Tel Aviv תֵּל־אָבִיב تل أبيب-يافا
—  City  —
A collage of Tel Aviv
Flag Coat of arms
Nickname(s): The White City, The City That Never Sleeps, The Big Orange[1]
Tel Aviv Location in Israel
Coordinates: 32°4′N 34°47′E / 32.067°N 34.783°E / 32.067; 34.783
Country	Israel
District	Tel Aviv
Metropolitan Area	Gush Dan
Founded	11 April 1909
Government
• Type	Mayor-council
• Body	Tel Aviv municipality
• Mayor	Ron Huldai (Labor)
Area
• City	52 km2 (20 sq mi)
• Urban	176 km2 (68 sq mi)
• Metro	1,516 km2 (585 sq mi)
Elevation	5 m (16 ft)
Population (2010)[2]
• City	404,400
• Rank	2nd in Israel
• Density	7,867.7/km2 (20,377/sq mi)
• Density rank	12th in Israel
• Urban	1,284,400
• Urban density	7,297.7/km2 (18,901/sq mi)
• Metro	3,325,700
• Metro density	2,193.7/km2 (5,682/sq mi)
Demonym	Tel Avivi
Ethnicity
• Jews	91%
• Muslims	3%
• Christians	1%
• Unclassified	5%
Time zone	IST (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	IDT (UTC+3)
Postal code	61999
Area code	+972 (Israel) 3 (City)
Website	tel-aviv.gov.il

Tel Aviv, officially Tel Aviv-Yafo (Hebrew: תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ‎‎; Arabic: تل أبيب‎), is the second most populous city in Israel. It has a population of 404,400 within city limits, on a land area of 52 km² (20 sq mi).^[2] The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in central-west Israel. In 2010, it was the largest and most populous city in the Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area of 3,325,700 residents, known as Gush Dan.^[3] The city is governed by the Tel Aviv-Yafo municipality, headed by Ron Huldai. Residents of Tel Aviv are referred to as Tel Avivim.^[4]

Tel Aviv was founded in 1909 by the Jewish Community of Jaffa (Hebrew: יָפוֹ‎‎ Yafo; Arabic: يافا‎ Yāfā), on the outskirts of the ancient port city. The growth of Tel Aviv soon outpaced Jaffa, which had a majority Arab population at the time.^[5] Tel Aviv and Jaffa were merged into a single municipality in 1950, two years after the establishment of the State of Israel. Tel Aviv's White City, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003, comprises the world's largest concentration of Bauhaus buildings.^[6][7][8]

Known as "The City That Never Sleeps", Tel Aviv is a popular international tourist destination.^[9] It is renowned for its 24-hour culture, beaches, bars, restaurants, cafés, parks, shopping, cosmopolitan lifestyle, and landmark neighborhoods such as Old Jaffa and Neve Tzedek.^[10][11] Tel Aviv is an economic hub, home to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, corporate offices and research and development centers.^[12] It is the country's financial capital and a major performing arts and business center.^[13] Tel Aviv has the second-largest economy in the Middle East, and is the 19th most expensive city in the world.^[14][15]

In 2010, Knight Frank's world city survey ranked it 34th globally.^[16] Tel Aviv has been named the third "hottest city for 2011" (behind only New York City and Tangier) by Lonely Planet, third-best in the Middle East and Africa by Travel + Leisure magazine (behind only Cape Town and Jerusalem), and the ninth-best beach city in the world by National Geographic.^[17][18][19] Tel Aviv is consistently ranked as one of the top LGBT destinations in the world.^[20][21]

Etymology[link]

Tel Aviv is the Hebrew title of Theodor Herzl's Altneuland ("Old New Land"), translated from German by Nahum Sokolow. Sokolow had adopted the name of a Mesopotamian site in Ezekiel 3:15: "Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel Aviv, that lived by the river Chebar, and to where they lived; and I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days.";^[22] The name was chosen in 1910 from several suggestions, including "Herzliya". It was found fitting as it embraced the idea of a renaissance in the ancient Jewish homeland. Aviv is Hebrew for "spring", symbolizing renewal, and tel is a man-made mound accumulating layers of civilization built one over the other and symbolizing the ancient.^[23]

Theories vary about the etymology of Jaffa or Yafo in Hebrew. Some believe that the name derives from yafah or yofi, Hebrew for "beautiful" or "beauty". Another tradition is that Japheth, son of Noah, founded the city and that it was named after him.

History[link]

Jaffa[link]

Port of Jaffa in 1906

Lottery for building plots in Tel Aviv, 1909

The ancient port of Jaffa changed hands many times in the course of history. Archeological excavations from 1955 to 1974 unearthed towers and gates from the Middle Bronze Age.^[24] Subsequent excavations, from 1997 onwards, helped date earlier discoveries.^[24] They also exposed sections of a packed-sandstone glacis and a "massive brick wall", dating from the Late Bronze Age as well as a temple "attributed to the Sea Peoples" and dwellings from the Iron Age.^[24] Remnants of buildings from the Persian and Hellenistic periods were also discovered.^[24]

The city, Jaffa, is first mentioned in letters from 1470 BCE that record its conquest by Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose III.^[8] Jaffa is mentioned several times in the Bible, as the port from which Jonah set sail for Tarshish;^[25] as bordering on the territory of the Tribe of Dan;^[26] and as the Jaffa Port at which the wood for Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem arrived from Lebanon.^[27] According to some sources it has been a port for at least 4,000 years.^[28]

