Sharon, Plain

Sharon, Plain of

Mediterranean coastal plain, western Israel. Extending about 55 mi (90 km) from Mount Carmel to Tel Aviv–Yafo and roughly triangular in shape, it has been inhabited since remote antiquity. Its name occurs in the Bible and is mentioned in Egyptian pharaonic inscriptions. Modern settlement was undertaken as part of the Zionist movement to settle the agricultural lands of Palestine in the late 19th century, and by the early 1930s it had become the most densely settled area of Jewish Palestine. It produces citrus fruits, vegetables, and cotton and is a popular tourist destination.