Beersheba

Beersheba באר שבע‎ بئر السبع‎
City
Hebrew transcription(s)
• Also spelled	Be'er-Sheva (official) Beer Sheva (unofficial)
From Upper left: Beersheba City Hall, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Negev Museum of Art, view of downtown, Volunteers square, Be'er Sheva at night
Flag
Beersheba Show map of Northern Negev region of Israel Beersheba Show map of Israel
Coordinates: 31°15′8″N 34°47′12″E / 31.25222°N 34.78667°E / 31.25222; 34.78667
Country	Israel
District	Southern
Government
• Mayor	Ruvik Danilovich
Area
• Total	117,500 dunams (117.5 km2 or 45.4 sq mi)
Elevation	260 m (850 ft)
Population  (2022)[1]
• Total	214,162
• Density	1,800/km2 (4,700/sq mi)
Ethnicity [1]
• Jews and others	96.9%
• Arabs	3.1%
Name meaning	Well of the Oath(see also)
Website	beer-sheva.muni.il

Beersheba (/bɪərˈʃiːbə/ beer-SHEE-bə), officially Be'er-Sheva^[2] (usually spelled Beer Sheva; Hebrew: באר שבע‎, romanized: Bəʾēr Ševaʿ, IPA: [ˈbe(ʔ)eʁ ˈʃeva(ʕ)] ^ⓘ; Arabic: بئر السبع‎, romanized: Biʾr as-Sabʿ, IPA: [biʔr‿as.sabʕ]; lit. 'Well of the Oath' or 'Well of the Seven'^[3]), is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the centre of the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in Israel, the eighth-most populous Israeli city with a population of 214,162,^[1] and the second-largest city in area (after Jerusalem), with a total area of 117,500 dunams (45 mi² / 117.5 km²).

Human habitation near present-day Beersheba dates back to the fourth millennium BC. In the Bible, Beersheba marks the southern boundary of ancient Israel, as mentioned in the phrase "From Dan to Beersheba." Initially assigned to the Tribe of Judah, Beersheba was later reassigned to Simeon. During the monarchic era, it functioned as a royal city but eventually faced destruction at the hands of the Assyrians.^[3] The Biblical site of Beersheba is Tel Be'er Sheva, lying some 4 km distant from the modern city, which was established at the start of the 20th century by the Ottomans.^[4] The city was captured by the British-led Australian Light Horse troops in the Battle of Beersheba during World War I.

The population of the town was completely changed in 1948–49. Bir Seb'a (Arabic: بئر السبع), as it was then known, had been almost entirely Muslim, and the 1947 UN Partition Plan designated it to be part of the Arab state. It was occupied by the Egyptian army from May 1948 until October 1948 when it was captured by the Israel Defense Forces and part of Arab population fled, relocated or was expelled.^[5] Today, the metropolitan area is composed of approximately equal Jewish and Arab populations, with a large portion of the Jewish population made up of the descendants of Sephardi Jews and Mizrahi Jews who fled, relocated or were expelled from Arab countries after Israel's founding in 1948, as well as smaller communities of Bene Israel and Cochin Jews from India. Second and third waves of immigration have taken place since 1990, bringing Russian-speaking immigrants from the former Soviet Union as well as Beta Israel immigrants from Ethiopia. The Soviet immigrants have made the game of chess a major sport in Beersheba, and it is now Israel's national chess center, with more chess grandmasters per capita than any other city in the world.^[6]

Beersheba is home to Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. This city also serves as a center for Israel's high-tech and developing technology industry.^[7] The city has constructed over 250 roundabouts, earning its moniker as the "Roundabouts Capital of Israel" and the largest number of roundabouts in the world.^{[8][9][failed verification]}