Nevertheless, the land area of Tel Aviv is some 51 thousand dunams and of Haifa, approximately 58 thousand dunams. Most of this growth occurred only in the last few years. Much of this growth is a direct result of the wave of Soviet immigrants that reached the country in the early 1990s. The Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies estimates that the city's population will have passed the 650,000 mark by the year 2000. The most important factor contributing to the overall increase in population in Jerusalem is certainly natural increase.
Immigration is the second major factor.
In contrast, the number of people leaving Jerusalem in the past decade has been detrimental to the city, both quantitatively and qualitatively. This issue must be addressed with the utmost urgency. It is vital to the city's well-being to curb the number of those leaving Jerusalem and to encourage immigrants to settle in Jerusalem on a permanent basis. Natural Increase Jerusalem boasts a high rate of natural increase. Whereas in 1995 Israel's rate of natural increase was 14.7 per thousand, in Jerusalem it was 23.6.