At the end of the year 2004, the number of residents in the capital city was 706,000 - more than 10% of Israel's total population, estimated at about 6.9 million residents.
Jerusalem is also one of Israel's youngest, with 32% of the Jewish population under the age of 15 and 11% over the age of 65. In Tel Aviv and in Haifa, 17-18% are under 15, while about 15% are over age 65.
Jerusalem is also Israel's largest city in terms of area, measuring 126,300 dunams, or close to 50 square miles. Both Haifa and Tel Aviv are each less than half this size.
Israel's capital city was only its western half - until 1967, when a Jewish country regained control of the Holy City for the first time in 1,850 years. This occurred in the Six Day War, when Jordan - which had controlled eastern Jerusalem since 1948 - joined the hostile Egyptian-Syrian alliance against Israel, and promptly lost Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem.
Click here for a moving INN "Israeli Salad" TV production in honor of Jerusalem Day.
Half-a-million people took part in Jerusalem Day celebrations last year, according to city officials. Most of them took part in festive activities, but some participated in memorial ceremonies. These included the official ceremonies for the 776 fallen Six Day War soldiers, and, for the first time, an official memorial for the 4,000 Ethiopian Jews who died en-route to Israel.
The main feature of Jerusalem Day festivities is the "Rikudgalim" - the now-traditional dance/march to the Old City by tens of thousands of people waving Israeli flags.