🇮🇱 Tel Aviv-Yafo, often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline, it is the economic and technological centre of the country.
Tel Aviv is governed by the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality, and is home to many foreign embassies. Tel Aviv has the fourth-largest economy and the largest economy per capita in the Middle East. The city has the 31st highest cost of living in the world. Tel Aviv receives over 2.5 million international visitors annually. A "party capital" in the Middle East, it has a lively nightlife and 24-hour culture. Tel Aviv has been called The World's Vegan Food Capital, as it possesses the highest per capita population of vegans in the world, with many vegan eateries throughout the city. Tel Aviv is home to Tel Aviv University, the largest university in the country with more than 30,000 students.
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.
1Demographics Tel Aviv has a population spread over a land area of 52,000 dunams (52 km²; 20 sq mi), yielding a population density of 7,606 people per square km (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 percent. Jews of all backgrounds form 91.8 percent of the population, Muslims and Arab Christians make up 4.2 percent, and the remainder belong to other groups (including various Christian and Asian communities). As Tel Aviv is a multicultural city, many languages are spoken in addition to Hebrew. According to some estimates, about 50,000 unregistered African and Asian foreign workers live in the city. Compared with Westernised cities, crime in Tel Aviv is relatively low.
According to Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality, the average income in the city, which has an unemployment rate of 4.6%, is 20% above the national average. The city's education standards are above the national average: of its 12th-grade students, 64.4 percent are eligible for matriculation certificates. The age profile is relatively even, with 22.2 percent aged under 20, 18.5 percent aged 20–29, 24 percent aged 30–44, 16.2 percent aged between 45 and 59, and 19.1 percent older than 60.
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. Since the 1990s, population has steadily grown. Today, the city's population is young and growing. In 2006, 22,000 people moved to the city, while only 18,500 left, and many of the new families had young children. The population is expected to reach 535,000 in 2030; meanwhile, the average age of residents fell from 35.8 in 1983 to 34 in 2008. The population over age 65 stands at 14.6 percent compared with 19% in 1983.
1Religion Tel Aviv has 544 active synagogues, including historic buildings such as the Great Synagogue, established in the 1930s. In 2008, a centre for secular Jewish studies and a secular yeshiva opened in the city. Tensions between religious and secular Jews before the 2006 gay pride parade ended in vandalism of a synagogue. The number of churches has grown to accommodate the religious needs of diplomats and foreign workers. In 2019, the population was 89.9% Jewish, and 4.5% Arabs; among Arabs 82.8% were Muslims, 16.4% were Christians, and 0.8% were Druze. The remaining 5 percent were not classified by religion. Israel Meir Lau is Chief Rabbi of the city.
Tel Aviv is an ethnically diverse city. The Jewish population, which forms the majority group in Tel Aviv, consists of the descendants of immigrants from all parts of the world, including Ashkenazi Jews from Europe, North America, South America, Australia 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. In addition to Muslim and Arab Christian minorities in the city, several hundred Armenian Christians who reside in the city 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 from Asia and Africa, students, foreign workers (documented and undocumented) and refugees. There are many economic migrants and refugees from African countries, primarily Eritrea and Sudan, located in the southern part of the city.
1Neighborhoods 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. The area known as HaKirya is the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) headquarters and a large military base. Moreover, in the past few years, Rothschild Boulevard which is beginning in Neve Tzedek has become an attraction for tourists, businesses and startups. It features a wide, tree-lined central strip with pedestrian and bike lanes. 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.
Since the 1980s, major restoration and gentrification projects have been implemented in southern Tel Aviv. 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 two million shekels in the project. The goal was to make Florentin the Soho of Tel Aviv, and attract artists and young professionals to the neighborhood. Street artists, such as Dede, installation artists such as Sigalit Landau, and many others made the upbeat neighborhood their home base. Florentin is now known as a hip, "cool" place to be in Tel Aviv with coffeehouses, markets, bars, galleries and parties.
