๐ฎ๐ฑ Haifa is the third-largest city in Israel. The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area in Israel. It is home to the Bahรกสผรญ Faith's Bahรกสผรญ World Centre, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a destination for Bahรกสผรญ pilgrimage.
Built on the slopes of Mount Carmel, the settlement has a history spanning more than 3,000 years. The earliest known settlement in the vicinity was Tell Abu Hawam, a small port city established in the Late Bronze Age (14th century BCE). In the 3rd century CE, Haifa was known as a dye-making centre. Over the millennia, the Haifa area has changed hands: being conquered and ruled by the Assyrians, Babylonians, Canaanites, Israelites, Phoenicians, Persians, Hasmoneans, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Crusaders, Ottomans, and the British. Since the establishment of the Israeli state in 1948, the Haifa Municipality has governed the city.
As of 2016, the city is a major seaport located on Israel's Mediterranean coastline in the Bay of Haifa covering 63.7ย kmยฒ (24.6ย sqย mi). It lies about 90ย km (56ย mi) north of Tel Aviv and is the major regional centre of northern Israel. Two respected academic institutions, the University of Haifa and the Technion โ Israel Institute of Technology the oldest and top ranked university in both Israel and the Middle East, are located in Haifa, in addition to the largest Kโ12 school in Israel, the Hebrew Reali School. The city plays an important role in Israel's economy. It is home to Matam, one of the oldest and largest high-tech parks in the country; Haifa also owns the only underground rapid transit system located in Israel, known as the Carmelit. Haifa Bay is a centre of heavy industry, petroleum refining and chemical processing. Haifa formerly functioned as the western terminus of an oil pipeline from Iraq via Jordan. It is one of Israel's mixed cities, with an Arab-Israeli population of c.10%.
1Economy The common Israeli saying, "Haifa works, Jerusalem prays, and Tel Aviv plays" attests to Haifa's reputation as a city of workers and industry. The industrial region of Haifa is in the eastern part of the city, around the Kishon River. It is home to the Haifa oil refinery, one of the two oil refineries in Israel (the other refinery being located in Ashdod). The Haifa refinery processes 9ย million tons (66ย million barrels) of crude oil a year. Its nowadays unused twin 80-meter high cooling towers, built in the 1930s, were the tallest buildings built in the British Mandate period. Matam (short for Merkaz Ta'asiyot Mada โ Scientific Industries Center), the largest and oldest business park in Israel, is at the southern entrance to the city, hosting manufacturing and R&D facilities for a large number of Israeli and international hi-tech companies, such as Apple, Amazon, Abbot, Cadence, Intel, IBM, Magic Leap, Microsoft, Motorola, Google, Yahoo!, Elbit, CSR, Philips, PwC and Amdocs. The campus of the University of Haifa is also home to IBM Haifa Labs.
The Port of Haifa is the leader in passenger traffic among Israeli ports, and is also a major cargo harbor, although deregulation has seen its dominance challenged by the Port of Ashdod. Haifa malls and shopping centres include Hutsot Hamifratz, Horev Center Mall, Panorama Center, Castra Center, Colony Center (Lev HaMoshava), Hanevi'im Tower Mall, Kanyon Haifa, Lev Hamifratz Mall and Grand Kanyon. In 2010, Monocle magazine identified Haifa as the city with the most promising business potential, with the greatest investment opportunities in the world. The magazine noted that "a massive head-to-toe regeneration is starting to have an impact; from scaffolding and cranes around town, to renovated faรงades and new smart places to eat". The Haifa municipality had spent more than $350ย million on roads and infrastructure, and the number of building permits had risen 83% in the previous two years.
In 2014, it was announced that a technology-focused stock exchange would be established to compete with the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Currently, some 40 hotels, mostly boutique hotels, are planned, have been approved, or are under construction. The Haifa Municipality is seeking to turn the city into Northern Israel's tourist centre, from where travellers can embark on day trips into Acre, Nazareth, Tiberias, and the Galilee. A new life sciences industrial park containing five buildings with 85,000 square meters of space on a 31-duman (7.75 acre) site is being built adjacent to the Matam industrial park.
1Tourist Industry In 2005, Haifa had 13 hotels with a total of 1,462 rooms. The city has a 17ย km (11ย mi) shoreline, of which 5ย km (3ย mi) are beaches. Haifa's main tourist attraction is the Bahรกสผรญ World Centre, with the golden-domed Shrine of the Bรกb and the surrounding gardens. Between 2005 and 2006, 86,037 visited the shrine. In 2008, the Bahรกสผรญ gardens were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The restored German Colony, founded by the Templers, Stella Maris and Elijah's Cave also draw many tourists. Located in the Haifa district are the Ein Hod artists' colony, where over 90 artists and craftsmen have studios and exhibitions, and the Mount Carmel national park, with caves where Neanderthal and early Homo Sapiens remains were found.
