The capital of Israel is located in the saddle of the Judean Mountains. It is bounded by the Dead Sea, the Jordan Valley and the Judean Desert to the east, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. The relief of the city is predominantly mountainous (Mount Scopus, Mount Herzl, Mount of Olives, Romem Hill), with an altitude difference of 600-850 meters.
Today the population of Israel is 853 thousand people, of whom 64% are Jews.
Jerusalem was supposedly founded in the 18th century BC. When and by whom is an open question. The first name of the city was Rusalimum. Although in historical documents the city also appeared as Urusalim, Urusalimmu, Jebus, Yerushalayim.
In 1000 B.C. King David proclaimed the city the capital of the united state of Israel, and in 960 B.C. the first temple was built here.
For centuries, the City of Peace was a tidbit for the Canaanites, Philistines, Assyrians, Jews, Greeks, Persians, Babylonians, Romans, Egyptians, Byzantines, Arabs, Crusaders, and Turks.
In 1948, Israel was declared an independent state. By UN decision, Jerusalem was to acquire a special international status and belong to neither Jews nor Arabs.
This, however, did not find favor with the Arabs. A war broke out, at the end of which, in April 1949, Jerusalem was divided into two parts: the Old City and the eastern part of the New City were given to the Arabs, and the western part of the New City to the Jews.