1Health Tel Aviv is home to Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, the third-largest hospital complex in Israel. It contains Ichilov Hospital, the Ida Sourasky Rehabilitation Center, Lis Maternity and Women's Hospital, and Dana-Dwek Children's Hospital. The city also contains Assuta Medical Center, a private hospital which offers surgical and diagnostic services in all fields of medicine and has an IVF clinic.
1Education 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. Sixty-four percent of students in the city are entitled to matriculation, more than 5 percent higher than the national average. 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. 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.
The first Hebrew high school, called Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium, was established in Jaffa in 1905 and moved to Tel Aviv after its founding in 1909, where a new campus on Herzl Street was constructed for it.
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. Its campus is located in the neighborhood of Ramat Aviv. Tel Aviv also has several colleges. The Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium moved from Jaffa to old Tel Aviv in 1909 and moved to Jabotinsky Street in the early 1960s. Other notable schools in Tel Aviv include Shevah Mofet, the second Hebrew school in the city, Ironi Alef High School for Arts and Alliance.
1Economy Tel Aviv has been ranked as the twenty-fifth most important financial centre in the world. It developed as a hub of business and scientific research. In 1926, the country's first shopping arcade, Passage Pensak, was built there. By 1936, as tens of thousands of middle class immigrants arrived from Europe, Tel Aviv was already the largest city in Palestine. A small port was built at the Yarkon estuary, and many cafes, clubs and cinemas opened. Herzl Street became a commercial thoroughfare at this time.
Economic activities account for 17 percent of the GDP. The city has been described as a "flourishing technological centre" by Newsweek and a "miniature Los Angeles" by The Economist. 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. The Tel Aviv metropolitan area, including satellite cities such as Herzliya and Petah Tikva, is Israel's centre of high-tech, sometimes referred to as Silicon Wadi.
Tel Aviv is home to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE), Israel's only stock exchange. The Tel Aviv Stock exchange has gained attention for its resilience and ability to recover from war and disasters. 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.
The Kiryat Atidim high tech zone opened in 1972 and the city has become a major world high tech hub. The city was ranked second on a list of top places to found a high tech startup company. In 2013, Tel Aviv had more than 700 startup companies and research and development centres, and was ranked the second-most innovative city in the world.
According to Forbes, nine of its fifteen Israeli-born billionaires live in Israel; four live in Tel Aviv and its suburbs. 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.
Shopping malls in Tel Aviv include Dizengoff Center, Ramat Aviv Mall and Azrieli Shopping Mall and markets such as Carmel Market, Ha'Tikva Market, and Bezalel Market.
Tel Aviv is home to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE), Israel's only stock exchange, which has reached record heights since the 1990s. 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. 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.
1Tourism and recreation Tel Aviv receives about 2.5 million international visitors annually, the fifth-most-visited city in the Middle East & Africa. In 2010, Knight Frank's world city survey ranked it 34th globally. 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. Tel Aviv is consistently ranked as one of the top LGBT destinations in the world. The city has also been ranked as one of the top 10 oceanfront cities.
Tel Aviv is known as "the city that never sleeps" and a "party capital" due to its thriving nightlife, young atmosphere and famous 24-hour culture. 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. Apart from bus tours, architectural tours, Segway tours, and walking tours are also popular. Tel Aviv has 44 hotels with more than 6,500 rooms.
The beaches of Tel Aviv and the city's promenade play a major role in the city's cultural and touristic scene, often ranked as some of the best beaches in the world. 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.
1Architecture 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-storey houses with red-tiled roofs. Neve Tzedek, the first neighbourhood to be built outside of Jaffa, is characterised by two-storey sandstone buildings. By the 1920s, a new eclectic Orientalist style came into vogue, combining European architecture with Eastern features such as arches, domes and ornamental tiles. Pagoda House (Beit HaPagoda), designed by Alexander Levy and built in 1924, is an example of this style. Municipal construction followed the "garden city" master plan drawn up by Patrick Geddes. Two- and three-storey buildings were interspersed with boulevards and public parks. Various architectural styles, such as Art Deco, classical and modernist also exist in Tel Aviv.
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 centre, contains more than 5,000 Modernist-style buildings inspired by the Bauhaus school and Le Corbusier. 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. Some 3,000 buildings were created in this style between 1931 and 1939 alone. In the 1960s, this architectural style gave way to office towers and a chain of waterfront hotels and commercial skyscrapers. 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.
