Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv-Yafo (; Tal Abib-Yafa) is an Israeli city on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Tel Aviv is also the main part of the largest and most populous metropolitan area in Israel, known as Gush Dan (Dan Bloc).

Tel Aviv-Yafo's jurisdiction is 50,553 dunams (50.6 km² or 19.5 mi²). The population density is 7,445 people per km² According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), as of May 2006, the city's population stood at 379,000, growing at an annual rate of one percent. 96.1% percent of residents are Jewish, while 3.0% are Arab Muslims and 0.9% are Arab Christians. According to some estimates, about 50,000 unregistered foreign workers live in Tel Aviv. According to a 2001 estimate, the metropolitan area of Tel Aviv is the city with the largest Jewish population in the world, with 2.5 million Jews (New York City's metropolitan area, in second place with 1.4 million Jews according to a 2002 study, is the largest Jewish population center in the Diaspora) [http://www.geocities.com/mplaut2/ujafed1.html

The larger metropolitan area comprises a number of separate municipalities with around 2.5 million people living in the 14 km sprawl along the Mediterranean coast. Bat Yam, Holon, Ramat Gan, Giv'atayim, Bnei Brak, Petah Tikva, Rishon LeZion, Ramat Hasharon and Herzliya are the other major cities in the area known as Gush Dan.Ramat Hasharon and Herzliya, though neighbouring Tel Aviv, are not considered part of Gush Dan, but rather of an area named Sharon.

Origin of the name

The name Tel Aviv in Hebrew means "Hill (tel) of Spring (aviv)", which also coincides with Arabic name of that area (used before 1948) تل الربيع (tal al-rabeý) which literally means "Hill of Spring" (However the term ربيع, rabeý is used by some of the locals to denote grass and flowers that flourish in the Spring time). The Hebrew title was given by Nahum Sokolow to his Hebrew translation of Theodor Herzl's book Altneuland (German: "Old-new-land").

There is an account that Sokolow came up with the Hebrew title "Tel Aviv" to allude to the destruction of the ancient Jewish state and its hoped-for restoration: aviv = "spring" to symbolize renewal; and tel to symbolize the destruction of the ancient state, following not the usual Hebrew meaning of the word "tel" but its use in archaeology, meaning "mound of accumulated ruins". Sokolov took the name from the Book of 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." (The spelling in the King James Version of the Bible is Telabib ^*). The Aviv referred to is possibly an indirect reference to a Mesopotamian god or goddess believed to bring forth the season of spring.

Jaffa is Yafo in Hebrew, which may well be derived from yafah/yofi (beautiful) or may simply come from the name of its founder, Japhet, son of Noah.

History

The settlement in the area of modern southern Tel Aviv (the neighbourhoods of Neve Shalom and Neve Tsedek) was started in the 1880s as a substitute for the relatively expensive Arab neighbourhoods of Jaffa. However the city of Tel Aviv itself was established only in 1909 as Ahuzat Bayit and was later renamed to Tel Aviv. At its founding, Tel Aviv was intended only to be a suburb, a bedroom community, with the workers commuting to Jaffa. However, a dispute broke out between the Jews of Tel Aviv and the Arabs of Jaffa in 1921 or thereabouts, which led the denizens of Tel Aviv to create a new central business district. Owing to its proximity to the port of Jaffa, and its status as the first Jewish community that immigrants saw when coming into the country, Tel Aviv quickly grew to become the centre of Israeli urban life, and it remains so to this day.

Between the 1930s and 1950s, approximately 2500 structures in the Bauhaus or International Style were built in Tel Aviv. This "White City of Tel Aviv," though somewhat dillapitated, was named by UNESCO a World Heritage Site in 2003.

