Ashdod Travelers guide

21 the name "Police Park" due to its proximity to the city's old police station. The 1948 monument in memory of IDF soldiers who fell in the battles of Ashdod is also located in this park. On February 14th 1968 Ashdod received the status of a city. In that same month the bridge over the Lachish steam connecting the Port area to the city was inaugurated. At the time, it was considered the longest bridge in Israel. That same year the "Ort Yami (Maritime) Ashdod" school was established, which today also houses the "Sea and Dolphin Center" of the "Mahmali" Foundation. Ashdod by numbers There are immigrants from 99 countries around the world living in Ashdod • In the decade between 1994-2004 the population in Ashdod increased by 72 percent following the absorption of immigrants from the former Soviet Union • 80 percent of the city's immigrants are from the former Soviet Union • 40,000 immigrants from the Jewish- Georgian community reside in Ashdod - the largest Georgian-emigrant community in the world • Ashdod is also home to the largest Karaite Jewish community in the country - 30,000 people • The population of immigrants from Ethiopia living in Ashdod is the 4th largest in the country after Netanya, Rishon LeZion and Be'er Sheva. Over the years the city had expanded to the south and to the east. During the 1960s ultra-Orthodox immigrants from the United States and Europe settled in Quarter Gimel (3), and were joined in the early 1970s by immigrants from Georgia. About half of the streets in the Quarter were named after well-known rabbis, and half carry names relating to the War of Independence. Quarter Vav (6), in the east of the city, was also built swiftly in those years, to absorb the large waves of immigration. The streets in the Quarter were named after important people from Jewish history, leaders of Jewish communities, and those who fought for the establishment of the state. During the 1970s, construction of Quarters Dalet (4), Hei (5), Het (8) and Yod Alef (11) began. In 1974 the freeway to Tel Geographic, Topographical and Architectural structure