TheJerusalem District (Hebrew:מחוז ירושלים;Arabic:منطقة القدس) is one of thesix administrative districts of Israel. The district capital isJerusalem and its total land area is 652 km2. The population of 1,159,900 is 66.3%Jewish and 32.1%Arab.[4] A fifth (21%) of the Arabs in Israel live in the Jerusalem Municipality, which includes bothEast andWest Jerusalem.[5]Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem has not been recognized by the international community.[6]
Most Arabs in the Jerusalem District arePalestinians, eligible to apply for citizenship under Israeli law, but either decline to apply or are unsuccessful in doing so.[citation needed]Arab citizens of Israel constitute a significant minority in the district, living inAbu Ghosh,Beit Safafa andEast Jerusalem, where Arab professionals have settled since the late 1970s, mainly for the provision of legal and other services to the local population.[citation needed] The non-Jewish population is 95.2%Muslim, 3.5%Christian with the others unclassified by religion.[7]
Geographical distribution of the main ethno-cultural communities, Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv and Central districts.[8]
^abcdefA part of the Judean Mountains Natural Region.
TheJerusalem Municipality, including East Jerusalem and other annexed parts of theWest Bank, constituted 125 km2 (48 sq mi), about 19% of the Jerusalem District in 2008.[9]