Jerusalem Day: Vital Statistics

New data sheds light on Jerusalem residents, the olim who have come to reside in the holy city, and apartment size.

By PEGGY CIDOR
Jerusalem residents_5212 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
Jerusalem residents_5212
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
Like every year, the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies has issued the latest figures available on the city’s population and trends. While it is always interesting to see the developments in Jerusalem as illustrated by these figures, most of them are not so recent and go back almost two years.
By the end of 2009, Jerusalem had a total population of 773,000. The median age of the population was 24 for the whole city, while it stood at 26 for the Jewish population and 20 for the Arab residents.
An average apartment in Jerusalem has 79 square meters of floor space, while the smallest apartments can be found in Givat Hamatos (33 sq.m.), Nahlaot (47 sq.m.) and Rehov Bar-Yohai in the Katamonim (48 sq.m.). Large apartments are in Rehov Hahoresh in Ramot (140 sq.m.) and Yemin Moshe (137 sq.m.).
The Arab residents’ smallest apartments are in the Shuafat refugee camp (35 sq.m.) and the Muslim Quarter (42 sq.m.).
Large apartments can be found in Beit Hanina (99 sq.m.) and Beit Safafa (87 sq.m.).
And now for the most interesting figures. Despite the unaffordable housing, the lack of employment opportunities and the security threats, new immigrants still prefer to live in Jerusalem.
Pisgat Ze’ev has 6,700 olim; Gilo and Neveh Ya’acov have 2,900 each, and the Katamonim has 1,900 olim, all of whom arrived between 1990 and 1999 and are still here. Geula and Mea She’arim attracted only 2% of the olim. As for those who arrived between 2000 and 2009 and are still here, 1,500 live in the Katamonim, and the same in Bayit Vagan. In Arnona, Talpiot and East Talpiot there are 1,300 each, while the highest percentage went to Talbiyeh (14%) and Rehavia (12%). in those years, Mea She’arim was less attractive and welcomed only 1% of the olim to Jerusalem.
In total, 2,550 olim chose Jerusalem in 2010 (compared to 2,305 in 2009). Their countries of origin are the US – 868 in 2010 (801 in 2009); Russia – 218 in 2010 (801 in 2009); and France – 369 in 2010 (374 in 2009).