Happy birthday Tel Aviv! The city turns 112 on Sunday

In 1909, families gathered on the beach outside Jaffa and planned a neighborhood they called Ahuzat Bayit that later came to be known as Tel Aviv.

A nighttime view of Tel Aviv from the municipality building (photo credit: TEL AVIV-JAFFA MUNICIPALITY)
A nighttime view of Tel Aviv from the municipality building
(photo credit: TEL AVIV-JAFFA MUNICIPALITY)
Happy Birthday Tel Aviv! The "Nonstop City" was founded 112 years ago on Sunday, April 11. In 1909, dozens of families gathered on the beach outside Jaffa and planned a neighborhood they called Ahuzat Bayit that later came to be known as Tel Aviv, according to the municipalities site.
Families split up the land to found what would become one of Israel's most popular and bustling cities by lottery, using seashells to ensure that it was split fairly.
In honor of Tel Aviv's special day, here are a few fun facts about the city:
Tel Aviv is home to five of Israel's biggest theaters and three of Israel's biggest music institutions, according to the municipality. Tel Aviv has 22 libraries with an estimated one million books, according to the city.
Tel Aviv is a center of employment in Israel with 11% of all those in Israel working in Tel Aviv, says the municipality. Some 28% of those who work in finance and insurance and 23% of those who work in professional, scientific and technical activities work in Tel Aviv, according to Center for Economic and Social Research of Tel-Aviv-Yafo Municipality's 2018 assessment.
Tel Aviv has a population of approximately 451,520 (excluding tens of thousands of foreign people who live in the city and do not have legal status such as asylum and refugee seekers). The city has grown by approximately 1.1% a year since 2008, said the assessment.