Kiryat Gat

Kiryat Gat (Hebrew: קִרְיַת גַּת‬, Arabic: كريات جات‎), is a ceety in the Soothren Destrict o Israel. It lies 56 kilometres (35 mi) sooth o Tel-Aviv, 43 kilometres (27 mi) north o Beersheba an 68 kilometres (42 mi) frae Jerusalem. Accordin tae the Israel Central Bureau o Statistics (CBS), at the end o 2009 the ceety haed a tot population o 47,400.^[1]

Etymology

Kiryat Gat is named for Gath, ane o the five major ceeties o the Philistines. In Ebreu, "gat" means "press". In the 1950s, airchaeologists foond ruins at a nearbi tell which wur mistaken for the Philistine ceety o Gath. The real Gath wis later discovered thirteen kilometers tae the northeast at Tel es-Safi/Tel Gath. Gath wis the hametoun o the biblical giant Goliath the Gittite.^[2]

History

Kiryat Gat wis established in 1955 as a development toun bi 18 families frae Morocco.^[3] It wis situatit on land o the nearbi veelage o Iraq al-Manshiyya, which wis depopulatit in 1948.^[4] The population rose frae 4,400 indwallers in 1958 tae 17,000 in 1969, maistly Jewish immigrants frae North Africae. The economy wis initially based on processin the agricultural produce o the Lachish region, sic as cotton an oo. In December 1972, Kiryat Gat's municipal status wis upgradit an it became Israel's 31st ceety.^[4]

Durin the 1990s, the mass immigration o Soviet Jews tae Israel, brocht mony new residents tae the toun an its population grew tae 42,500 bi 1995.^[5] The development o the Rabin industrial zone on the eastren edge o the ceety, an the openin o Heich-gate 6 further impruivit the economy o the ceety.

Demographics

In 2005, the ethnic makeup o the ceety wis primarily Jewish an ither non-Arabs.^[5] In its early years, Kiryat Gat wis populatit mainly bi Jews o Sephardi/Mizrahi oreegin. Syne the mass immigration o Soviet Jews, approximately ane third o the indwallers hail frae the umwhile Soviet Union.^[6]

Economy

The Polgat textile factory wis the main employer in the toun till it closed in the 1990s. In 1999, Intel opened a chip fabrication plant, kent as Fab 18, tae produce Pentium 4 chips an flash memories. Intel received a grant o $525 million frae the Israeli govrenment tae big the plant. In Februar, 2006, the cornerstane wis laid for Intel's seicont Kiryat Gat plant, Fab 28, which is due tae begin production in the seicont hauf o 2008. Despite this, Kiryat Gat haes ane o Israel's heichest unemployment rates.^[6]^[7]

Accordin tae CBS figures for 2000, thare wur 15,257 salaried wirkers an 1,152 sel-employed persons in Kiryat Gat. The mean monthly wage for a salaried wirker wis 4,125 shekels, a real chynge o +4.9% ower the course o 2000. Salaried males haed a mean monthly wage o 5,199 shekels (a real chynge o +7.3%) compared tae 2,956 shekels for females (a real chynge o -1.8%). The mean income for the sel-employed wis NIS 5,494. A tot o 1,336 residents received unemployment benefits an 6,487 received income supplements.

Transportation

Kiryat Gat Railway Station

Kiryat Gat is served bi the Kiryat Gat Railway Station on the Tel Aviv - Be'er Sheva inter-ceety line o Israel Railways. Kiryat Gat is situatit atween twa major heich-gates, Heich-gate 40 tae the wast o the toun an Heich-gate 6. Makin the toun easily accessible frae Tel Aviv

Schuils an education

Kiryat Gat haes 25 schuils wi an enrollment o 10,676. O thir schuils, 18 are elementary schuils wi a student population o 5,498, an 13 are heich schuils wi a student population o 5,178. In 2001, 54.7% o Kiryat Gat's 12t grade students graduatit wi a matriculation certificate. Kiryat Gat haes a Pedagogic Center, science centers, a computerized leebrar an a centre devotit tae industry, airt an technology.^[3]

Sports

The ceety's fitbaa team, Maccabi Kiryat Gat wur promotit tae the Israeli Premier League in 2001, but wur relegatit at the end o thair first saison at the tap level. Syne then, financial problems hae led tae the club bein demotit tae Liga Alef (the fowert tier), whaur thay currently remain.