The Jerusalem District (Hebrew: מחוז ירושלים; Arabic: منطقة القدس) is one of the six administrative districts of Israel. The district capital is Jerusalem. The Jerusalem District has a land area of 652 km2. The population of 1,159,900 is 66.3% Jewish and 32.1% Arab.[4] A fifth (21%) of the Arabs in Israel live in the Jerusalem Municipality, which includes both East and West Jerusalem.[5]Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem has not been recognized by the international community.[6]
The majority of Arabs in the Jerusalem District are Palestinians, eligible to apply for citizenship under Israeli law, but either declining to apply or unsuccessful.[citation needed] The minority are Arab citizens of Israel living in Abu Ghosh, Beit Safafa and East Jerusalem, where Arab professionals have settled since the late 1970s, mainly for the provision of legal and other services to the local population.[citation needed] The non-Jewish population is 95.2% Muslim, 3.5% Christian with the others unclassified by religion.[7]
Geographical distribution of the main ethno-cultural communities Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv and Central districts.[8]
^ abA part of the Judean Foothills Natural Region.
^ abcdeA part of the Judean Mountains Natural Region.
The Jerusalem Municipality, including East Jerusalem and other annexed parts of the West Bank, constituted 125 km2 (48 sq mi), about 19% of the Jerusalem District in 2008.[9]