In 1099, the Christian armies of the First Crusade, led by Godfrey of Bouillon occupied Jaffa, which had been abandoned by the Muslims, fortified the town and improved its harbor.^[29] As the County of Jaffa, the town soon became important as the main sea supply route for the Kingdom of Jerusalem.^[30] Jaffa was captured by Saladin in 1192 but swiftly re-taken by Richard Coeur de Lion, who added to its defenses.^[31] In 1223, Emperor Frederick II added further fortications.^[31] Crusader domination ended in 1268, when the Mamluk Sultan Baibars captured the town, destroyed its harbor and razed its fortifications.^[31][32] In 1336, when a new Crusade was being planned, Al-Nasir Muhammad had the harbor destroyed to prevent the Franks from landing there.^[33] For the same reason, both the town and the harbor were destroyed in 1345.^[33] In the 16th century, Jaffa was conquered by the Ottomans and was administered as a village in the Sanjak of Gaza.^[32]

Napoleon besieged the city in 1799 and killed scores of inhabitants; a plague epidemic followed, decimating the remaining population.^[32] The surrendering garrison of several thousand Muslims was massacred.^[34]

Builder in Tel Aviv, 1920s

Jaffa began to grow as an urban center in the early 18th century, when the Ottoman government in Istanbul intervened to guard the port and reduce attacks by Bedouins and pirates.^[32] However, the real expansion came during the 19th century, when the population grew from 2,500 in 1806 to 17,000 in 1886.^[8]

From 1800 to 1870, Jaffa was surrounded by walls and towers, which were torn down to allow for expansion as security improved.^[35] The sea wall, 2.5 metres (8.2 ft) high, remained intact until the 1930s, when it was built over during a renovation of the port by the British Mandatory authorities.^[35] During the mid-19th century, the city grew prosperous from trade, especially in silk and Jaffa oranges, with Europe.^[8] In the 1860s Jaffa's small Sephardic community was joined by Jews from Morocco and small numbers of Ashkenazi Jews, making by 1882 a total Jewish population of more than 1,500.^[8]

The first Jews to build outside of Jaffa, in the area of modern day Tel Aviv, were Yemenite Jews. These homes, built in 1881, became the core of Kerem HaTeimanim (Hebrew for "the Vineyard of the Yemenites"). In 1896 the Yemenite Jews established Mahane Yehuda, and in 1904, Mahane Yossef. These neighbourhoods later became the Shabazi neighbourhood.

During the 1880s, Ashkenazi immigration to Jaffa increased with the onset of the First Aliyah. The new arrivals were motivated more by Zionism than religion and came to farm the land and engage in productive labor.^[8] In keeping with their pioneer ideology, some chose to settle in the sand dunes north of Jaffa.^[8] The beginning of modern-day Tel Aviv is marked by the construction of Neve Tzedek, a neighborhood built by Ashkenazi settlers between 1887 and 1896.^[6]

Ahuzat Bayit[link]

The Pagoda House, built in 1924, is an Eclectic Style landmark

The Second Aliyah led to further expansion.^[8] In 1906, a group of Jews, among them residents of Jaffa, followed the initiative of Akiva Arye Weiss and banded together to form the Ahuzat Bayit (lit. "homestead") society. The society's goal was to form a "Hebrew urban centre in a healthy environment, planned according to the rules of aesthetics and modern hygiene".^[8] The urban planning for the new city was influenced by the ideas of the Garden city movement.^[36] In 1908, the group purchased 5 hectares (12 acres) of dunes northeast of Jaffa.^{[citation needed]} Following this purchase, Meir Dizengoff, who later became Tel Aviv's first mayor, decided to join Ahuzat Bayit.^[37][38] His vision for Tel Aviv involved peaceful co-existence with the Arabs.^[8]

Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium in 1936

In April 1909, 66 Jewish families gathered on a desolate sand dune on what is now Rothschild Boulevard to parcel out the land by lottery using seashells. This gathering is considered the official date of the establishment of Tel Aviv, although some neighbourhoods, such as Kerem HaTeimanim, already existed. The lottery was organised by Akiva Arye Weiss, president of the building society. The names of the families were inscribed on white shells and the plot number on shells of a different color.^[39] Within a year, Herzl, Ahad Ha'am, Yehuda Halevi, Lilienblum, and Rothschild streets were built; a water system was installed; and 66 houses (including some on six subdivided plots) were completed.^[36] At the end of Herzl Street, a plot was allocated for a new building for the Herzliya Hebrew High School, founded in Jaffa in 1906.^[36] On 21 May 1910, the name Tel Aviv was adopted.^[36] Tel Aviv was planned as an independent Hebrew city with wide streets and boulevards, running water at each house and street lights.^[40]

By 1914, Tel Aviv had grown to more than 1 square kilometre (247 acres).^[36] However, growth halted in 1917 when the Ottoman authorities expelled the Jews of Jaffa and Tel Aviv.^[36] A report published in The New York Times by United States Consul Garrels in Alexandria, Egypt described the Jaffa deportation of early April 1917. The orders of evacuation were aimed chiefly at the Jewish population.^[41]

Under the British Mandate[link]

