Megiddo מגידו | |
|---|---|
Regional council (from 1954) | |
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 Interactive map of Megiddo | |
| District | Northern |
| Government | |
| • Head of Municipality | Gil Lin |
| Area | |
• Total | 173,420dunams (173.42 km2; 66.96 sq mi) |
| Population (2014) | |
• Total | 11,300 |
| • Density | 65.2/km2 (169/sq mi) |
| Website | Official website |
The Megiddo Regional Council (Hebrew:מועצה אזורית מגידו,Mo'atza Azorit Megido) is aregional council in northernIsrael encompassing land on the Menashe Plateau, and partly in theJezreel Valley. The council is bounded by the city ofYokneam Illit to the north, and theCarmel mountain range to the east, and houses about 9,600 people on ninekibbutzim, and fourmoshavim located in its municipal territory.
The council is named after the ancient city of Megiddo, with the remains of this ancient city being located in the proximity of kibbutzMegiddo, in the territory of the council. The Head of the Regional Council from 2024 is Gil Lin.[1]
Megiddo Regional Council is one of the oldest regional councils in Israel, being established in 1945, three years beforethe establishment of the State of Israel. Before 1945, the territory of the council was part ofGush Nahalal, a municipal entity of theBritish Mandate. The first Head of the Megiddo Regional Council was Avraham Fine fromEin HaShofet.
At the time of its establishment, the council included only 3,000 inhabitants from five settlements. It was originally named "Harei Efrayim" (lit. Efrayim Hills), changing its name to "Megiddo" in 1952, although this change was only officially approved by the state in 1954.
The oldest settlement in the council iskibbutzMishmar HaEmek, established in 1926, whilst the youngest settlement ismoshavMidrakh Oz, established in 1952.
The officialemblem of the regional council was designed in 1952 by Leo Platau fromHazorea. It depicts the hills of the region, an ear of wheat, and a lion. The ear of wheat represents the rural and agricultural nature of the council territory. The image of the lion was inspired by a seal, discovered in the ancient city of Megiddo.
There is one high school located in the regional council, Megiddo Regional High School, located in kibbutzEin HaShofet. There are three primary schools: Hatikva inEliakim, Omarim in Yad Labanim Regional Center, and Plagim inHaZorea. Some students from the settlements in the Megiddo Regional Council attend schools located outside of the council's territory.
The Megiddo Community College is an institution foradult education andextracurricular activities, sponsored by the Israeli Ministry of Education. The college offers a variety of classes for both children and adults, including languages, computer skills, art, dance, music, history, Judaism, world religions, and martial arts. The college also organizes educational field trips for adults.
The Megiddo Dance School works to nurture the art of dance in the settlements of the Megiddo Regional Council. The school offers dance classes in the schools of the area, and works to involve dance in the lives ofdisabled students.
The Megiddo Music School offers practical and theoretical music classes to students in the schools of the regional council, includingclassical music, modern music, theory of music, and voice lessons.
84 million square meters of the 170 million of the Megiddo Regional Council constitute a nature reserve, including forested areas, various water sources, volcanic hills and archaeological sites. The park is currently in the process of becoming recognized byUNESCO as abiosphere reserve.
The remains of sevendepopulated Palestinian locations in Israel are within the boundaries of the reserve:Abu Shusha,al-Butaymat,Khubbayza,al-Rihaniyya,Daliyat al-Rawha’,Abu Zurayq, andal-Kafrayn.[2]
In addition to the agricultural and other industries in the various communities in the Regional Council, the Regional Council has joined with Yokneam Illit, and theDruze villages ofDaliyat al-Karmel andIsfiya to develop a Jewish-Arab high-tech industrial park named Mevo Carmel that will become part of the largerStartup Village - Yokneam Ecosystem.[3][4]
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