๐ฎ๐ฑ Acre, known locally as Akko or Akka, is a city in the coastal plain region of the Northern District of Israel. The city occupies an important location, sitting in a natural harbour at the extremity of Haifa Bay on the coast of the Mediterranean's Levantine Sea. Aside from coastal trading, it was also an important waypoint on the region's coastal road and the road cutting inland along the Jezreel Valley. The first settlement during the Early Bronze Age was abandoned after a few centuries but a large town was established during the Middle Bronze Age. Continuously inhabited since then, it is among the oldest continuously-inhabited settlements on Earth. It has, however, been subject to conquest and destruction several times and survived as little more than a large village for centuries at a time. Acre was an important city during the Crusades, and was the site of several battles. It was the last city held by the Crusaders in the Levant before it was captured in 1291.
In present-day the population is made up of Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze, and Bahรกสผรญs. In particular, Acre is the holiest city of the Bahรกสผรญ Faith in Israel and receives many pilgrims of that faith every year. Thirty-two per cent of the city's population is Arab.
Akko has a population of over 49,380 people. Akko also forms part of the wider Northern District which has a population of over 1,401,300 people. For the location of Akko see: Acre.