During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, for a period of eight months (May-December 1948) during the Arab blockade of Jerusalem it also served as the temporary capital of Israel. When Jerusalem was proclaimed the capital, most embassies stayed in the Tel Aviv area. Thirteen more moved there in the early eighties [http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Foreign%20Relations/Israels%20Foreign%20Relations%20since%201947/1979-1980/119%20Foreign%20Ministry%20reaction%20to%20the%20transfer%20of%20t. The most important reason embassies are found Tel Aviv is that it is a way for countries to remain nuetral on competing Palestinian-Israeli claims on Jerusalem.

In 1950 Tel Aviv and Jaffa were united in the single municipality Tel Aviv-Yafo.

Tel Aviv has been targeted several times by Palestinian militant groups. On October 19, 1994, a suicide bomber exploded on the Line 5 bus killing himself and 25 civilians. On March 4, 1996, another suicide bomber exploded nearby at an ATM and killed 18 civilians. Оn June 1, 2001, a suicide bomber exploded in a line for a discotheque and 32 were killed. On January 25, 2002, 20 were killed in a suicide attack. On January 5, 2003, in two nearly simultaneous attacks, 23 were killed. On 17 April, 2006, 10 people were killed and dozens wounded in a suicide attack near the old Central bus station.

Culture

Tel Aviv University is the largest university in Israel. It has an excellent reputation internationally, mostly famous for its physics, computer science and chemistry departments.

There are many cultural centers in Tel Aviv, including the Opera House (where Plácido Domingo, together with his wife Marta, spent 2 and a half early years, from 1962 to 1965) as well as the Culture Hall (with a 3,000 seats). Tel Aviv also has many theatre companies and theatre halls, Habima Theater ("The Stage") is the most recognized.

Tel Aviv has many museums and art galleries.

The Eretz Israel Museum is known for its rich collection of archaeology and history exhibits.
Tel Aviv Museum of Art is one of the major art museums in Israel.
In the campus of TAU is the Jewish Diaspora Museum, dedicated to Jewish history throughout the world. Carrying both historical documents and art, the museum tells the story of Jewish prosperity and persecution throughout the centuries of exile.
Batey Haosef Museum is a museum for the military history of the Israel Defense Forces. It is regarded by many experts and arms collectors as a real jewel, containing rare exhibits and authentic pieces from Israel's history as well as a wide variety of firearms and pictures.
The Palmach Museum near Tel Aviv University offers a unique multimedia experience, as well as vast archives, depicting the lives of young self-trained Jewish soldiers who eventually became the first defenders of Israel.
Near Charles Clore's garden in north Jaffa, Israel, there is a small museum of the Etzel Jewish militant organization, one of whose achievements was conquering Jaffa into Israeli control in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

In July 2003, Tel Aviv's White City was announced unanimously by the UNESCO council as a World Heritage Site, due to its massive assemblage of the Bauhaus International Style buildings, the city's most precious architectural style.

Tel Aviv has several public parks and gardens, the biggest being Ganei Yehoshua (Park HaYarkon). Gan Meir is another famous one on King George Street - named after Meir Dizengoff.

Tel Aviv hosts the largest Gay Pride Parade in the Middle East, drawing upwards of 100,000 people. Tel Aviv is known for its openness as well as its thriving night life.

Economy

According December 2001 statistics, Tel Aviv's socio-economic status was classified as high (8 out of 10). 63.1% percent of twelfth grade students received graduation certificates in 2000. In 2000, the average monthly wages stood at 6,773 NIS, roughly the national average.

According to Newsweek, Tel Aviv is a flourishing technological center. As a result of immigration from the former Soviet Union, many computer scientists now live and work in Tel Aviv. The city is considered by Newsweek to be one of the top ten most technologically influential cities in the world.

Sports

Tel Aviv holds some of the top sports teams in Israel, and in one case even in the world. Tel Aviv is the only city that has 3 clubs in the Israeli football premier league.

Maccabi Tel Aviv Sports Club was founded in 1906 and houses over 10 sports, such as Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball club (45 times Israeli champion, 35 times Israeli cup holder and 5 times European Champions cup holder), Maccabi Tel Aviv FC soccer club (18 times Israeli champion, 22 times Israeli cup holder, twice Israeli Toto cup holder and twice Asia cup holder), and a Judo club (Yael Arad of Maccabi Tel Aviv won a silver medal in the 1992 Olympic Games), to name just a few.