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 rivaled Europe's tallest buildings in height, and was the tallest in the Middle East.
In the mid-1990s, the construction of skyscrapers began throughout the entire city, altering its skyline. Before that, Tel Aviv had had a generally low-rise skyline. In 2010, the Tel Aviv Municipality's Planning and Construction Committee launched a new master plan for the city for 2025. It decided not to allow the construction of any additional skyscrapers in the city centre, 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 towers already under construction or approved. One final proposed skyscraper project was approved, while dozens of others had to be scrapped. Any new buildings there will usually not be allowed to rise above six and a half stories. However, hotel towers along almost the entire beachfront will be allowed to rise up to 25 stories. According to the plan, large numbers of skyscrapers and high-rise buildings at least 18 stories tall would be built in the entire area between Ibn Gabirol Street and the eastern city limits, as part of the master plan's goal of doubling the city's office space to cement Tel Aviv as the business capital of Israel. Under the plan, "forests" of corporate skyscrapers will line both sides of the Ayalon Highway. Further south, skyscrapers rising up to 40 stories will be built along the old Ottoman railway between Neve Tzedek and Florentine, with the first such tower there being the Neve Tzedek Tower. Along nearby Shlavim Street, passing between Jaffa and south Tel Aviv, office buildings up to 25 stories will line both sides of the street, which will be widened to accommodate traffic from the city's southern entrance to the center.
1Arts and museums In the 1920s Tel-Aviv gradually became the centre of art in Israel. In 1919, several prominent Olim from Odessa arrived in the Ruslan ship. In 1920 some of these set up the HaTomer art cooperative as well as opened the first modern art exhibition in Israel. In the 1925 following the return of Isaac Frenkel Frenel from Paris and his opening of the Histadrut art studio, and the introduction of École de Paris influence; Tel Aviv grew to supplement Jerusalem in its cultural importance in the visual arts; especially in respect to modern art. In the late 1920s to 1940s Tel Aviv painters were heavily influenced by the École de Paris, painting Tel Aviv's urban landscape, people and cafes in a manner influenced by Soutine, Pascin, Frenel, Chagall and others from the School of Paris. Tel Aviv''s bohemian culture was characterized by cafes such as Kassit which attracted numerous writers and painters. Numerous exhibitions were held in the Ohel theatre and the Herzliya Hebrew Gymansium prior to the opening of museums. Reuben Rubin and Nahum Gutman also worked and painted in the city, painting in the naive style. Tel Aviv hosts the Tel Aviv museum of art, established in 1932 in Meir Dizengoff's house, since having moved to a new larger location in 1971, as well as numerous galleries.
Israel has the highest number of museums per capita of any country, with three of the largest located in Tel Aviv. Among these are the Eretz Israel Museum, known for its collection of archaeology and history exhibits dealing with the Land of Israel, and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. In 2023, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art was ranked 48th on The Art Magazine's list of the 100 most popular museums in the world. Housed on the campus of Tel Aviv University is ANU - Museum of the Jewish People, a museum of the international Jewish diaspora that tells the story of Jewish prosperity and persecution throughout the centuries of exile. Batey Haosef Museum specializes in Israel Defense Forces military history. The Palmach Museum near Tel Aviv University offers a multimedia experience of the history of the Palmach. Right next to Charles Clore Park is a museum of the Irgun. The Israel Trade Fairs & Convention Center, located in the northern part of the city, hosts more than 60 major events annually. Many offbeat museums and galleries operate in the southern areas, including the Tel Aviv Raw Art contemporary art gallery.
1Entertainment and performing arts Tel Aviv is a major centre of culture and entertainment. Eighteen of Israel's 35 major centres for the performing arts are located in the city, including five of the country's nine large theatres, where 55% of all performances in the country and 75 percent of all attendance occurs. 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 Theatre. With 2,482 seats, the Heichal HaTarbut is the city's largest theatre and home to the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.