Master plan for Tel Aviv by Patrick Geddes, 1925

Under British administration, political friction between Jews and Arabs in Palestine increased. On 1 May 1921, the Jaffa Riots erupted resulting in the deaths of 48 Arabs and 47 Jews and injuries to 146 Jews and 73 Arabs.^[42] In the wake of this violence, many Jews left Jaffa for Tel Aviv, increasing the population of Tel Aviv from 2,000 in 1920 to around 34,000 by 1925.^[6][43] New businesses opened in Tel Aviv, leading to the decline of Jaffa as a commercial center.^[36] In 1925, the Scottish biologist, sociologist, philanthropist and pioneering town planner Patrick Geddes drew up a master plan for Tel Aviv that was adopted by the city council led by Meir Dizengoff. This first plan for developing the northern part of the city was called "The Geddes Plan".^[8] The core idea was the development of a Garden City. The boundaries he worked within, the Yarkon River in the North and Ibn Gvirol Street in the East, are now the boundaries of Tel Aviv's Old North.

Tel Aviv continued to expand in 1926, but suffered an economic setback between 1927 and 1930.^[8][36] The Ben Gurion House was built in 1930–31, part of a new worker's housing development. At the same time, cultural life was given a boost by the establishment of the Ohel Theater and the decision of Habima Theatre to make Tel Aviv its permanent base in 1931.^[36]

The Tel Aviv Port was opened on 23 February 1938, and closed on 25 October 1965.

Tel Aviv gained municipal status in 1934.^[36] The population rose dramatically during the Fifth Aliyah when the Nazis came to power in Germany.^[36] As the Jews fled Europe, many settled in Tel Aviv, bringing the population in 1937 to 150,000, compared to Jaffa's 69,000 residents. Within two years, it had reached 160,000, which was over a third of the country's total Jewish population.^[36] Many new immigrants remained after disembarking in Jaffa, turning the city into a center of urban life. In the wake of the 1936–39 Arab revolt, a local port independent of Jaffa was built in 1938, and Lydda Airport (later Ben Gurion Airport) and Sde Dov Airport opened between 1937 and 1938.^[8]

Tel Aviv's White City, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2003, emerged in the 1930s. Many of the German Jewish architects trained at the Bauhaus, the Modernist school of architecture closed by the Nazis in 1933, fled Germany. Some, like architect Arieh Sharon, came to Palestine and adapted the architectural outlook of the Bauhaus as well as other similar schools, to local conditions, creating what is claimed to be the largest concentration of buildings in the International Style in the world.^[6][8]

Bauhaus (left) and Eclectic (right) architecture of the 1940s.

Tel Aviv was a major target of the Italian Bombing of Palestine in World War II. On 9 September 1940, 137 were killed in the bombing of Tel Aviv.^[44]

According to the 1947 UN Partition Plan for dividing Palestine into Jewish and Arab states, Tel Aviv, by then a city of 230,000, was slated for inclusion in the Jewish state. Jaffa with, as of 1945, a population of 101,580 people, 53,930 of whom were Muslim and 16,800 Christian, making up the Arab population, and 30,820 Jewish, was designated as part of the Arab state.^[45] The Arabs, however, rejected the plan.^[8] Between 1947 and 1948, tensions grew on the border between Tel Aviv and Jaffa, with Arab snipers who were firing at Jews from the minaret of the Hassan Bek Mosque. The Haganah and Irgun Jewish forces retaliated with a siege on Jaffa.^[8] From April 1948, the Arab residents began to leave. When Jaffa was conquered by Israeli forces on 14 May, few remained.^[8]

After Israeli independence[link]

Crowd outside Dizengoff House (now Independence Hall) to hear declaration and signing of Israel's Declaration of Independence in 1948

When Israel declared Independence on 14 May 1948, the population of Tel Aviv was over 200,000.^[2] Tel Aviv was the temporary government center of the State of Israel until the government moved to Jerusalem in December 1949. Due to the international dispute over the status of Jerusalem, most foreign embassies remained in or near Tel Aviv.^[23] In the early 1980s, 13 embassies in Jerusalem moved to Tel Aviv as part of the UN's measures responding to Israel's 1980 Jerusalem Law.^[46] Today, all national embassies are in Tel Aviv or environs.^[47] The boundaries of Tel Aviv and Jaffa became a matter of contention between the Tel Aviv municipality and the Israeli government in 1948.^[48] The former wished to incorporate only the northern Jewish suburbs of Jaffa, while the latter wanted a more complete unification.^[48] The issue also had international sensitivity, since the main part of Jaffa was in the Arab portion of the United Nations Partition Plan, whereas Tel Aviv was not, and no armistice agreements had yet been signed.^[48] On 10 December 1948, the government announced the annexation to Tel Aviv of Jaffa's Jewish suburbs, the ex-Arab neighborhood of Abu Kabir, the ex-Arab village of Salama and some of its agricultural land, and the Jewish 'Hatikva' slum.^[48] On 25 February 1949, the abandoned Arab village of al-Shaykh Muwannis was also annexed to Tel Aviv.^[48] On 18 May 1949, Manshiya and part of Jaffa's central zone were added, for the first time including land that had been in the Arab portion of the UN partition plan.^[48] The government voted on the unification of Tel Aviv and Jaffa on 4 October 1949, but the decision was not implemented until 24 April 1950 due to the opposition of Tel Aviv mayor Israel Rokach.^[48] The name of the unified city was Tel Aviv until 19 August 1950, when it was renamed Tel Aviv-Yafo in order to preserve the historical name Jaffa.^[48]

