Editing Nazareth (section)

{{Short description|Largest city in the Northern District of Israel}}
{{other uses}}
{{redirect|Nazaret|the name|Nazaret (name)}}
{{pp-extended|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
|name                = Nazareth
|native_name         = {{native name|ar|الناصرة|italics=off}}<br />{{native name|he|נצרת|italics=off}}
| settlement_type    = [[List of cities in Israel|City]]
|translit_lang1_type=
|translit_lang1_info=
|image_skyline       = File:Nazareth Panorama Dafna Tal IMOT (14532097313).jpg
|image_caption       = View of Nazareth, with the [[Basilica of the Annunciation]] at the center
|image_flag          = <!--Nazareth City Flag (COA).png-->
|flag_alt=
|image_seal          = Nazareth emblem.png
|shield_alt=
|nickname=
|motto=
|image_map=
|map_alt=
|map_caption=
|pushpin_map=Israel north haifa#Israel
|pushpin_mapsize=250
|pushpin_map_caption= Location of Nazareth in Northern Israel##Location of Nazareth in Israel
|pushpin_label_position=left
|coordinates         = {{coord|32|42|07|N|35|18|12|E|display=inline,title}}
|coor_pinpoint=
|coordinates_footnotes=
|subdivision_type    = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
|subdivision_name    = {{ISR}}
|subdivision_type1   = [[Districts of Israel|District]]
|subdivision_name1   = [[Northern District (Israel)|Northern]]
|subdivision_type2   = Subdistrict
|subdivision_name2   = [[Jezreel Subdistrict|Jezreel]]
|established_title   = Founded
|established_date    = {{ubl|2200 BC (Early settlement)|AD 300 (Major city)}}
|established_title1  = Municipality
|established_date1   = Est. 1885
|founder=
|named_for=
|seat_type=
|seat=
|government_footnotes=
|government_type     = [[Mayor–council government|Mayor–council]]
|governing_body      = Municipality of Nazareth
|leader_title        = Mayor
|leader_name         = Ali Sallam
|unit_pref=
|area_magnitude=
|area_footnotes=
|area_total_km2      =
| area_total_dunam   = 14123
|area_total_sq_mi=
|area_land_km2=
|area_land_sq_mi=
|area_water_km2=
|area_water_sq_mi=
|area_water_percent=
|area_urban_km2=
|area_urban_sq_mi=
|area_metro_km2=
|area_metro_sq_mi=
|area_note=
|elevation_footnotes=
|elevation_m         = 347
|elevation_ft=
|population_as_of    = {{Israel populations|Year}}
|population          = {{Israel populations|Nazareth}}
|population_footnotes= {{Israel populations|reference}}
|demographics_type1              = Ethnicity
|demographics1_footnotes ={{Israel populations|reference}}
| demographics1_title2         = [[Israeli Jews|Jews and others]]
| demographics1_info2     = 0.2%
| demographics1_title1         = [[Arab citizens of Israel|Arabs]]
| demographics1_info1        = 99.8%
|population_demonym  = Nazarene
|population_note=
|timezone1           = [[Israel Standard Time|IST]]
|utc_offset1         = +2
|timezone1_DST       = [[Israel Summer Time|IDT]]
|utc_offset1_DST     = +3
|postal_code_type    = [[Postal codes in Israel|Postal code]]
|postal_code=
|area_code_type      = [[Telephone numbers in Israel|Area code]]
|area_code           = +972 (Israel)
|website             = {{Official URL}}
|footnotes=
}}
{{Arab citizens of Israel}}

