Wikimania 2011/Bids/Haifa
Haifa (חֵיפָה; حَيْفَا) is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 264,900.
Haifa has a mixed population of Jews and Arabs. It is also home to the Bahá'í World Centre, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city is built on the slopes of the magestic Mount Carmel and along the beautiful mediterenian beaches of the Haifa Bay. It has a history dating back to Biblical times (The earliest known settlement in the vicinity was a small port city established in the Late Bronze Age (14th century BCE)).
Today, the city is a major seaport located on Israel's Mediterranean coastline. It is located about 90 km north of Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv and is the major regional center of northern Israel. Two respected academic institutions, the University of Haifa and the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, are located in Haifa,
The city hosts dozens of cultural and artistic festivals every year, festivals which celebrates the divercity of the citys inhabitabnst and the peacefull coexistance betwen the members of the verious religions who live in it. The propsed venue is the Haifa Auditorium which have been hosting the Haifa Internatinal Film Festival for the past 26 years.
The wonderful mediternian coasts - which are one of the best in Israel, and its proximity to various religious, caltural and historical sites make the city a center of tourism in the north of Israel.
- Country: Israel
- City proposed: Haifa
- Venue: The Haifa Auditorium and the Hecht Institute
- Proposed dates: August 4-7, 2011
- Contact persons: Deror Avi