Habima Theatre, Israel's national theatre, was closed down for renovations in early 2008, and reopened in November 2011 after major remodeling. Enav Cultural Center is one of the newer additions to the cultural scene. Other theatres in Tel Aviv are the Gesher Theatre and Beit Lessin Theater; Tzavta and Tmuna are smaller theatres that host musical performances and fringe productions. In Jaffa, the Simta and Notzar theatres 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. Tel Aviv's centre for modern and classical dance is the Suzanne Dellal Center for Dance and Theatre in Neve Tzedek.
The city often hosts international musicians at venues such as Hayarkon Park, Expo Tel Aviv, the Barby Club, the Zappa Club and Live Park Rishon Lezion just south of Tel Aviv. The city hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 (the first Israeli-hosted Eurovision held outside of Jerusalem), following Israel's win the year prior. 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.
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, "Icon" Science Fiction and Fantasy Festival, the Student Film Festival, the Jazz, Film and Videotape Festival and Salute to Israeli Cinema. The city has several multiplex cinemas.
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 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 Paradise Garage, as well as various warehouse and loft party venues. The Allenby/Rothschild area is another popular nightlife hub, featuring such clubs as the Pasaz, Radio EPGB and the Penguin. In 2013, Absolut Vodka introduced a specially designed bottle dedicated to Tel Aviv as part of its international cities series.
1LGBT culture Named "the best gay city in the world" by American Airlines, Tel Aviv is one of the most popular destinations for LGBT tourists internationally, with a large LGBT community. Approximately 25% of Tel Aviv's population identify as gay. American journalist David Kaufman has described the city as a place "packed with the kind of 'we're here, we're queer', vibe more typically found in Sydney and San Francisco". The city hosts its well-known pride parade, the biggest in Asia, attracting over 200,000 people yearly. In January 2008, Tel Aviv's municipality established the city's LGBT Community centre, providing all of the municipal and cultural services to the LGBT community under one roof. In December 2008, Tel Aviv began putting together a team of gay athletes for the 2009 World Outgames in Copenhagen. In addition, Tel Aviv hosts an annual LGBT film festival, known as TLVFest.
Tel Aviv's LGBT community is the subject of Eytan Fox's 2006 film The Bubble.
1Fashion Tel Aviv has become an international centre of fashion and design. It has been called the "next hot destination" for fashion. Israeli designers, such as swimwear company Gottex show their collections at leading fashion shows, including New York's Bryant Park fashion show. In 2011, Tel Aviv hosted its first fashion week since the 1980s, with Italian designer Roberto Cavalli as a guest of honor.
1Media The three largest newspaper companies in Israel: Yedioth Ahronoth, Maariv and Haaretz are all based within the city limits. Several radio stations cover the Tel Aviv area, including the city-based Radio Tel Aviv.
The two major Israeli television networks, Keshet Media Group and Reshet, are based in the city, as well as two of the most popular radio stations in Israel: Galatz and Galgalatz, which are both based in Jaffa. Studios of the international news channel i24news is located at Jaffa Port Customs House. An English language radio station, TLV1, is based at Kikar Hamedina.
1Cuisine Tel Aviv 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.
1Sport The city has a number of football stadiums, the largest of which is Bloomfield Stadium, which contains 29,400 seats used by Hapoel Tel Aviv, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Bnei Yehuda. Another stadium in the city is the Hatikva Neighborhood Stadium. Menora Mivtachim Arena is a large multi-purpose sports indoor arena, The arena is home to the Maccabi Tel Aviv, and the Drive in Arena, a multi-purpose hall that serves as the home ground of the Hapoel Tel Aviv. National Sport Center Tel Aviv (also Hadar Yosef Sports Center) is a compound of stadiums and sports facilities. It also houses the Olympic Committee of Israel and the National Athletics Stadium with the Israeli Athletic Association.
The Maccabi Tel Aviv Sports Club was founded in 1906 and competes in more than 10 sport fields. Its basketball team, Maccabi Tel Aviv Basketball Club, is a world-known professional team, that holds 56 Israeli titles, has won 45 editions of the Israel cup, and has six European Championships, and its football team Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club has won 23 Israeli league titles and has won 24 State Cups, seven Toto Cups and two Asian Club Championships. Yael Arad, an athlete in Maccabi's judo club, won a silver medal in the 1992 Olympic Games.
