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Jericho, one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world

Wednesday, 15 April 2015 - 01:00 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: Levant / Levante
Category/Kategorie: General, Union for the Mediterranean Reading Time:  3 minutes

🔊 Listen to this Post Jericho is a city located near the Jordan River in the West Bank. It is the administrative seat of the Jericho Governorate. In 2007, it had a population of 20,000. The city was occupied by Jordan from 1949 to 1967, and has been held under Israeli occupation since 1967; administrative control was handed over to the Palestinian Authority in 1994. It is believed to be one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world. Jericho is located 258 metres (846 ft) below sea level in an oasis in Wadi Qelt in the Jordan Valley. The nearby spring of Ein es-Sultan produces 3.8 m3 (1,000 gallons) of water per minute, irrigating some 10 square kilometres (2,500 acres) through multiple channels and feeding into the Jordan River, 10 kilometres (6 mi) away. The constant sunshine, rich alluvial soil, and abundant water from the spring have always made Jericho an attractive place for settlement.

Archaeologists have unearthed the remains of more than 20 successive settlements in Jericho, the first of which dates back 11,000 years (9000 BCE), almost to the very beginning of the Holocene epoch of the Earth’s history.

In 1994, Israel and the Palestinians signed an economic accord that enabled Palestinians in Jericho to open banks, collect taxes and engage in export and import in preparation for self-rule. In 1998, a $150 million casino-hotel was built in Jericho with the backing of Yasser Arafat. One of Jericho’s primary sources of income is Christian tourism. A cable car takes Christian pilgrims up the hill to the Mount of Temptation, topped by a Greek Orthodox monastery with panoramic views of the region. In 2010, Jericho, with its proximity to the Dead Sea, was declared the most popular destination among tourists.

Agriculture is another source of income, with banana groves ringing the city. The Jericho Agro-Industrial Park is a public-private enterprise being developed in the Jericho area. Agricultural processing companies are being offered financial concessions to lease plots of land in the park in a bid to boost Jericho’s economy.

Read more on City of Jericho, The Guardian, 28 October 2021: Huge restored mosaic unveiled in Jericho desert castle, Times of Israel, 29 October 2021: One of world’s largest mosaics unveiled at Jericho desert castle and Wikipedia Jericho (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Johns Hopkins University & Medicine - Coronavirus Resource Center - Global Passport Power Rank - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). Photos by Wikimedia Commons. If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.

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