Tel Aviv thus grew to 42 square kilometers (16.2 sq mi). In 1949, a memorial to the 60 founders of Tel Aviv was constructed.^[49] Over the past 60 years, Tel Aviv has developed into a secular, liberal-minded center with a vibrant nightlife and café culture.^[8]

In the 1960s, some of the older buildings were demolished, making way for the country's first high-rises. Shalom Meir Tower was Israel's tallest building until 1999. Tel Aviv's population peaked in the early 1960s at 390,000, representing 16 percent of the country's total.^[50] A long period of steady decline followed, however, and by the late 1980s the city had an aging population of 317,000.^[50] High property prices pushed families out and deterred young people from moving in.^[50] At this time, gentrification began in the poor neighborhoods of southern Tel Aviv, and the old port in the north was renewed.^[8] New laws were introduced to protect Modernist buildings, and efforts to preserve them were aided by UNESCO recognition of the Tel Aviv's White City as a world heritage site. In the early 1990s, the decline in population was reversed, partly due to the large wave of immigrants from the former Soviet Union.^[50] Tel Aviv also began to emerge as a high-tech center.^[8] The construction of many skyscrapers and high-tech office buildings followed. In 1993, Tel Aviv was categorized as a world city.^[51] The city is regarded as a strong candidate for global city status.^[13]

A Bauhaus street cafe in Florentin, Tel Aviv.

In the Gulf War in 1991, Tel Aviv was attacked by Scud rockets from Iraq, but there were few casualties and no fatalities. The inhabitants of the southeastern suburb of HaTikva erected an angel-monument as a sign of their gratitude, that "it was through a great miracle, that many people were preserved from being killed by a direct hit of a Scud rocket."^[52]

On 4 November 1995, Israel's prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin, was assassinated at a rally in Tel Aviv in support of the Oslo peace accord. The outdoor plaza where this occurred, formerly known as Kikar Malchei Yisrael, was renamed Rabin Square.^[8]

In 2009, Tel Aviv celebrated its official centennial.^[53] In addition to city- and country-wide celebrations, digital collections of historical materials were assembled. These include the History section of the official Tel Aviv-Yafo Centennial Year website;^[53] the Ahuzat Bayit collection, which focuses on the founding families of Tel Aviv, and includes photographs and biographies;^[54] and Stanford University's Eliasaf Robinson Tel Aviv Collection,^[55] documenting the history of the city.

Arab-Israeli conflict[link]

Since the First Intifada, Tel Aviv has suffered from Palestinian political violence. The first suicide attack in Tel Aviv occurred on 19 October 1994, on the Line 5 bus, when a bomber killed 22 civilians and injured 50 as part of a Hamas suicide campaign.^[56] On 6 March 1996, another Hamas suicide bomber killed 13 people (12 civilians and 1 soldier) in the Dizengoff Center suicide bombing.^[57][58] Three women were killed by a Hamas terrorist in the Café Apropo bombing on 27 March 1997.^[59][60][61]

One of the most deadly attacks occurred on 1 June 2001, during the Second Intifada, when a suicide bomber exploded at the entrance to the Dolphinarium discotheque, killing 21, mostly teenagers, and injuring 132.^{[62][63][64][65]} Another Hamas suicide bomber killed six civilians and injured 70 in the Allenby Street bus bombing.^{[66][67][68][69][70]} Twenty-three civilians were killed and over 100 injured in the Tel-Aviv central bus station massacre.^[71][72] Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack. In the Mike's Place suicide bombing, an attack on a bar by a British Muslim suicide bomber resulted in the deaths of three civilians and wounded over 50.^[73] Hamas and Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed joint responsibility. An Islamic Jihad bomber killed five and wounded over 50 in the 25 February 2005 Stage Club bombing.^[74] The most recent suicide attack in the city occurred on 17 April 2006, when 11 people were killed and at least 70 wounded in a suicide bombing near the old central bus station.^[75]

The most recent attack took place on 29 August 2011 in which a Palestinian attacker stole an Israeli taxi cab and rammed it into a police checkpoint guarding the popular Haoman 17 nightclub in Tel Aviv which was filled with 2,000^[74] Israeli teenagers. After crashing, the assailant went on a stabbing spree, injuring eight people.^[74] Due to an Israel Border Police roadblock at the entrance and immediate response of the Border Police team during the subsequent stabbings, a much larger and fatal mass-casualty incident was avoided.^[76]

Geography[link]

Tel Aviv seen from space

Tel Aviv is located around 32°5′N 34°48′E / 32.083°N 34.8°E / 32.083; 34.8 on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline, in central Israel, the historic land bridge between Europe, Asia and Africa. Immediately north of the ancient port of Jaffa, Tel Aviv lies on land that used to be sand dunes and as such has relatively poor soil fertility. The land has been flattened and has no important gradients; its most notable geographical features are bluffs above the Mediterranean coastline and the Yarkon River mouth.^[77] Because of the expansion of Tel Aviv and the Gush Dan region, absolute borders between Tel Aviv and Jaffa and between the city's neighborhoods do not exist.

