Kiryat Yam

views updated

KIRYAT YAM

KIRYAT YAM (Heb. קִרְיַת יָם; "City of the Sea"), urban community in northern Israel, in the Kerayot residential zone near the Haifa Bay shore. Kiryat Yam was founded in 1946, after beginnings in construction had already been made in 1939 but were interrupted with the outbreak of World War ii. The settlement, with 650 inhabitants in 1948, expanded rapidly, reaching 16,000 in 1969 and 38,700 residents in 2002, with a municipal area of 2.7 sq. mi. (7 sq. km.). One- and two-family homes were gradually superseded by apartment houses. Inside the municipal area there was little industry, with most of the inhabitants employed in Haifa. Income was considerably below the national average.

[Efraim Orni /

Shaked Gilboa (2nd ed.)]