Bethlehem

Luke 2:11 NIV Bible ‘For unto you is born this day in the city of David [Bethlehem] a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.’

Bethlehem is a religious city located in Palestine, in the West Bank, in the Middle East, and it has a large proportion of Christians and also Muslims.
‘Bethlehem’ is also known as ‘Bēt Lahm’, ‘Beit Sahur’, ‘Ephratah’ and ‘the City of David’, as well as many other names, and the name has at least two different meanings – in Hebrew, ‘house of bread’ and in Arabic, ‘house of meat’.
Bethlehem is the city of Jesus Christ’s birth, and is one of the oldest Christian settlements.
The first known reference of Bethlehem is in a 1400 BC dated letter, involving the King of Egypt and King of Jerusalem of the era.
Bethlehem has seen much unrest in its history, with opponents taking over the city a number of times, and it was occupied by the Romans in 132 AD, and later Muslims from 637 AD.

Conflict between Israel and Palestine has been evident for a century and so the control of Bethlehem was in Israel’s hands for some time, however the city has been governed by the Palestinian National Authority since 1995.
Bethlehem has a population of approximately 25,000 people, and a fifth of those live in the original area of the city, known as the ‘old city’.
Temperatures in Bethlehem range, on average from 5 to 30°C (41 to 86°F), and June to September are generally dry months, while November to January are generally the wettest.
Bethlehem accommodates approximately 2 million tourists annually, with the industry supplying 65% of the city’s wealth.
Bethlehem saw its first female mayor in 2012, Vera Baboun, who was previously a headmistress and lecturer, and is the home of 135 schools, 100 of which are government schools operated by the Palestine Authority.

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