Hapoel Tel Aviv Sports Club was founded in 1923, and over the years has included over 11 sports, including Hapoel Tel Aviv basketball club (5 Israeli championships, 4 Israeli cups) and Hapoel Tel Aviv soccer club (13 Israeli championships, 11 Israeli cups, one Toto cup and once Asia champion), kayaking Club, women's basketball club and more that have always been amongst the top Israeli clubs.

Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv Tel Aviv's soccer club (once Israeli champion, twice Israeli cup holder and twice Israeli Toto cup holder) is the only Israeli soccer team in the top division (Ligat Ha'al) that represents only a neighbourhood - Shechunat Hatikva ("The Hope Neighbourhood") in Tel Aviv - and not an entire city.

Other soccer clubs which used to play in the 1st division were Shimshon Tel Aviv and Beitar Tel Aviv, which are now merged into one team that plays in the 3rd division (Liga Artzit). Maccabi Yafo is another former 1st division team that currently plays in the lower divisions.

Tel Aviv is also the home of ample of other sports. Two rowing Clubs operate in Tel Aviv. The Tel Aviv Rowing Club, which was established as early as 1935 on the banks of the Yarkon River, is the biggest rowing club in Israel.

Transportation

Some of its main routes are King George Street, Allenby Street, Dizengoff Street, Rothschild Boulevards and in Jaffa - Jerusalem Boulevards. The main access route to Tel Aviv is Ayalon Highway, which goes through the city - north to south - on Ayalon River route, which had been ordered between the 2 lanes.

Tel Aviv has 4 Israel Railways railroad stations along the Ayalon Highway. The stops are from north to south: Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv Merkaz (Tel Aviv Central Train Station, near Masof 2000 Bus terminal), Tel Aviv Hashalom (near Azrieli Center shopping mall) and Tel Aviv Hahaganah (near the Tel Aviv Central Bus Station). It is estimated that about 1 million people use the train from Rishon LeZion, Rehovot, and Petah Tikva to Tel Aviv and back, per month.

The Tel Aviv Central Bus Station, A large central bus station, is located in the south. The main bus network in Tel Aviv is operated by Dan Bus Company. Egged Bus Cooperative, the world's second-largest bus company, provides mainly intercity transportation to and from Tel Aviv.

Tel Aviv's airport is Dov Hoz Airport Sde Dov (code: SDV), located at the north of the city and serves as a major airport for domestic flights.

Ben Gurion International Airport (code:TLV), Israel's main international airport, is located 15 km southeast of Tel Aviv near the city of Lod.

The first phase of the Tel Aviv Subway is planned to be completed by 2012, improving public transportation in the city dramatically.

Mayors of Tel Aviv

Meir Dizengoff (1921–1925)
David Bloch (1925–1927)
Meir Dizengoff (1928–1936)
Israel Rokach (1936–1952)
Chaim Levanon (1953–1959)
Mordechai Namir (1959–1969)
Yehoshua Rabinowitz (1969–1974)
Shlomo Lahat (1974–1993)
Ronnie Milo (1993–1998)
Ron Huldai (1998–)

Sister cities

Toulouse (1962)
Philadelphia (1967)
Frankfurt (1980)
Budapest (1989)
Bonn (1983)
Buenos Aires (1988)
Belgrade (1990)
Sofia (1992)
Warsaw (1992)
Cannes (1993)
Essen (1992)
Thessaloniki (1994)
Milan (1994)
Łódź (1994)
Beijing (1995)
Cologne (1997)
New York City (1996)
Barcelona (1998)
Gaza (1998)
İzmir (1998)
Almaty (1999)
Incheon (2000)
Chişinău (2000)
Moscow (2000)
Vienna (2005)

Footnote

External links