page_title: Dimona
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Dimona / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Palm Avenue entrance to the city עברית: שדרת הדקלים בכניסה לעיר, Original Image Name:דימונה המתחדשת, Notes:דימונה היא העיר השלישית בגודלה בנגב. העיר נמצאת 36 ק&quot;מ דרומית לבאר שבע ו־35 ק&quot;מ מערבית לים המלח. דימונה ממוקמת ברמת הנגב שבמחוז הדרום, בגובה 600 מ' מעל גובה פני הים. סמוך לדימונה נמצאת הקריה למחקר גרעיני. , Location:דימונה
context_page_description: Dimona is an Israeli city in the Negev desert, 30 kilometres to the south-east of Beersheba and 35 kilometres west of the Dead Sea above the Arava valley in the Southern District of Israel. In 2018 its population was 34,135. The Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center, colloquially known as the Dimona Reactor, is located 13 kilometres southeast of the city.
context_section_description: Dimona was one of the development towns created in the 1950s under the leadership of Israel's first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion. Dimona itself was conceived in 1953. The location chosen was close to the Dead Sea Works. It was established in 1955. The first residents were Jewish immigrants from North Africa, with an initial 36 families being the first to settle there. Its population in 1955 was about 300. The North African immigrants also constructed the city's houses.
  When the Israeli nuclear program began in 1958, a location not far from the city was chosen for the Negev Nuclear Research Center due to its relative isolation in the desert and availability of housing. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, immigrants from Eastern Europe arrived. A textile factory was opened in 1958. That same year, Dimona became a local council. In 1961, it had a population of 5,000. The emblem of Dimona (as a local council), adopted 2 March 1961, appeared on a stamp issued on 24 March 1965. Dimona was declared a city in 1969. In 1971, it had a population of 23,700.
  In spite of a gradual decrease during the 1980s, the city's population began to grow once again with the beginning of the Russian immigration in the 1990s. Currently, Dimona is the third largest city in the Negev, with the population of almost 34,000. Due to projected rapid population growth in the Negev, the city is expected to triple in size by 2025.
caption: Palm boulevard in Dimona
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