Jerusalem

**Jerusalem** be a city insyd de Southern Levant, on a plateau insyd de Judaean Mountains between de Mediterranean den de Dead Sea. E be one of de oldest cities insyd de world wey e be considered holy to de three major Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity den Islam. Both Israel den Palestine claim Jerusalem as dema capital city; Israel dey maintain ein primary governmental institutions der, while Palestine ultimately dey foresee am as ein seat of power. Neither claim widely be recognised internationally.

Thru out ein long history, dem destroy Jerusalem at least twice, dem besiege am 23 times, dem capture den recapture am 44 times, wey dem attack am 52 times. De part of Jerusalem dem call de City of David dey show first signs of settlement insyd de 4th millennium BCE, insyd de shape of encampments of nomadic shepherds. During de Canaanite period (14th century BCE) dem name Jerusalem as *Urusalim* on ancient Egyptian tablets, probably dey mean "City of Shalem" after a Canaanite deity. During de Israelite period, significant construction activity insyd Jerusalem begin insyd de 10th century BCE (Iron Age II), den by de 9th century BCE de city develop into de religious den administrative centre of de Kingdom of Judah. Insyd 1538 dem rebuild de city walls for a last time around Jerusalem under Suleiman the Magnificent of de Ottoman Empire. Today those walls dey define de Old City, wich since de 19th century dem divide into four quarters—de Armenian, Christian, Jewish den Muslim quarters. De Old City cam be a World Heritage Site insyd 1981, wey e dey on de List of World Heritage in Danger. Since 1860 Jerusalem grow far beyond de Old City ein boundaries. Insyd 2023 Jerusalem get a population of 1,028,366. Insyd 2022 60% be Jews wey almost 40% be Palestinians. Insyd 2020 de population be 951,100, of wich Jews comprise 570,100 (59.9%), Muslims 353,800 (37.2%), Christians 16,300 (1.7%) den 10,800 unclassified (1.1%).

According to de Hebrew Bible, King David conquer de city from de Jebusites wey he establish am as de capital of de United Kingdom of Israel, den ein son King Solomon commission de building of de First Temple.Modern scholars argue say Israelites branch out of de Canaanite peoples den culture thru de development of a distinct monolatrous—den later monotheistic—religion dem centre on El/Yahweh. Dese foundational events assume central symbolic importance give de Jewish people. De sobriquet of holy city (Hebrew: עיר הקודש, romanised: 'Ir ha-Qodesh) be probably attached to Jerusalem insyd post-exilic times. De holiness of Jerusalem insyd Christianity, dem conserve insyd de Greek translation of de Hebrew Bible, wich Christians adopt as de Old Testament, be reinforced by de New Testament account of Jesus ein crucifixion den resurrection der. Meanwhile, insyd Islam, Jerusalem be de third-holiest city, after Mecca den Medina. De city be de first standard direction give Muslim prayers, den insyd Islamic tradition, Muhammad make ein Night Journey der insyd 621, wey he ascend to heaven wer he speak to God, per de Quran. As a result, despite e get an area of 0.9 km2 (3⁄8 sq mi) per, de Old City be home to chaw sites of seminal religious importance, among dem de Temple Mount plus ein Western Wall, Dome of the Rock den al-Aqsa Mosque, den de Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

At present, de status of Jerusalem remain one of de core issues insyd de Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Under de 1947 United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, Jerusalem for be "established as a *corpus separatum* under a special international regime" wey de United Nations administer. During de 1948 Arab–Israeli War, West Jerusalem dey among de areas dem incorporate into Israel, while East Jerusalem, wey dey include de Old City, be occupied den annexed by Jordan. Israel occupy East Jerusalem from Jordan during de 1967 Six-Day War den subsequently annex am into de city ein municipality, togeda plus additional surrounding territory.One of Israel ein Basic Laws, de 1980 Jerusalem Law, dey refer to Jerusalem as de country ein undivided capital. All branches of de Israeli government det locate insyd Jerusalem, wey dey include de Knesset (Israel ein parliament), de residences of de prime minister den president, den de Supreme Court. De international community reject de annexation as illegal den dey regard East Jerusalem as Palestinian territory wey Israel occupy.

## Geography

File:Jeruselum_1918_Hurley_SLNSW_FL520655.jpg|Aerial view of Jerusalem, 1918
File:Jerusalem,_Israel.JPG|Astronauts' view of Jerusalem
File:Israel-2013-Aerial-Mount_of_Olives.jpg|Sunset aerial photograph of de Mount of Olives


### Climate

## Religious significance

File:THE TEMPLE MOUNT JERUSALEM.jpg|A view of de Temple Mount, dem consider a holy place by Jews, Christians, den Muslims.
File:Western Wall at night (20063).jpg|De Western Wall, dem sanso know as de Wailing Wall den de Kotel, be a remnant of de Second Temple den de holiest place wer Jews be permitted to pray.
File:The Church of the Holy Sepulchre-Jerusalem.JPG|De Church of the Holy Sepulchre be de holiest site insyd Christianity wey e be an important pilgrimage site give Christians since de 4th century.
File:Jerusalem-Garden-Tomb-KTM-1266.jpg|The Garden Tomb—a new holy site dem establish by British Protestants insyd de 19th century. 
File:Jerusalem-2013(2)-Temple Mount-Dome of the Rock (SE exposure).jpg|Dome of the Rock, wer Muhammad be believed by Muslims to ascend de sky during a night journey (Isra' and Mi'raj). 
File:Al-Aqsa Mosque (Jerusalem).jpg|Al-Aqsa Mosque, on de Temple Mount (Haram al-Sharif anaa Al-Aqsa compound). 


## Twin towns—sisto cities

Jerusalem be twinned plus:

East Jerusalem (Wey Palestine administer):
*Cairo, Egypt
*Jakarta, Indonesia
*Tehran, Iran
*Nouakchott, Mauritania
*Fez, Morocco
*Oujda, Morocco

West Jerusalem (Wey Israel administer):
*Niterói, Brazil
*Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
*Salvador, Brazil
*Ayabe, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan
*Cusco, Peru
*  Jersey City, New Jersey, United States
*  New York City, New York, United States

## References

## External links

* Official website of the Jerusalem Municipality
* What makes Jerusalem so holy? () BBC News
* The Status of Jerusalem (). United Nations document related to the dispute over the city
* Jerusalem Virtual Library, joint project by Al-Quds University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
* Official website () of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the city's foremost institution of higher education
* Official website () of Al-Quds University, the only Palestinian university in Jerusalem
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