Hapoel Tel Aviv Sports Club, founded in 1923, comprises more than 11 sports clubs, including Hapoel Tel Aviv Football Club (13 championships, 16 State Cups, one Toto Cup and once Asian champions) which plays in Bloomfield Stadium, and Hapoel Tel Aviv Basketball Club.
Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv (once Israeli champion, twice State Cup winners and twice Toto Cup winner) is the Israeli football team that represents a neighborhood, the Hatikva Quarter in Tel Aviv, and not a city. Beitar Tel Aviv Bat Yam formerly played in the top division, the club now playing in Liga Leumit and also represents the city Bat Yam. Maccabi Jaffa formerly played in the top division, the club now playing in Liga Alef and represents the Jaffa. Shimshon Tel Aviv formerly played in the top division, the club now playing in Liga Alef. There are more Tel Aviv football teams: Hapoel Kfar Shalem, F.C. Bnei Jaffa Ortodoxim, Beitar Ezra, Beitar Jaffa, Elitzur Jaffa Tel Aviv, F.C. Roei Heshbon Tel Aviv, Gadna Tel Aviv Yehuda, Hapoel Kiryat Shalom, Hapoel Neve Golan and Hapoel Ramat Yisrael.
Two rowing clubs operate in Tel Aviv. The Tel Aviv Rowing Club, established in 1935 on the banks of the Yarkon River, is the largest rowing club in Israel. Meanwhile, the beaches of Tel Aviv provide a vibrant Matkot (beach paddleball) scene. Tel Aviv Lightning represent Tel Aviv in the Israel Baseball League. Tel Aviv also has an annual half marathon, run in 2008 by 10,000 athletes with runners coming from around the world.
In 2009, the Tel Aviv Marathon was revived after a fifteen-year hiatus, and is run annually since, attracting a field of over 18,000 runners.
1Transport Tel Aviv is a major transportation hub, served by a comprehensive public transport network, with many major routes of the national transportation network running through the city. As of 2023, 56% of the residents are going to work without using cars and the plan is to expand it to 70% by the end of the decade.
1Bus and taxi As with the rest of Israel, bus transport is the most common form of public transport and is very widely used. The Tel Aviv central bus station is located in the southern part of the city. The main bus network in Tel Aviv metropolitan area operated by Dan Bus Company, Metropoline, and Kavim. the Egged Bus Cooperative, Israels's largest bus company, provides intercity transportation.
The city is also served by local and inter-city share taxis. Many local and inter-city bus routes also have sherut taxis that follow the same route and display the same route number in their window. Fares are standardised within the region and are comparable to or less expensive than bus fares. Unlike other forms of public transport, these taxis also operate on Fridays and Saturdays (the Jewish sabbath "Shabbat"). Private taxis are white with a yellow sign on top. Fares are standardised and metered, but may be negotiated ahead of time with the driver.
1Transport: Rail The Tel Aviv Savidor Central railway station is the main railway station of the city, and the second-busiest station in Israel. The city has five additional railway stations along the Ayalon Highway: three of them, Tel Aviv University, HaShalom (the busiest station in Israel, adjacent to Azrieli Center) and HaHagana (near the Tel Aviv central bus station), serve Tel Aviv directly, while the remaining two, Holon Junction and Holon-Wolfson, are within Tel Aviv's municipal boundaries but serve the southern suburb of Holon. It is estimated that over a million passengers travel by rail to Tel Aviv monthly. The trains do not run on Saturday and the principal Jewish festivals (Rosh Hashana (2 days), Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Simkhat Torah, Pessach (Passover) first and fifth days and Shavuot (Pentecost)). Jaffa railway station was the first railway station in the Middle East. It served as the terminus for the Jaffa–Jerusalem railway. The station opened in 1891 and closed in 1948. In 2005–2009, the station was restored and converted into an entertainment and leisure venue marketed as "HaTachana", Hebrew for "the station" (see homepage here:). The Jaffa–Jerusalem railway also included the Tel Aviv Beit Hadar railway station, which was opened in 1920 and replaced in 1970, and the Tel Aviv South railway station, which was opened in 1970 to replace Beit Hadar and itself closed in 1993. The Bnei Brak railway station, while located in Bnei Brak's municipal borders, is closer to the Tel Aviv neighborhood of Ramat HaHayal than to Bnei Brak's city centre and was originally called Tel Aviv North.
