19 Facts About Eilat

Eilat is Israel's southernmost city, with a population of 52,299, a busy port and popular resort at the northern tip of the Red Sea, on what is known in Israel as the Gulf of Eilat and in Jordan as the Gulf of Aqaba.

Eilat is part of the Southern Negev Desert, at the southern end of the Arabah, adjacent to the Egyptian resort city of Taba to the south, the Jordanian port city of Aqaba to the east, and within sight of Haql, Saudi Arabia, across the gulf to the southeast.

Name Eilat was given to Umm al-Rashrash in 1949 by the Committee for the Designation of Place-Names in the Negev.

Eilat Airport was built in 1949 and individual ships began arriving in the 1950s, but as there were no dedicated port facilities they unloaded their goods at sea.

The Timna Copper Mines near the Timna Valley and the Port of Eilat were opened that year and concerted effort by the Israeli government to populate Eilat began, starting with Jewish immigrant families from Morocco being resettled there.

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Eilat began to develop rapidly after the Suez Crisis in 1956, with its tourism industry in particular starting to flourish.

Eilat is especially defended by its own special forces unit Lotar Eilat.

Former Eilat Airport was closed on 18 March 2019 after the opening of Ramon Airport.

The new Ramon Airport opened in January 2019,18 kilometres north of Eilat and replaced both Eilat Airport and the civilian use of Ovda Airport.

Eilat's population includes a large number of foreign workers, estimated at over 10,000 working as caregivers, hotel workers and in the construction trades.

Eilat has a growing Israeli Arab population, as well as many affluent Jordanians and Egyptians who visit Eilat in the summer months.

The Eilat branch has 1,100 students, about 75 percent from outside the city.

Eilat has two main roads connecting it with the center of Israel - Route 12, which leads North West, and Route 90 which leads North East, and South West to the border crossing with Egypt.

Eilat offers a wide range of accommodations, from hostels and luxury hotels to Bedouin hospitality.

In recent years Eilat has been the target of militants from Egypt and Gaza causing a reduced tourist inflow to the region.

Eilat is located in the Gulf of Aqaba, one of the most popular diving destinations in the world.

The coral reefs along Eilat's coast remain relatively pristine and the area is recognized as one of the prime diving locations in the world.

Eilat has been utilized by film and television productions - domestic and foreign - for location shooting since the 1960s, most notably in the early 90s as a tropical locale for season 2 of the Canadian production Tropical Heat.

Eilat has streets named after Antibes, Durban, Kamen, Kampen and Los Angeles as well as a Canada Park.