As-Sarafand

As-Sarafand (Arabic: الصرفند) is a municipality in southern Lebanon located 10 km south of Sidon overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.

As-Sarafand الصرفند
Municipality
Glassmaking in As-Sarafand
As-Sarafand Location in Lebanon
Coordinates: 33°27′06″N 35°17′27″E
Country	Lebanon
Governorate	South Governorate
District	Sidon District
Government
• Type	Mayor–council
Elevation [1]	70 m (230 ft)
Population  (2004)	10,965
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Dialing code	00961 (7) Landline

Etymology

As-Sarafand is an Arabic rendition of the Phoenician place-name Ṣrpt,^[2] after Classical Sarepta, just north of Sarafand.^[3]

Sarepta and Sarafand in the 1862 Carte du Liban

History

In 1875 Victor Guérin noted that the village had 400 Métualis inhabitants.^[4]

In mid-April 1980 Israeli commandos, arriving by sea, raided As-Sarafand killing twenty Lebanese and Palestinians, mostly civilians. During the first three weeks of April the Israelis carried out similar, but smaller, raids along the coast road between Sidon and Tyre, killing thirteen people.^[5]

On 7 June 1982, on the second day of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon an IDF brigade was ambushed as it pushed through As-Sarafand. Two Israeli soldiers were killed and one seriously wounded.^[6]

Demographics

In 2014, Muslims made up 99.63% of registered voters in As-Sarafand. 96.90% of the voters were Shiite Muslims.^[7]

Notable people

• Mohammad El Hayek (born 2000), Lebanese footballer^[8]