Kiryat Gat
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| Kiryat Gat | |
| Hebrew | קִרְיַת גַּת |
| Arabic | كريات جات |
| Founded in | 1972 |
| Government | City |
| District | South |
| Coordinates | Coordinates: |
| Population | 47,600 (2005) |
| Jurisdiction | 17,000 dunams (8.4 km²) |
| Mayor | Aviram Dahari |
| Website | www.qiryat-gat.muni.il (Hebrew) |
Kiryat Gat (Hebrew: קִרְיַת גַּת, Arabic: كريات جات) , is a city in the Southern District of Israel. It lies 56 km south of Tel-Aviv, 43 km north of Beersheba and 68 km from Jerusalem.
According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), at the end of 2005 the city had a total population of 47,600.
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[edit] Etymology
Kiryat Gat is named for Gath, one of the five major cities of the Philistines. In Hebrew, "gat" means wine press. In the 1950s, archaeologists found ruins at nearby tel which were mistaken for the Philistine city of Gath. The real Gath was later discovered thirteen kilometers to the northeast at Tel es-Safi/Tel Gath. Gath was the hometown of the biblical giant Goliath the Gittite.[1]
[edit] History
Kiryat Gat was established in 1955 as a development town by 18 families from Morocco [2] on a site between the ruins of the Arab villages of al-Faluja and Iraq al-Manshiyya,[3] which were violently depopulated[4] and destroyed in the aftermath of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.[5]
The city quickly expanded as its population rose from 4,400 inhabitants in 1958 to 17,000 in 1969, most of them from North Africa. The town's economy was initially based on processing the agricultural produce of the Lachish region, such as cotton and wool. In December 1972, Kiryat Gat's municipal status was upgraded and it became Israel's 31st city.[6]
[edit] Demographics
According to Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, the city's population in 2005 was 47,600. The ethnic makeup of the city was primarily Jewish and other non-Arabs.[7] In its early years, Kiryat Gat was populated mainly by Jews of Mizrahi origin. Since the mass immigration of Soviet Jews, approximately one third of the inhabitants hail from the former Soviet Union."[8]
[edit] Economics
The Polgat textile factory was the main employer in the town until it closed in the 1990s.
In 1999, Intel opened a chip fabrication plant, known as Fab 18, to produce Pentium 4 chips and flash memories. Intel received a grant of $525 million from the Israeli government to build the plant.
In February, 2006, the cornerstone was laid for Intel's second Kiryat Gat plant, Fab 28, which is due to begin production in the second half of 2008.
Despite this, "Kiryat Gat has one of Israel's highest unemployment rates." [8][9]
[edit] Income
According to CBS, as of 2000, in the city there were 15,257 salaried workers and 1,152 are self-employed. The mean monthly wage in 2000 for a salaried worker in the city is 4,125 shekels, a real change of +4.9% over the course of 2000. Salaried males have a mean monthly wage of 5,199 shekels (a real change of +7.3%) versus 2,956 shekels for females (a real change of -1.8%). The mean income for the self-employed is 5,494. There are 1,336 people who receive unemployment benefits and 6,487 people who receive an income guarantee.
[edit] Education
According to CBS, there are 25 schools and 10,676 students in the city. They are spread out as 18 elementary schools and 5,498 elementary school students, and 13 high schools and 5,178 high school students. 54.7% of 12th grade students were entitled to a matriculation certificate in 2001.
Kiryat Gat is also home to a Pedagogic Center, science centers, a computerized library and a center for the study of Industry, Art and Technology.[2]
[edit] Sport
The city's football team, Maccabi Kiryat Gat were promoted to Ligat ha'Al in 2001, but were relegated at the end of their first season at the top level. Since then, financial problems have led to the club being demoted to Liga Alef (the fourth tier), where they remain today.
[edit] Notable residents
- Ninet Tayeb, Israeli singer and actress, a winner of Kokhav Nolad
[edit] References
- ^ The Guide to Israel, Zeev Vilnay, Hamakor Press, Jerusalem 1970, p.250
- ^ a b Partnership 2000, Kiryat Gat Jewish United Fund
- ^ "קריית גת". Encyclopaedia Hebraica. Vol 30.
- ^ Intel chip plant located on disputed Israeli land. San Francisco Chronicle 8th July 2002. Verified 20th May 2008.
- ^ Morris, Benny - The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited, 1947-1949, (Cambridge University Press, 2004) - pp.522-524.
- ^ "Kiryat Gat". Encyclopaedia Judaica (CD-ROM Edition Version 1.0). Ed. Cecil Roth. Keter Publishing House. ISBN 965-07-0665-8
- ^ Kiryat Gat- Municipality Profile (PDF) (Hebrew). Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (2005). Retrieved on 2007-06-27.
- ^ a b Rosenthal, Donna. The Israelis: Ordinary People in an Extraordinary Land. New York: Free Press, 2003. pp. 124-126.
- ^ Intel Inside 5 January 2006, Jerusalem Post
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