A 2007 report commissioned by the Haifa Municipality calls for the construction of more hotels, a ferry line between Haifa, Acre and Caesarea, development of the western anchorage of the port as a recreation and entertainment area, and an expansion of the local airport and port to accommodate international travel and cruise ships.
1Haifa is rated Sufficiency by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) which evaluates and ranks the relationships between world cities in the context of globalisation. Sufficiency level cities are cities that have a sufficient degree of services so as not to be overly dependent on world cities.
Haifa is ranked #100 by the Global Urban Competitiveness Report (GUCR) which evaluates and ranks world cities in the context of economic competitiveness. Haifa was ranked #1333 by the Nomad List which evaluates and ranks remote work hubs by cost, internet, fun and safety. Haifa has a population of over 285,316 people. Haifa also forms the centre of the wider Haifa District which has a population of over 996,300 people. Haifa is ranked #119 for startups with a score of 4.777.
To set up a UBI Lab for Haifa see: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/UBILabNetwork
Twin Towns, Sister Cities Haifa has links with:
๐ฉ๐ฐ Aalborg, Denmark ๐ง๐ช Antwerp, Belgium ๐ฉ๐ช Bremen, Germany ๐ฟ๐ฆ Cape Town, South Africa ๐จ๐ณ Changning, China ๐จ๐ณ Chengdu, China ๐ฉ๐ช Dรผsseldorf, Germany ๐ฉ๐ช Erfurt, Germany ๐บ๐ธ Fort Lauderdale, USA ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ Hackney, England ๐ซ๐ท Lille, France ๐จ๐พ Limassol, Cyprus ๐ฉ๐ช Mainz, Germany ๐ต๐ญ Manila, Philippines ๐ฉ๐ช Mannheim, Germany ๐ซ๐ท Marseille, France ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ Newcastle upon Tyne, England ๐บ๐ฆ Odesa, Ukraine ๐บ๐ธ Palm Desert, USA ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ Portsmouth, England ๐จ๐ณ Qingpu District, China ๐ฆ๐ท Rosario, Argentina ๐ท๐บ Saint Petersburg, Russia ๐บ๐ธ San Francisco, USA ๐ฉ๐ด Santo Domingo, The Dominican Republic ๐จ๐ณ Shanghai, China ๐จ๐ณ Shantou, China ๐จ๐ณ Shenzen, China ๐จ๐ณ Shenzhen, China ๐ท๐ด Suceava, Romania ๐ฎ๐น Turin, Italy๐ฎ๐ฑ Kiryat Motzkin 32.83
๐บ๐ธ Macon-Bibb 32.833
๐บ๐ธ North Richland Hills 32.84
๐ฎ๐ฑ Kiryat Ata 32.8
๐ฏ๐ต Kumamoto City 32.794
๐บ๐ธ Mount Pleasant 32.783
๐ฎ๐ท Dowlatฤbฤd 32.783
๐บ๐ธ Charleston 32.781
๐ฎ๐ฑ Beit Shemesh 34.991
๐ฎ๐ฑ Modiโin Makkabbim Reโut 35
๐ฎ๐ฑ Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut 35.02
๐บ๐ฆ Dnipropetrovsk 35.046
๐ฎ๐ฑ Kiryat Motzkin 35.079
๐ฎ๐ฑ Bet Shemesh 34.983
๐ฎ๐ฑ Rosh HaโAyin 34.95
๐ฎ๐ฑ Rosh HaAyin 34.95
๐ฎ๐ฑ Drom HaSharon 34.9
Locations Near: Haifa 34.9892,32.8156
๐ฎ๐ฑ Kiryat Motzkin 35.079,32.83 d: 8.5
๐ฎ๐ฑ Kiryat Ata 35.1,32.8 d: 10.5
๐ฎ๐ฑ Acre 35.095,32.925 d: 15.6
๐ฎ๐ฑ Nahariyya 35.083,33 d: 22.3
๐ฎ๐ฑ Nahariya 35.108,33.02 d: 25.3
๐ฎ๐ฑ Nazareth 35.298,32.702 d: 31.5
๐ฎ๐ฑ Karmiel 35.311,32.923 d: 32.3
๐ฎ๐ฑ Umm al-Fahm 35.15,32.517 d: 36.5
๐ฎ๐ฑ Nof HaGalil 35.334,32.709 d: 34.3
Antipodal to: Haifa -145.011,-32.816
๐ต๐ซ Papeete -149.566,-17.537 d: 18256.1
๐ฆ๐ธ Pago Pago -170.701,-14.279 d: 16699.5
๐น๐ด Nuku'alofa -175.216,-21.136 d: 16767.5
๐ผ๐ธ Apia -171.76,-13.833 d: 16581.9
๐บ๐ธ Hilo -155.089,19.725 d: 14075.4
๐บ๐ธ Maui -156.446,20.72 d: 13939.4
๐บ๐ธ Kahului -156.466,20.891 d: 13920.4
๐บ๐ธ Maui County -156.617,20.868 d: 13919.7