Tel Aviv-Yafo, usually referred to as Tel Aviv, is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400. The city is situated on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline, on a land area of 51.4 square kilometres (19.8 sq mi). It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, home to 3.3 million residents as of 2010. The city is governed by the Tel Aviv-Yafo municipality, headed by Ron Huldai. Residents of Tel Aviv are called Tel Avivim.
Tel Aviv was founded in 1909 on the outskirts of the ancient port city of Jaffa. The growth of Tel Aviv soon outpaced Jaffa, which was largely Arab at the time. Tel Aviv and Jaffa were merged into a single municipality in 1950, two years after the establishment of the State of Israel. Tel Aviv’s White City, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003, comprises the world’s largest concentration of Bauhaus buildings.
Tel Aviv is classified as a beta+ world city, alongside cities such as Barcelona and San Francisco. The city is an economic hub, home to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, corporate offices and research and development centers. Its beaches, parks, bars, cafés, restaurants, shopping, cosmopolitan lifestyle and 24-hour culture have made it a popular tourist destination for overseas and domestic visitors alike, contributing to its reputation as “the city that never sleeps” with over 1.5 million foreign tourists annually. Tel Aviv is the country’s financial capital and a major performing arts and business center. The economy of Tel Aviv was ranked second in the Middle East in 2005. In 2010, Foreign Policy’s Global Cities Index ranked it 50th globally, a step above Manila and behind Dubai (27th), Istanbul (41st) and Cairo (43rd). That same year, Tel Aviv was ranked as the 19th most expensive city in the world. In 2007, New York City-based David Kaufman named it the “Mediterranean’s New Capital of Cool”. Tel Aviv has been named the third “hottest city for 2011″ (behind New York City and Tangier) by Lonely Planet, third-best in the Middle East & Africa (behind Jerusalem and Cape Town) by Travel + Leisure magazine, and the ninth-best beach city in the world by National Geographic.
With over 1.5 million foreign tourists visiting annually, Tel Aviv is likened by some to Barcelona, Miami Beach and Manhattan. It is rated as a top international tourism destination by The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the Toronto Star. According to the Tel Aviv Municipality, it has 44 hotels with more than 6,500 rooms. Tel Aviv has been called “the city that never sleeps” and a “party capital” due to its thriving nightlife, young atmosphere and famous 24-hour culture. Hayarkon Park is the largest and most visited public park in the city, with other parks such as Charles Clore Park, Independence Park, Meir Park and Dubnow Park located within the city limits. About 19% of the city land is covered by green areas such as parks and gardens. Dizengoff Center was Israel’s first mall. Tel Aviv has branches of some of the world’s leading hotels, among them 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, there are architectural tours, Segway tours and walking tours.
The city’s promenade is a popular area due to its nightclubs and bars. NBA player Anthony Parker called Tel Aviv the best basketball city to go out in. The city is famous for its wide variety of 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, and an Italian restaurant in Tel Aviv was called the best Italian restaurant outside of Italy by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture.
Tel Aviv has a Mediterranean climate, with hot, humid summers, unpredictably cool to warm springs and autumns, and typically cool, rainy winters. Humidity tends to be high year-round due to the city’s proximity to the sea. In winter, average temperatures are usually between 9 °C (48 °F) and 17 °C (63 °F), with temperatures as low as 6 °C (43 °F) occurring several times a winter. In summer, the average is 26 °C (79 °F), with daytime temperatures sometimes exceeding 32 °C (90 °F). Despite the high humidity, precipitation during summertime is rare. Tel Aviv averages 530.7 millimeters (20.9 in) of precipitation annually which mostly occur from October through April. Winter is the wettest season, yet snow is extremely rare, with the last snowfall occurring in February 1950. Tel Aviv enjoys long daytime hours with more than 300 sunny days a year.