The city is located 60 kilometers (37 mi) northwest of Jerusalem and 90 kilometers (56 mi) south of the city of Haifa.^[78] Neighboring cities and towns include Herzliya to the north, Ramat HaSharon to the northeast, Petah Tikva, Bnei Brak, Ramat Gan and Giv'atayim to the east, Holon to the southeast, and Bat Yam to the south.^[79] The city is economically stratified between the north and south. Southern Tel Aviv is generally reputed to be poorer than Northern Tel Aviv with the exception of Neve Tzedek and some recent development on Jaffa beach. Central Tel Aviv is home to Azrieli Center and the important financial and commerce district along Ayalon Highway. The northern side of Tel Aviv is home to Tel Aviv University, Hayarkon Park, and upscale residential neighborhoods such as Ramat Aviv and Afeka.^[80]

Climate[link]

Tel Aviv has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa) with hot, humid summers, unpredictable springs and autumns, and cool, rainy winters. Humidity tends to be high year-round due to ocean breeze. In winter, average temperatures are usually between 9 °C (48 °F) and 17 °C (63 °F), with temperatures as low as 7 °C (45 °F) and as high as 20 °C (68 °F) occurring several times a winter.^[81] In summer, average temperatures are usually between 24 °C (75 °F) and 30 °C (86 °F). Heatwaves are most common during spring, with temperatures as high as 35 °C (95 °F). There are barely any days in the year without sunshine, and even during the winter there are many clear days.

Tel Aviv averages 530.7 millimeters (20.9 in) of precipitation annually, which mostly occurs in the months of October through April. Winter is the wettest season, often accompanied by heavy showers and thunderstorms. Snow is extremely rare, with the last recorded snowfall within city limits occurring in February 1950. The rainiest month on record was January 2000 with 424.9 mm (16.73 in). The rainiest day on record was 8 November 1955 with 133 mm (5.24 in). However, Tel Aviv enjoys plenty of sunshine throughout the year with more than 300 sunny days annually.

Local government[link]

Rabin Square and Tel Aviv City Hall looking northwest

Tel Aviv is governed by a 31-member city council elected for a five-year term in direct proportional elections.^[84] All Israeli citizens over the age of 18 with at least one year of residence in Tel Aviv are eligible to vote in municipal elections. The municipality is responsible for social services, community programs, public infrastructure, urban planning, tourism and other local affairs.^[85][86][87] The Tel Aviv City Hall is located at Rabin Square. Ron Huldai has been mayor of Tel Aviv since 1998.^[84] Huldai was reelected in the 2008 municipal elections, defeating Dov Henin's list.^[88] The longest serving mayor was Shlomo Lahat, who was in office for 19 years. The shortest serving was David Bloch, in office for two years, 1925–27. Outside the kibbutzim, Meretz receives more votes in Tel Aviv than in any other city in Israel.^[89]

Mayors[link]

City council[link]

The coalition is led by Tel Aviv 1 and consists of 23 of 31 seats.

Education[link]

The Vladimir Schreiber Institute of Mathematics in Tel Aviv University

In 2006, 51,359 children attended school in Tel Aviv, of whom 8,977 were in municipal kindergartens, 23,573 in municipal elementary schools, and 18,809 in high schools.^[90] Sixty-four percent of students in the city are entitled to matriculation, more than 5 percent higher than the national average.^[90] About 4,000 children are in first grade at schools in the city, and population growth is expected to raise this number to 6,000 by 2012.^[91] As a result, 20 additional kindergarten classes were opened in 2008–09 in the city. A new elementary school is planned north of Sde Dov as well as a new high school in northern Tel Aviv.^[91]

The first Hebrew high school, called Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium, was built in 1905 on Herzl Street. It was demolished in 1962.

Tel Aviv University, the largest university in Israel, is known internationally for its physics, computer science, chemistry and linguistics departments. Together with Bar-Ilan University in neighboring Ramat Gan, the student population numbers over 50,000, including a sizeable international community.^[92][93] Its campus is located in the neighborhood of Ramat Aviv.^[94] Tel Aviv also has several colleges.^[95] The Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium moved from Jaffa to Tel Aviv in 1909. The school continues to operate, although it has moved to Jabotinsky Street.^[96] Other notable schools in Tel Aviv include Shevah Mofet, the second Hebrew school in the city, Ironi Alef High School for Arts and Alliance.

Demographics[link]

Gan Yaakov (Jacob's Garden) with Habima Theater in the background

Tel Aviv has a population of 404,400 spread over a land area of 52,000 dunams (52.0 km²) (20 mi²), yielding a population density of 7,606 people per square kilometer (19,699 per square mile). According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), as of 2009 Tel Aviv's population is growing at an annual rate of 0.5%. Jews of all backgrounds form 91.8% of the population, Muslim and Arab Christian make up 4.2%, and the remainder belong to other groups (including various Christian and Asian communities).^[97] As Tel Aviv is a multicultural city, many languages are spoken in addition to Hebrew. According to some estimates, about 50,000 unregistered Asian foreign workers live in the city.^[98] Compared with Westernised cities, crime in Tel Aviv is relatively low.^[99]

According to Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality, the average income in the city, which has an unemployment rate of 6.9%, is 20% above the national average.^[90] The city's education standards are above the national average: of its 12th-grade students, 64.4% are eligible for matriculation certificates.^[90] The age profile is relatively even, with 22.2% aged under 20, 18.5% aged 20–29, 24% aged 30–44, 16.2% aged between 45 and 59, and 19.1% older than 60.^[100]

Tel Aviv's population reached a peak in the early 1960s at around 390,000, falling to 317,000 in the late 1980s as high property prices forced families out and deterred young couples from moving in.^[50] Since the mass immigration from the former Soviet Union in the 1990s, population has steadily grown.^[50] Today, the city's population is young and growing.^[91] In 2006, 22,000 people moved to the city, while only 18,500 left,^[91] and many of the new families had young children. The population is expected to reach 450,000 by 2025; meanwhile, the average age of residents fell from 35.8 in 1983 to 34 in 2008.^[91] The population over age 65 stands at 14.6% compared with 19% in 1983.^[91]

Jewish population[link]

Kerem HaTeimanim, a predominantly Yemenite Jewish district of Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv is an ethnically diverse city. The Jewish population in Tel Aviv consists of immigrants from all parts of the world and their descendants, including Ashkenazi Jews from Europe, North America, South America and South Africa, as well as Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews from Southern Europe, North Africa, India, Central Asia, West Asia,and the Arabian Peninsula. There are also a sizable number of Ethiopian Jews and their descendants living in Tel Aviv.

Non-Jewish population[link]

In Addition to the Muslim and Arab Christian minorities in Tel Aviv, there are also several hundred Armenian Christians who are concentrated mainly in Jaffa and some Christians from the former Soviet Union who immigrated to Israel with Jewish spouses and relatives. In recent years Tel Aviv has received many non-Jewish migrants, students, foreign workers (documented and undocumented) and refugees from Belarus, Bulgaria, Chile, China, Cyprus, Estonia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Greece, India, the Ivory Coast, Japan, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Nepal, Nigeria, the Philippines, Romania, Russia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, Turkey, the United States, the UK, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. There are many refugees from African countries located near the Central Bus Station.^[101]

Neighborhoods[link]

An eclectic house in Neve Tzedek with a skyscraper in the background.

Tel Aviv is divided into nine districts that have formed naturally over the city's short history. The oldest of these is Jaffa, the ancient port city out of which Tel Aviv grew. This area is traditionally made up demographically of a greater percentage of Arabs, but recent gentrification is replacing them with a young professional and artist population. Similar processes are occurring in nearby Neve Tzedek, the original Jewish neighborhood outside of Jaffa. Ramat Aviv, a district in the northern part of the city that is largely made up of luxury apartments and includes Tel Aviv University, is currently undergoing extensive expansion and is set to absorb the beachfront property of Sde Dov Airport after its decommissioning.^[102] The area known as HaKirya is the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) headquarters and a large military base.^[80]

Historically, there was a demographic split between the Ashkenazi northern side of the city, including the district of Ramat Aviv, and the southern, more Sephardi and Mizrahi neighborhoods including Neve Tzedek and Florentin.^[8]

Since the 1980s, major restoration and gentrification projects have been implemented in southern Tel Aviv.^[8] Baruch Yoscovitz, city planner for Tel Aviv beginning in 2001, reworked old British plans for the Florentin neighborhood from the 1920s, adding green areas, pedestrian malls, and housing. The municipality invested 2 million shekels in the project. The goal was to make Florentin the Soho of Tel Aviv, and attract artists and young professionals.^[103] Florentin is now a hip, "cool" place to be in Tel Aviv with coffeehouses, markets, bars, galleries and parties.^[104]

View of Tel Aviv from Azrieli Center

View of Tel Aviv from Moshe Aviv Tower

Economy[link]

Tel Aviv was built on sand dunes in an area unsuitable for farming, and maritime commerce was centered in Haifa and Ashdod. Instead, the city developed as a center of business and scientific research.^[8] Economic activities account for 17 percent of GDP.^[50] In 2011, Tel Aviv had an unemployment rate of 4.4%.^[105]

Tel Aviv Stock Exchange

The city has been described as a "flourishing technological center" by Newsweek and a "miniature Los Angeles" by The Economist.^[106][107] In 1998, the city was described by Newsweek as one of the 10 most technologically influential cities in the world. Since then, high-tech industry in the Tel Aviv area has continued to develop.^[107] The Tel Aviv metropolitan area (including satellite cities such as Herzliya and Petah Tikva) is Israel's center of high-tech, sometimes referred to as Silicon Wadi.^[107][108]

Tel Aviv is home to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE), Israel's only stock exchange, which has reached record heights since the 1990s.^[109] The Tel Aviv Stock exchange has also gained attention for its resilience and ability to recover from war and disasters. For example, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange was higher on the last day of both the 2006 Lebanon war and the 2009 Operation in Gaza than on the first day of fighting^[110] Many international venture-capital firms, scientific research institutes and high-tech companies are headquartered in the city. Industries in Tel Aviv include chemical processing, textile plants and food manufacturers.^[8] The city's nightlife, cultural attractions and architecture attract tourists whose spending benefits the local economy.^[111]

Shops at the Dizengoff Center

In 2008, the Globalization and World Cities Study Group and Network (GaWC) at Loughborough University reissued an inventory of world cities based on their level of advanced producer services. Tel Aviv was ranked as a beta+ world city.^[112]

According to Forbes, nine of its fifteen Israeli-born billionaires live in Israel; four live in Tel Aviv and its suburbs.^[113][114] The cost of living in Israel is high, with Tel Aviv being its most expensive city to live in. According to Mercer, a human resources consulting firm based in New York, as of 2010 Tel Aviv is the most expensive city in the Middle East and the 19th most expensive in the world.^[108]

Shopping malls in Tel Aviv include Ramat Aviv Mall, Azrieli Shopping Mall and Dizengoff Center, and markets such as Carmel Market, Ha'Tikva Market, and Bezalel Market.