Tel Aviv Light Rail is a mass transit system for the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. As of 2023, two LRT lines are under construction. Work on the Red Line, the first in the project, started on September 21, 2011, following years of preparatory works, and was expected to be completed and opened in late 2022 after numerous delays, and was finally opened on August 18, 2023, after the opening day was postponed numerous times. Construction of the Purple Line started in December 2018; work on the Green Line began in 2021 and is scheduled for completion in 2028. Tel Aviv Metro is a proposed subway system for the Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area. It will augment the Tel Aviv Light Rail and Israel Railways suburban lines and 3 underground metro lines to form a rapid transit transportation solution for the city. Construction is expected to start in 2025, with the first public opening in 2032.
1Transport: Road The main highway leading to and within the city is the Ayalon Highway (Highway 20), which runs in the eastern side of the city from north to south along the Ayalon River riverbed. Driving south on Ayalon gives access to Highway 4 leading to Ashdod, Highway 1, leading to Ben Gurion International Airport and Jerusalem and Highway 431 leading to Jerusalem, Modiin, Rehovot and the Highway 6 Trans-Israel Highway. Driving north on Ayalon gives access to the Highway 2 coastal road leading to Netanya, Hadera and Haifa. Within the city, main routes include Kaplan Street, Allenby Street, Ibn Gabirol Street, Dizengoff Street, Rothschild Boulevard, and in Jaffa the main route is Jerusalem Boulevard. Namir Road connects the city to Highway 2, Israel's main north–south highway, and Begin/Jabotinsky Road, which provides access from the east through Ramat Gan, Bnei Brak and Petah Tikva. Tel Aviv, accommodating about 500,000 commuter cars daily, suffers from increasing congestion. In 2007, the Sadan Report recommended the introduction of a congestion charge similar to that of London in Tel Aviv as well as other Israeli cities. Under this plan, road users traveling into the city would pay a fixed fee.
1Transport: Air The main airport serving Greater Tel Aviv is Ben Gurion International Airport. Located in the neighbouring city of Lod, it handled over 20 million passengers in 2017. Ben Gurion is the main hub of El Al, Arkia, Israir Airlines and Sun d'Or. The airport is 15 km (9.3 mi; 8.1 nmi) south-east of Tel Aviv, on Highway 1 between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Sde Dov Airport (IATA: SDV), in north-western Tel Aviv, is a domestic airport and was closed in 2019 in favor of real-estate development. All services to Sde Dov will be transferred to Ben Gurion Airport.
1Transport: Cycling The Tel Aviv Municipality encourages the use of bicycles in the city. Plans called for expansion of the paths to 100 km (62.1 mi) by 2009. By 2020, the city had 140 km of bicycle paths with plans to reach 300 km by 2025. The city is at the centre of the Ofnidan, a network of bicycle paths throughout the Gush Dan metropolitan area.
In April 2011, the Tel Aviv municipality launched Tel-O-Fun, a bicycle sharing system, in which 150 stations of bicycles for rent were installed within the city limits.
1Tel Aviv is rated Beta + by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) which evaluates and ranks the relationships between world cities in the context of globalisation. Beta level cities are cities that link moderate economic regions to the world economy.
Tel Aviv is the #38 city in the world according to the Global Power City Index (GPCI) which evaluates and ranks the major cities of the world according to their magnetism, or their comprehensive power to attract people, capital, and enterprises from around the world. It does so through measuring six key functions: Economy, Research and Development, Cultural Interaction, Liveability, Environment, and Accessibility.
Tel Aviv is the #49 city in the world according to the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI) which evaluates and ranks the competitiveness of the major financial centres of the world according to a wide range of criteria – Human Capital, Business, Finance, Infrastructure and Reputation.
