Karmiel,כַּרְמִיאֵל,God's vineyards, is a city in northern Israel. Established in 1964 as a development town, Karmiel is located in the Beit HaKerem Valley which divides upper and lower Galilee. The city is located south of the Acre-Safed road, 32 kilometres (20 mi) from Safed and 20 kilometres (12 mi) from Acre. Karmiel has a population of 44,100, although its municipality claims to have reached 50,000.
Geography
Karmiel is located on the Acre–Safed road, on the northern edge of the Lower Galilee. It lies in Emek Beit HaKerem and its elevation is 330 m (1,082.68 ft). The Hilazon Stream passes slightly to the south of Karmiel. Its tributaries, the Shezor and Shagor Streams pass through Karmiel on the east and north, respectively. Karmiel sits on the Shagor mountain range, which stretches from Mount Hazon in the east (584 m (1,916.01 ft), next to Maghar) to Mount Gilon in the west (367 m (1,204.07 ft), at Gilon). Western Karmiel was built on the Karmi (362 m) and Makosh (315 m) mountains. Work on a new railway line linking Haifa and Karmiel is expected to begin in 2011.
Demographics
As of 2007, the city encompasses an area of about 24,000 dunams (24 km²) with a population of about 50,000 residents approximately 40% of whom are immigrants from 75 countries. Since 1990, 16,000 immigrants have arrived in Karmiel, the majority of whom are from the Former Soviet Union. According to the national master plan, by 2020 Karmiel will have a population of approximately 120,000 residents. Since 1980, six new neighborhoods have been developed and populated, and a technical college has been serving the community since 1989
History
Karmiel was one of the first cities in Israel to be established according to an urban master plan. It was built as part of the Central Galilee Development Project. Work began in 1963, and the official inauguration ceremony took place in October 1964. The first 16 families moved in at that time. A tender for the construction of Karmiel's main roads was issued in 1963, and Mekorot built a water pipe network connecting Karmiel, Rameh, Sha'ab and other nearby villages. In 1981, Karmiel was awarded the Beautiful Israel prize and the Kaplan Prize for Management and Services. Karmiel achieved city status on November 20, 1986. The first mayor was Baruch Venger, followed by Adi Eldar, who has remained in this position until today. Some 18,000 new immigrants settled in Karmiel between 1990 and 2002. In 1956, about 1,275 acres (5.16 km2) of land in the Israeli Arab villages of Deir al-Asad, Bi'ina and Nahf were declared "closed areas" by Israeli authorities.
Today there are four high schools, four junior high schools, a vocational training center, nine state run elementary schools, one state run religious school including high school, an independent education elementary school, a school for gifted children and an educational farm, many kindergartens, nursery school and day care centers as well as a network of community youth and sports centers and the international ORT Braude College of Engineering with a student body of 3,500 studying computers, electronics, industrial administration, biotechnology and other subjects. A biotechnology research and development center will also open at the college.
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