Architecture[link]

Classical Bauhaus architecture, part of the White City

Tel Aviv is home to different architectural styles that represent influential periods in its history. The early architecture of Tel Aviv consisted largely of European-style single-story houses with red-tiled roofs.^[115] Neve Tzedek, the first neighborhood to be constructed outside of Jaffa is characterised by two-story sandstone buildings.^[6] By the 1920s, a new eclectic Orientalist style came into vogue, combining European architecture with Eastern features such as arches, domes and ornamental tiles.^[115] Municipal construction followed the "garden city" master plan drawn up by Patrick Geddes. Two- and three-story buildings were interspersed with boulevards and public parks.^[115] Various architectural styles, such as Art Deco, classical and modernist also exist in Tel Aviv.

Bauhaus[link]

Bauhaus architecture was introduced in the 1920s and 1930s by German Jewish architects who settled in Palestine after the rise of the Nazis. Tel Aviv's White City, around the city center, contains more than 5,000 Modernist-style buildings inspired by the Bauhaus school and Le Corbusier.^[6][7] Construction of these buildings, later declared protected landmarks and, collectively, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, continued until the 1950s in the area around Rothschild Boulevard.^[7][116] Some 3,000 buildings were created in this style between 1931 and 1939 alone.^[115] In the 1960s, this architectural style gave way to office towers and a chain of waterfront hotels and commercial skyscrapers.^[8] Some of the city's Modernist buildings were neglected to the point of ruin. Before legislation to preserve this landmark architecture, many of the old buildings were demolished. Efforts are under way to refurbish Bauhaus buildings and restore them to their original condition.^[117]

High-rise construction and towers[link]

The Azrieli Center, which includes Tel Aviv's tallest building

The Shalom Meir Tower, Israel's first skyscraper, was built in Tel Aviv in 1965 and remained the country's tallest building until 1999. At the time of its construction, the building rivalled Europe's tallest buildings in height, and was the tallest in the Middle East. The Azrieli Center, composed of three buildings— one square, one triangular, and one circular—usurped that title. Since 2001, Israel's tallest building is the City Gate Tower, which is located in the neighboring city of Ramat Gan, although the country's tallest wholly residential building, the W-Tower, is in Tel Aviv.

New neighborhoods, such as Park Tzameret, have been constructed to house apartment towers such as YOO Tel Aviv towers, designed by Philippe Starck. Other districts, such as Sarona, have been developed with office towers. Other recent additions to Tel Aviv's skyline are the 1 Rothschild Tower and First International Bank Tower.^[118][119] As Tel Aviv celebrated its centennial in 2009,^[120] the city attracted a number of architects and developers, including I. M. Pei, Donald Trump, and Richard Meier.^[121] American journalist David Kaufman reported in New York magazine that since Tel Aviv “was named a UNESCO World Heritage site, gorgeous historic buildings from the Ottoman and Bauhaus era have been repurposed as fabulous hotels, eateries, boutiques, and design museums.”^[122]

In 2010, the Tel Aviv Municipality's Planning and Construction Committee decided not to allow the construction of any additional skyscrapers in the city center, while at the same time greatly increasing the construction of skyscrapers in the east. The ban extends to an area between the coast and Ibn Gabirol Street, and also between the Yarkon River and Eilat Street. It did not extend to skyscrapers already under construction. According to the plan, the entire area between Ibn Gabirol Street and the eastern city limits would be "flooded" with skyscrapers and high-rise buildings.^[123]

Environment and urban restoration[link]

IDF soldiers cleaning the beaches at Tel Aviv. The beaches have scored highly in environmental tests.^[124]

Tel Aviv is ranked as the greenest city in Israel.^[125] Since 2008, City lights are turned off annually in support of Earth Hour.^[126] In February 2009, the municipality launched a water saving campaign, including competition granting free parking for a year to the household that is found to have consumed the least amount of water per person.^[127]

In the early 21st century, Tel Aviv's municipality transformed a derelict power station into a public park, now named "Gan HaHashmal" (electric park), paving the way for eco-friendly and environmentally conscious designs.^[128] In October 2008, Martin Weyl turned an old garbage dump near Ben Gurion International Airport, called Hiriya, into an attraction by building an arc of plastic bottles.^[129] The site, which was renamed Ariel Sharon Park to honor Israel’s former prime minister, will serve as the centerpiece in what is to become a 2,000-acre (8.1 km²) urban wilderness on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, designed by German landscape architect, Peter Latz.^[129]

Charles Clore Park

At the end of the 20th century, the city began restoring historical neighborhoods such as Neve Tzedek and many buildings from the 1920s and 1930s. Since 2007, the city hosts its well-known, annual Open House Tel Aviv weekend, which offers the general public free entrance to the city's famous landmarks, private houses and public buildings. In 2010, the design of the renovated Tel Aviv Port (Nemal Tel Aviv) won the award for outstanding landscape architecture at the European Biennial for Landscape Architecture in Barcelona.^[130]

