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Tour of Israel: Haifa
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Haifa is a northern city and main seaport of Israel. The city is located at the
eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea, and lies on and around the slopes of Mount
Carmel. Haifa is Israel's leading industrial city. The city's major products include
cement, chemicals, electronic equipment, glass, steel, and textiles. Oil from
the Negev is refined in Haifa's oil refineries. The city contains Israel's
main naval base. It also contains port facilities for the United States Sixth
Fleet.
Haifa is the world center for the Bahai faith and is home to the Shrine
of Bab and a Bahai temple. Haifa University (1963) and the Technion-Israel Institute
of Technology (1912) are also located in Haifa.
In ancient times, the city
was called Sycaminum. During the Crusades of the 11th and 12th century, the city
was known as Caiphas. In the 12th century, Saladin, sultan of Egypt and Syria,
destroyed a Crusader castle on the site. The city remained relatively unimportant
until the 20th century, when a railroad from Haifa to the Syrian capital of Damascus
was built. After the establishment of Israel in 1948, Haifa became a leading port.
Today approximately 450,000 people live in metropolitan Haifa.
Information
from the Israeli Ministry of Tourism and Microsoft's Encarta '95.
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~ Lisa
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