'''Nazareth'''{{efn|{{IPAc-en|ˈ|n|æ|z|ər|ə|θ}} {{respell|NAZ|ər|əth}}; {{langx|ar|{{Script/Arabic|النَّاصِرَة}}|an-Nāṣira}}; {{langx|he|{{Script/Hebrew|נָצְרַת}}|Nāṣraṯ}}; {{langx|syr|ܢܨܪܬ|Naṣrath}}}} is the largest [[Cities in Israel|city]] in the [[Northern District (Israel)|Northern District]] of [[Israel]]. In {{Israel populations|Year}} its population was {{Israel populations|Nazareth}}.{{Israel populations|reference}} Known as "the Arab capital of Israel",<ref name="Irani">{{cite journal |author=Laurie King-Irani |date=Spring 1996 |title=Review of "Beyond the Basilica: Christians and Muslims in Nazareth" |journal=Journal of Palestine Studies |volume=25 |issue=3 |pages=103–105 |doi=10.1525/jps.1996.25.3.00p0131i |jstor=2538265 |issn = 0377-919X }}</ref> Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and commercial center for the [[Arab citizens of Israel]].<ref name=":1">{{cite book |author1=Tamir Sorek |title=Palestinian Commemoration in Israel: Calendars, Monuments, and Martyrs |date=10 March 2015 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=9780804795203 |edition=2 |page=97 |quote=}}</ref> The inhabitants are predominantly Arab citizens of Israel, of whom 69% are [[Muslim]] and 31% [[Christianity|Christian]].<ref name=Irani/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cbs.gov.il/publications/local_authorities2005/pdf/207_7300.pdf |title=2005 |publisher=Cbs.gov.il |access-date=16 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120905053711/http://www.cbs.gov.il/publications/local_authorities2005/pdf/207_7300.pdf |archive-date=5 September 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=Dumperp274>{{Cite book|title=Cities of the Middle East and North Africa: a historical encyclopedia|first1=Michael|last1=Dumper|first2=Bruce E.|last2=Stanley|first3=Janet L.|last3=Abu-Lughod|edition=Illustrated|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2006|isbn=9781576079195|pages=273–274|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3SapTk5iGDkC&q=%22arab+capital+of+israel%22&pg=PA274}}</ref><ref>{{citation|title=Birthing the nation: strategies of Palestinian women in Israel|last=Kanaaneh|first=Rhoda Ann|publisher=University of California Press|year=2002|isbn=978-0-520-22379-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T2JmeRYaXJIC&pg=PA117|page=117|quote=All-Arab cities such as Nazareth, the largest Palestinian city in Israel|access-date=27 February 2016|archive-date=11 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140111143719/http://books.google.com/books?id=T2JmeRYaXJIC&pg=PA117|url-status=live}}{{citation|title=Flight into the maelstrom: Soviet immigration to Israel and Middle East peace|last=Quigley|first=John|author-link=John Quigley (academic)|publisher=Garnet & Ithaca Press|year=1997|isbn=978-0-86372-219-6|page=190|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AwVw59HmVdEC&pg=RA1-PA190|quote=The other major Jewish population centre in Galilee was Upper Nazareth, established next to Nazareth, the principal Palestinian city in Arab-populated Galilee.|access-date=27 February 2016|archive-date=11 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140111143228/http://books.google.com/books?id=AwVw59HmVdEC&pg=RA1-PA190|url-status=live}}</ref> The city also commands immense religious significance, deriving from its status as the hometown of [[Jesus]], the central figure of [[Christianity]] and a prophet in [[Islam]] and the [[Baháʼí Faith]].

Findings unearthed in the neighboring [[Qafzeh Cave]] show that the area around Nazareth was populated in the prehistoric period. Nazareth was a [[Jews|Jewish]] village during the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] and [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] periods, and is described in the [[New Testament]] as the childhood home of Jesus.<ref name="Jeffrey">{{cite book |last=Jeffrey |first=David L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7R0IGTSvIVIC |title=A Dictionary of biblical tradition in English literature |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-85244-224-1 |pages=538–540 |access-date=1 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201008221946/https://books.google.com/books?id=7R0IGTSvIVIC |archive-date=8 October 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> It became an important city during the [[Crusades]] after [[Tancred, Prince of Galilee|Tancred]] established it as the capital of the [[Principality of Galilee]]. The city declined under [[Mamluk]] rule, and following the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] conquest, the city's Christian residents were expelled, only to return once [[Fakhr al-Din II|Fakhr ad-Dīn II]] granted them permission to do so.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Nazareth {{!}} Israel {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Nazareth-Israel |access-date=2 August 2022 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en |archive-date=17 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217105524/https://www.britannica.com/place/Nazareth-Israel |url-status=live }}</ref> In the 18th century, [[Zahir al-Umar]] transformed Nazareth into a large town by encouraging immigration to it. The city grew steadily during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when European powers invested in the construction of churches, monasteries, educational and health facilities.

Since late antiquity, Nazareth has been a center of [[Christian pilgrimage]], with many shrines commemorating biblical events. The [[Basilica of the Annunciation|Church of the Annunciation]] is considered one of the largest Christian sites of worship in the [[Middle East]]. It contains the Grotto of the Annunciation, where, according to [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] tradition, angel [[Gabriel]] appeared to Mary and announced that she would conceive and bear [[Jesus]]. According to [[Greek Orthodox Church|Greek Orthodox]] belief, the same event took place at the [[Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation]], also known as Church of Saint Gabriel. Other important churches in Nazareth include the [[Synagogue Church (Nazareth)|Synagogue Church]], [[St. Joseph's Church, Nazareth|St. Joseph's Church]], the [[Mensa Christi Church]], and the [[Basilica of Jesus the Adolescent]].<ref name=":0" />