Electric cars[link]

In early 2008, Tel Aviv Municipality announced a pilot scheme to build charging stations for electric cars. Initially, five charging points will be built, and eventually 150 points will be set up across the city as part of the Israeli electric car project, Project Better Place.^[131] Battery replacement points will be located at the city's entrances. A visitor center of Better Place is located in northwestern entrance to the city at Pi-Glilot site. Better Place's primary R&D facility is in Tel Aviv and is headed by Lior Storfer.^[132]

Religion[link]

The Great Synagogue

The city has 544 active synagogues,^[133] including historic buildings such as the Great Synagogue, established in the 1930s.^[134] In 2008, a center for secular Jewish Studies and a secular yeshiva opened in the city.^[135] Tensions between religious and secular Jews before the gay pride parade ended in vandalism of a synagogue.^[136] The number of churches has grown to accommodate the religious needs of diplomats and foreign workers.^[137]

The population consists of 93% Jewish, 1% Muslim, and 1% Christian. The remaining 5 percent are not classified by religion.^[138] Israel Meir Lau is chief rabbi of the city.^[139]

Culture and contemporary life[link]

Entertainment and performing arts[link]

The Suzanne Dellal Center for Dance and Theater

Tel Aviv is a major center of culture and entertainment.^[140] Eighteen of Israel's 35 major centers for the performing arts are located in the city, including five of the country's nine large theaters, where 55% of all performances in the country and 75% of all attendance occurs.^[50][141] The Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center is home of the Israeli Opera, where Plácido Domingo was house tenor between 1962 and 1965, and the Cameri Theater.^[142] With 2,760 seats, the Frederic R. Mann Auditorium (Culture Palace) is the city's largest theater.^[143] Habima Theater, Israel's national theater, was closed down for renovations in early 2008, and reopened in November, 2011 after major remodelling. Enav Cultural Center is one of the newer additions to the cultural scene.^[141] Other theaters in Tel Aviv are the Gesher Theater and Beit Lessin Theater; Tzavta and Tmuna are smaller theaters that host musical performances and fringe productions. In Jaffa, the Simta and Notzar theaters specialize in fringe as well. Tel Aviv is home to the Batsheva Dance Company, a world famous contemporary dance troupe. The Israeli Ballet is also based in Tel Aviv.^[141] Tel Aviv's center for modern and classical dance is the Suzanne Dellal Center for Dance and Theater in Neve Tzedek.^[144]

The city often hosts pop and rock concerts in venues such as Hayarkon Park, the Israel Trade Fairs & Convention Center, the Barby Club and the Zappa Club.^{[145][146][147]}

Opera and classical music performances are held daily in Tel Aviv, with many of the world's leading classical conductors and soloists performing on Tel Aviv stages over the years.^[141]

The Tel Aviv Cinematheque screens art movies, premieres of short and full-length Israeli films, and hosts a variety of film festivals, among them the Festival of Animation, Comics and Caricatures, the Student Film Festival, the Jazz, Film and Videotape Festival and Salute to Israeli Cinema. The city has several multiplex cinemas.^[141]

Nightlife[link]

The famous Tel Aviv Cinematheque, screens mainly art-house and independent films.

Tel Aviv is an international hub of highly active and diverse nightlife with bars, dance bars and nightclubs staying open well past midnight. The largest area for nightclubs is the Tel Aviv port, where the city's large, commercial clubs and bars draw big crowds of young clubbers from both Tel Aviv and neighboring cities. The "TLV club" is the largest and often hosts big international acts and DJs. Another major clubbing area is the Yad Harutsim area, near the old central bus station area of town. The South of Tel Aviv is known for the popular "Haoman 17" club, as well as for being the city's main hub of alternative clubbing, with underground venues including established clubs like the "Block" club, "Comfort 13" and the "Sublime", as well as various warehouse and loft party venues. If you are looking for a low Key Winebar you can also find a great variety all around. One of the most known Winebars for local experience with great hospitality for backpackers is the Wineberg Winebar located on Ben Yehuda st.^[148]

Tourism and recreation[link]

Tel Aviv is an international tourist destination.^[9] It is known as "the city that never sleeps" and a "party capital" due to its thriving nightlife, young atmosphere and famous 24-hour culture.^{[149][150][151]} NBA player Anthony Parker called Tel Aviv the best basketball city to go out in. Tel Aviv has branches of some of the world's leading hotels, including the Crowne Plaza, Sheraton, Dan, Isrotel and Hilton. It is home to many museums, architectural and cultural sites, with city tours available in different languages.^[152] Apart from bus tours, architectural tours, Segway tours, and walking tours are also popular.^{[153][154][155]} Tel Aviv has 44 hotels with more than 6,500 rooms.^[90]

The beaches of Tel Aviv play a major role in the cultural and touristic scene in the city, often ranked as some of the best beaches in the world.^[19] Hayarkon Park is the most visited urban park in Israel, with 16 million visitors annually. Other parks within city limits include Charles Clore Park, Independence Park, Meir Park and Dubnow Park. About 19% of the city land are green spaces.^[156]