Founded 1945 Website www.k-yam.org.il Local time Wednesday 8:24 PM | Name meaning Sea Town Area 7 km² | |
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Weather 12°C, Wind W at 2 km/h, 89% Humidity Points of interest Yamit Beach, Zvulun Beach, Galia Beach, Almogim Beach (For Orthodox Jews) | ||
Kiryat Yam (Hebrew: קִרְיַת יָם, lit. Sea Town; Arabic: كريات يام) is a town in the Haifa Bay district of Israel, 12 km (7 mi) north of Haifa. One of a group of Haifa suburbs known as the Krayot, it is located on the Mediterranean coast, between Kiryat Haim and the Tzur Shalom industrial area, east of Kiryat Motzkin. In 2015 it had a population of 39,273.
Contents
- Map of Kiryat Yam Israel
- History
- Demographics
- Schools
- Israeli Arab conflict
- Urban development
- Neighbourhoods
- Twin towns
- References
Map of Kiryat Yam, Israel
History
A large tract of land on the Haifa Bay was purchased from the Sursock family of Beirut by the American Zion Commonwealth in 1925. In 1928, the Bayside Land Corporation, a joint venture of the Palestine Economic Corporation and the Jewish National Fund, acquired 2,400 dunams of residential land in a deal related to the building of the IPC oil pipeline. Development of a residential area began in 1939, and the first houses were completed in 1940.
Demographics
Kiryat Yam has a population of 38,945. The northern area of the town is home to many immigrants from the former Soviet Union, North Africa and Ethiopia in which the municipality and its mayor Shmuel Sisso worked to build dozens of centers and homes to help the immigrants settle. The city is ranked medium on the socio-economic scale.
Schools
Kiryat Yam has 15 preschools, eight elementary schools and 3 high schools (Rabin,Rodman & Levinson ) with a student population of 10,000.
Israeli-Arab conflict
During the 2006 Lebanon War, Kiryat Yam was hit by Hezbollah rockets and suffered casualties and property damage.
In February 2008, a Google Earth user added an erroneous note that Kiryat Yam had been built on the ruins of Arab Ghawarina, an abandoned Arab village. The town filed a complaint with the police against Google for libel.
Urban development
Urban development plans aimed at upgrading the old Gimmel neighborhood were blocked by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, whose main weapons development plant borders Kiryat Yam. In 2009, the Haifa district planning committee approved high-rise construction for the neighborhood, overruling Rafael's objections.
Neighbourhoods
Twin towns
Kiryat Yam is twinned with: