Raanana is a beautiful Israeli city located in the southern region of the Sharon Plain. Its history goes back to 1912 when the Company for Jewish Settlement in Israel formed the Ahuza A – New York group intending to buy land for agricultural settlement in Israel. The advent of World War I delayed those plans by about a decade. Still, on April 2, 1922, the first group of these settlers – four Ahuza members, three laborers, and two armed guards – arrived by wagon in the area that would eventually become Ra’anana.
Most of the population of Ra’anana were born in Israel, and descendants of repatriates moved from European countries and America. The city received the name Raanana (“fresh”) from the Jews who settled there. Since the settlers were Americans and the English speech prevailed, the Arab neighbors called the region “Americaia”.
Today, an industrial park is located on the territory of the Israeli city, which WHO recognizes as a “Green City” and is a significant place for start-up companies.
Population
According to information from the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, at the end of 2020, the population of Ra’anana was about 75 thousand people. Ra’anana’s population consists mainly of native-born Israelis, but about 22% of the city’s residents are immigrants to Israel. It is home to many immigrants from English-speaking countries, a significant number of immigrants from Latin America, and also absorbed large numbers of immigrants from the former Soviet Union. In recent years the number of French immigrants is also on the rise.
