Which Country is Jerusalem Located In?
The city of Jerusalem is one of the world’s oldest cities. It is considered a holy city by the three major Abrahamic religions: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Located in the Middle East, Jerusalem has a long history that dates back to the 4th millennium BCE. Throughout its long history, the city has been destroyed several times, attacked at least 50 times, and captured and recaptured over 40 times. Today, the city has a population of approximately 850,000 residents including Israelis and Palestinians. Both Israel and Palestine consider Jerusalem to be their capital city. Neither claim is internationally accepted.
Geographical Location Of Israel
The city of Jerusalem is located on a plateau in the Judean Mountains between the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean. It is surrounded by valley and dry riverbeds with the three valleys of Tyropoeon, Kidron, and Hinnon intersecting in an area south of the Old City of Jerusalem. Jerusalem experiences a hot-summer Mediterranean climate with January as the coldest month and July and August as the hottest months.
Is Jerusalem In Palestine Or Israel?
Although the geographical location of Jerusalem cannot be disputed, its status remains one of the major issues fueling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Both Israel and Palestine have claimed Jerusalem as their capital city. Despite Israel having most of its primary governmental institutions in the city and Palestine foreseeing it as its seat of power, neither of the claims represent an international standard. Under the UN Partition Plan for Palestine adopted in 1947 by the General Assembly of the UN, Jerusalem is considered a “Corpus separatum” and is administered by the UN. In 2017, the United Nations refused to recognize exclusive Israeli claim to Jerusalem.
Jerusalem As The Capital Of Both Israel And Palestine
Jerusalem was proclaimed as the “eternal” and “sacred” capital of Israel on December 5, 1949, by the country’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion. Since the beginning of 1950, all branches of government have resided in the city except the Ministry of Defense which is in Tel Aviv. In 1995, the US Congress voted to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and in December 2017 President Donald Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel, a decision that was not accepted by a majority of the world's superpowers.
