tracing the word back to Canaanite origins meaning ‘fear’ or ‘panic’. He adds that it could also be an alteration of the word ‘Yaroum’, which means ‘high place’.

Location

Yaroun is located in the Qada’a of Bint Jbeil near the Lebanese-Israeli border. It is bordered by Israel to the east and south, by Rmeish and Ain Ebel to the west and by Maroun Al-Ras to the north. It stretches across 1400 hectares and is 125 km from Beirut at an altitude of 800 m above the sea level.

Yaroun may be reached via two routes:

Tyre, Tebnine, Bint Jbeil, Yaroun

Kfarkala, Aitaroun, Yaroun

Population

Yaroun’s registered population is estimated at 7000 people. However, only 2000 people live in the town, and habit over 1000 houses. The majority of Yaroun’s inhabitants are Shia’a (75%) and the rest are Greek Catholic (25%)

Voters

In 2013, there were 4360 registered voters in the town compared to 3482 in 2004 and 3025 in 2000. Voters are distributed over many families, the largest of which are the following:

Shia’a

• Rida: 405 voters
• Saab: 285
• Farhat: 266
• Chahine: 260
• Saleh: 241
• Jaafar: 197
• Ghsham: 195
• Qdouh: 103
• Hijazi: 103

Greek Catholic

• Ajaqa: 293
• Qaloush: 176
• Salloum: 140
• Haddad: 78
• Bechara: 64
• Badin: 59

Other families: Neemeh, Nasser, Khalaf, Hanna

Local authorities

The first municipal council in Yaroun was established in 1928 under the presidency of Hussein Ali Jaafar. Upon his death, Youssef Mohammad Hajj came to office which he held until 1934 when the municipality was cancelled.

The local authority was re-established in later stages and today the municipal council consist of 15 members. Yaroun’s share of the Independent Municipal Council stood at LBP 224 million and LBP 237 million in 2007 and 2008 respectively. Its share rose to LBP 328 in 2011. The town has 3 Mukhtars and an Ikhtiyariah body of 3 members.

Educational Institutions

The town has promoted education for many decades. In 1974, Saida’s bishop of the Greek Catholic Church established the first Episcopal school, which was passed in 1975 to the Salvatorian sisters and was named the Saint George School. In 1952, Yaroun’s inhabitants donated a land to the Ministry of National Education for the construction of a public school in town. Another private charity school opened its doors in 1960, but the decline in student population resulted in the closure of some schools. The Saint George School- a private middle school- is the only school operating in town and it had 62 students in the school year 2009/10.

Economic Life

Some of the residents in Yaroun earn their living by growing tobacco and olive trees. Others depend mainly on the remittances sent by the expatriates in the US and South America.