Tel Aviv is ranked #23 and rated D+ by the Global Urban Competitiveness Report (GUCR) which evaluates and ranks world cities in the context of economic competitiveness. D+ cities are strong regional hub cities. Tel Aviv has a population of over 467,875 people. Tel Aviv also forms part of the wider Gush Dan metropolitan area which has a population of over 4,055,000 people. Tel Aviv is ranked #8 for startups with a score of 27.084.
To set up a UBI Lab for Tel Aviv see: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/UBILabNetwork
Twin Towns, Sister Cities Tel-Aviv-Yafo has links with:
🇰🇿 Almaty, Kazakhstan 🇪🇸 Barcelona, Spain 🇨🇳 Beijing, China 🇷🇸 Belgrade, Serbia 🇩🇪 Bonn, Germany 🇭🇺 Budapest, Hungary 🇦🇷 Buenos Aires, Argentina 🇫🇷 Cannes, France 🇨🇳 Cheongwen, China 🇲🇩 Chișinău, Moldova 🇨🇳 Chongqing, China 🇩🇪 Cologne, Germany 🇩🇪 Essen, Germany 🇩🇪 Frankfurt, Germany 🇩🇪 Frankfurt am Main, Germany 🇩🇪 Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany 🇵🇸 Gaza City, Palestine 🇨🇳 Guangzhou, China 🇰🇷 Incheon, South Korea 🇹🇷 İzmir, Turkey 🇺🇸 Los Angeles, USA 🇮🇹 Milan, Italy 🇨🇦 Montreal, Canada 🇷🇺 Moscow, Russia 🇺🇸 New York, USA 🇵🇦 Panama City, Panama 🇫🇷 Paris, France 🇺🇸 Philadelphia, USA 🇷🇺 Saint Petersburg, Russia 🇺🇸 San Antonio, USA 🇨🇳 Shunyi, China 🇧🇬 Sofia, Bulgaria 🇬🇷 Thessaloniki, Greece 🇫🇷 Toulouse, France 🇦🇹 Vienna, Austria 🇵🇱 Warsaw, Poland 🇯🇵 Yokohama, Japan 🇵🇱 Łódź, Poland🇮🇱 Tel-Aviv-Yafo 32.08
🇮🇱 Rosh Ha‘Ayin 32.083
🇮🇱 Rosh HaAyin 32.083
🇮🇱 Bene Beraq 32.083
🇮🇱 Petah Tikva 32.09
🇮🇱 Tel Aviv-Yafo 32.067
🇮🇱 Tel Aviv-Yafo 34.783
🇮🇱 Be'er Sheva 34.794
🇮🇱 Nes Ziyyona 34.8
🇮🇱 Rishon LeTsiyyon 34.8
Locations Near: Tel Aviv 34.78,32.08
🇮🇱 Tel-Aviv-Yafo 34.78,32.08 d: 0
🇮🇱 Tel Aviv-Yafo 34.783,32.067 d: 1.5
🇮🇱 Givatayim 34.81,32.071 d: 3
🇮🇱 Ramat Gan 34.816,32.084 d: 3.4
🇮🇱 Bnei Brak 34.833,32.083 d: 5
🇮🇱 Bene Beraq 34.833,32.083 d: 5
🇮🇱 Bat Yam 34.743,32.028 d: 6.8
🇮🇱 Petah Tikva 34.881,32.09 d: 9.5
Antipodal to: Tel Aviv -145.22,-32.08
🇵🇫 Papeete -149.566,-17.537 d: 18340.1
🇦🇸 Pago Pago -170.701,-14.279 d: 16759.5
🇹🇴 Nuku'alofa -175.216,-21.136 d: 16808.1
🇼🇸 Apia -171.76,-13.833 d: 16641.1
🇺🇸 Hilo -155.089,19.725 d: 14159.5
🇺🇸 Maui -156.446,20.72 d: 14023.6
🇺🇸 Kahului -156.466,20.891 d: 14004.5
🇺🇸 Maui County -156.617,20.868 d: 14003.8