Tel Aviv-Yafo often referred to as just Tel Aviv is the second largest city in Israel (after Jerusalem).
It is situated on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline.
As of February 2021, the population of Tel Aviv is about 460,000 people.
The city covers a total area of 52 square kilometers (20 square miles).
The average altitude is 5 metres (16 feet) above sea level.
The city was founded in 1909 by the Yishuv (Jewish residents) as a modern housing estate on the outskirts of the ancient port city of Jaffa, then part of the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem within the Ottoman Empire.
It was at first called ‘Ahuzat Bayit’ (lit. “House Estate” or “Homestead”), the name of the association which established the neighbourhood. Its name was changed the following year to ‘Tel Aviv’, after the biblical name Tel Abib adopted by Nahum Sokolow as the title for his Hebrew translation of Theodor Herzl’s 1902 novel Altneuland (“Old New Land”).
Other Jewish suburbs of Jaffa established before Tel Aviv eventually became part of Tel Aviv, the oldest among them being Neve Tzedek (est. 1886).
Tel Aviv was given “township” status within the Jaffa Municipality in 1921, and became independent from Jaffa in 1934. After the 1947–1949 Palestine war Tel Aviv began the municipal annexation of parts of Jaffa, fully unified with Jaffa under the name “Tel Aviv” in April 1950, and was renamed to “Tel Aviv-Yafo” in August 1950.
Tel Aviv and Jaffa were later merged into a single municipality in 1950, two years after the Israeli Declaration of Independence, which was proclaimed in the city.
By the beginning of the 21st century, the modern city of Tel Aviv had developed into a major economic and cultural centre.
Tel Aviv’s White City, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003, comprises the world’s largest concentration of International Style buildings, including Bauhaus and other related modernist architectural styles. It refers to a collection of over 4,000 buildings built in a unique form of the
International Style from the 1930s, with a strong Bauhaus component, by Jewish architects from Germany and other Central and East European countries with German Cultural influences, who immigrated to the
British Mandate of Palestine after the rise to power of the Nazis in Germany.
Tel Aviv Museum of Art is an art museum in Tel Aviv. It was established in 1932. The Museum’s collection represents some of the leading artists of the first half of the 20th century and many of the major movements of modern art in this period: Fauvism, German Expressionism, Cubism, Futurism,
Russian Constructivism, the De Stijl movement and Surrealism, French art, from the Impressionists and Post- Impressionists to the School of Paris including works of Chaim Soutine, key works by Pablo Picasso from the Blue and Neo-Classical period to his Late Period, Cubist paintings by Albert Gleizes, Jean Metzinger, several sculptures by Jacques Lipchitz, and Surrealists works of Joan Miró.
The Jaffa Clock Tower stands in the middle of the north end of Yefet Street in Jaffa, part of Tel Aviv. The tower, built of limestone, incorporates two clocks and a plaque commemorating the Israelis killed in the battle for the town in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. It is one of seven clock towers built
in Palestine during the Ottoman period.
St. Peter’s Church is a Franciscan church in Jaffa, part of Tel Aviv. The church was built in 1654 and dedicated to Saint Peter, over a medieval citadel that was erected by Frederick I and restored by
Louis IX of France at the beginning of the second half of the thirteenth century. However, in the late 18th century the church was twice destroyed and consequently twice rebuilt. The current structure was built between 1888 and 1894 and most recently renovated in 1903.
The Eretz Israel Museum is a historical and archeological museum in the Ramat Aviv neighborhood of Tel Aviv. It was established in 1953, and has a large display of archaeological, anthropological and historical artifacts organized in a series of exhibition pavilions on its grounds. Each pavilion is
dedicated to a different subject: glassware, ceramics, coins, copper and more. The museum also has a planetarium.
Dizengoff Square or Dizengoff Circus is an iconic public square in Tel Aviv, on the corner of Dizengoff Street, Reines Street and Pinsker Street. One of the city’s main squares, it was built in 1934 and inaugurated in 1938.
Carmel Market is a marketplace in Tel Aviv. It was established in the 1920s. It is bordered by Allenby Street and Magen David Square and is principally located along Carmel Street (which becomes King George Street after Magen David Square), but has expanded over time to streets such as Nahalat
Binyamin Street.
Jaffa Port is an ancient port on the Mediterranean Sea, located in Old Jaffa, Tel Aviv. It serves as a fishing harbor, a yacht harbor, and as a tourism destination. It offers a variety of culture and food options, including restaurants where fresh fish and seafood is served.
Sarona Market is the largest enclosed culinary market in Israel. Located in the southern edge of the city’s Templer Colony restoration project in Sarona. Sarona Market was constructed by Gindi Holdings and opened in 2015, and is the first indoor market in Israel. After its establishment, other enclosed
markets were built throughout the country. In Sarona Market, there are about 90 businesses, including retail stores, food stands and restaurants. The complex is a popular tourist attraction.
Yarkon Park is a large park in Tel Aviv, with about 16 million visits annually. Named after the Yarkon River which flows through it, the park includes extensive lawns, sports facilities, botanical gardens, an aviary, a water park, two outdoor concert venues and lakes.
Tel Aviv is a major center of culture and entertainment.
It is famous for its wide variety of world-class restaurants, offering traditional Israeli dishes as well as international fare. More than 100 sushi restaurants, the third highest concentration in the world, do business in the city. In Tel Aviv there are some dessert specialties, the most known is the
Halva ice cream traditionally topped with date syrup and pistachios.
Tel Aviv is ranked as the greenest city in Israel.