Sidon, Lebanon Illustration

Although residents numbered a mere 10,000 in 1900, a 2000 census put the population of Sidon at around 200,000. Today the city continues to be an important commercial port with significant agricultural areas in the surrounding region. As Lebanon's third largest city, Sidon is the political center for all southern Lebanon. Just outside of Sidon is the Temple of Echmoun, the most important Phoenician temple discovered thus far and probably constructed during the 6th century BCE.