Ramat Gan is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv and part of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. It is home to one of the world’s major diamond exchanges, and many high-tech industries. Ramat Gan was established in 1921 as a moshav shitufi, a communal farming settlement. In 2022 it had a population of 171,000.
Ramat Gan was established by the Ir Ganim association in 1921 as a satellite town of Tel Aviv. The first plots of land were purchased between 1914 and 1918. It stood just south of the Arab village of Jarisha. The settlement was initially a moshava, a Zionist agricultural colony that grew wheat, barley and watermelons. The name of the settlement was changed to Ramat Gan (lit: Garden Height) in 1923. The settlement continued to operate as a moshava until 1933, although it achieved local council status in 1926. At this time it had 450 residents. In the 1940s, Ramat Gan became a battleground in the country’s language war: A Yiddish language printing press in Ramat Gan was blown up by Hebrew-language extremists.
Over the years, the economy shifted from agriculture to commerce and industry. By 1946, the population had grown to 12,000. In 1950, Ramat Gan was recognized as a city. The city’s population was greatly boosted by an influx of Iraqi Jews into Israel during Operation Ezra and Nehemiah. So many Iraqi immigrants settled in Ramat Gan that it became known as “Little Baghdad.” In 1955, it had a population of 55,000. The first mayor was Avraham Krinitzi who remained in office for 43 years. In 1961, the municipal area of Ramat Gan expanded eastward, to encompass the area that includes the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer and Bar Ilan University. In 1968, the world’s largest diamond exchange opened in Ramat Gan. The Sheba Medical Center and the Israel Diamond Exchange are located in Ramat Gan.
Ramat Gan’s economy is dominated by the Diamond Exchange District in the northwest of the city, home to a large concentration of skyscrapers, including Moshe Aviv Tower (City Gate), Israel’s second tallest at over 240 metres (790 ft), the Israel Diamond Exchange (a world leader in diamonds), a large Sheraton hotel, and many high-tech businesses, among them Check Point Software Technologies and ArticlesBase. Ramat Gan is also an important center for industry and manufacturing with major fruit and vegetable canning plants, textile mills, metal production plants, electrical manufacturers, furniture makers, and food producers based here. Currently, the Elite Tower, set to exceed the Moshe Aviv Tower in height, is being built on the site of the historic Elite Candy factory. As a tribute to the history of the site, the lower floors of the tower will house a chocolate museum. At the end of 2006, Ramat Gan had three hotels, with a total of 408 rooms with 150,000 person-nights over the year representing 64% room occupancy.
