Current Time in Petaẖ Tiqva, Israel

Petah Tikva lies in the centre of Israel, about ten kilometres east of Tel Aviv, on the edge of the coastal plain where flat citrus country begins to rise towards the hills of Samaria. The Yarkon River runs along its southern boundary, and the city forms part of the continuous built-up area of the Tel Aviv metropolitan region, sharing its climate of hot dry summers and mild, rainy winters.

With around two hundred and fifty thousand residents it is one of the largest cities in the country. Its economy is unusually strong for an Israeli city of its size, built on a broad industrial base and on the technology and pharmaceutical sectors. Several major companies have their headquarters or research centres in the Kiryat Aryeh and Segula districts, including one of the world's largest producers of generic medicines, and international technology firms occupy office towers along the main approach roads. Manufacturing, logistics, health care and commerce provide the rest of the employment.

The city was founded in 1878 by religious Jews from Jerusalem who bought marshy land beside the Yarkon in order to return to farming, making it the first modern Jewish agricultural settlement in the country and earning it the title of mother of the settlements. Its name, meaning opening of hope, comes from a verse in the book of Hosea. The first attempt failed because of malaria and hardship, and the site was abandoned before being resettled in 1883 with the help of new immigrants and the financial backing of Baron Edmond de Rothschild. Citrus groves eventually made the colony prosperous, and it grew steadily through the twentieth century, receiving waves of newcomers from Europe, the Middle East, Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union.

The founding story is preserved at Yad LaBanim and in the Museum of the History of Petah Tikva, while the old cemetery, the first synagogue and restored early farmhouses mark the original settlement. The Petah Tikva Museum of Art is respected nationally for its exhibitions of contemporary Israeli work, and the city has an active theatre, concert hall and a large public library. Green space is plentiful by local standards, with the Yarkon parks, the Petah Tikva municipal park and long tree-lined boulevards, and the Segula and Em HaMoshavot districts have been extensively redeveloped in recent decades.

Community life is diverse, combining secular, traditional and religious populations, with a substantial Russian-speaking community and a growing number of young families priced out of Tel Aviv. Football is followed keenly, and the two long-established local clubs have passionate support. The Rabin Medical Center, one of the largest hospitals in Israel and a leading transplant centre, is based here, together with academic colleges and campuses affiliated with national universities. Roads and the Ayalon highway link the city to Tel Aviv, suburban rail serves the eastern districts, and the light rail network of the metropolitan region reaches into the city.

Petah Tikva is important as the historic first modern Jewish farming settlement and as a major industrial and technological centre of contemporary Israel.