Israel has a record population of 2,170,082 persons, according to provisional results of the May 22 census reported today. The total is nearly two and a half times as much as that indicated by a previous census taken Nov. 11, 1948, six months after Israel statehood was declared.
The findings were presented to President Ben-Zvi by Prof. R. Bachi, the government statistician, and senior members of the census staff at a reception. Three cities were listed as having populations of more than 100,000. They are Tel Aviv, with 386,612 residents; Haifa, with 182,007, and Jerusalem, with 166,301 persons. Jerusalem has almost doubled in population since the 1948 census.
The next two largest urban areas are Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv, with more than 90,000 residents, and Petah Tikvah, with 53,000. Forty-nine other towns with populations of from 5,000 to 50,000 include three all-Arab towns, as well as a dozen points in the Negev which were unpopulated in 1948. The new Negev settled points range in population from 6,000 in Eilat to 24,000 in Ashkelon.
The census data showed that while Tel Aviv did not match the rate of increase of other urban areas, the population growth of its suburban areas rose at a faster pace than that of the rest of Israel. Greater Tel Aviv now numbers nearly 700,000 persons. Beersheba and Ashkelon sub districts showed a record increase of 170 percent, with Safad close behind in growth.
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