title: Alain de Botton

text: De Botton read History at University of Cambridge, where he was a member of Gonville and Caius College, graduating with a double starred first. He then completed an MPhil in Philosophy at King's College, London (1991–1992), and began studying for a PhD in French philosophy at Harvard University. However, he gave up his research to write books for the general public.


title: Alain de Botton

text: In his first novel, "Essays in Love" (titled "On Love" in the U.S.), published in 1993, de Botton deals with the process of falling in and out of love. In 2010, "Essays in Love" was adapted to film by director Julian Kemp for the romantic comedy "My Last Five Girlfriends". De Botton wrote a sequel to "Essays in Love", published in 2016, titled "The Course of Love".


title: Alain de Botton

text: In 1997 he published his first non-fiction book, "How Proust Can Change Your Life", based on the life and works of Marcel Proust. It was a bestseller in both the US and UK.


title: Alain de Botton

text: This was followed by "The Consolations of Philosophy" in 2000. The title of the book is a reference to Boethius's "Consolation of Philosophy", in which philosophy appears as an allegorical figure to Boethius to console him in the period leading up to his impending execution. In "The Consolations of Philosophy", de Botton attempts to demonstrate how the teachings of philosophers such as Epicurus, Montaigne, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, Seneca, and Socrates can be applied to modern everyday woes. The book has been both praised and criticized for its therapeutic approach to philosophy.


title: Alain de Botton

text: In "The Architecture of Happiness" (2006), he discusses the nature of beauty in architecture and how it is related to the well-being and general contentment of the individual and society. He describes how architecture affects people every day, though people rarely pay particular attention to it. A good portion of the book discusses how human personality traits are reflected in architecture. He defends Modernist architecture, and chastises the pseudo-vernacular architecture of housing, especially in the UK. "The best modern architecture," he argues, "doesn't hold a mirror up to nature, though it may borrow a pleasing shape or expressive line from nature's copybook. It gives voice to aspirations and suggests possibilities. The question isn't whether you'd actually like to live in a Le Corbusier home, but whether you'd like to be the kind of person who'd like to live in one."


title: Alain de Botton

text: In "The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work" (2009), de Botton produced a survey of ten different jobs, including accountancy, rocket science and biscuit manufacture. The book, a piece of narrative non-fiction, includes two hundred original images and aims to unlock the beauty, interest and occasional horror of the modern world of work. After a negative review of the book by "New York Times" critic Caleb Crain, de Botton posted a scathing "ad hominem" attack against Crain. He later apologized for his remarks.


title: Alain de Botton

text: In August 2009, de Botton applied to a competition advertised among British literary agents by BAA, the airport management company, for the post of "writer-in-residence" at Heathrow Airport. The post involved being seated at a desk in Terminal 5, and writing about the comings and goings of passengers over a week. De Botton was appointed to the position. The result was the book, "A Week at the Airport", published by Profile Books in September 2009. The book features photographs by the documentary photographer Richard Baker, with whom de Botton also worked on "The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work".


title: Alain de Botton

text: In January 2012, de Botton published "Religion for Atheists", about the benefits of religions for those who do not believe in them. De Botton put it: "It's clear to me that religions are in the end too complex, interesting and on occasion wise to be abandoned simply to those who believe in them". In April 2012, he published "How to Think More about Sex", one in a series of six books on topics of emotional life published by his enterprise, "The School of Life".


title: Alain de Botton

text: In October 2013, he published "Art as Therapy", co-written with the Australian-Scottish art historian, John Armstrong. "Art as Therapy" argues that certain great works of art "offer clues on managing the tensions and confusions of everyday life".


title: Alain de Botton

text: In February 2014, de Botton published his fourteenth book, a title called "", a study of the effects of the news on modern mentality, viewed through the prism of 25 news stories, culled from a variety of sources, which de Botton analyses in detail. The book delved with more rigour into de Botton's analyses of the modern media that appeared in "Status Anxiety".


title: Alain de Botton

text: De Botton used to write articles for several English newspapers, and from 1998 to 2000, wrote a regular column for "The Independent on Sunday."


title: Alain de Botton

text: De Botton travels extensively to lecture. He has given lectures at TED conferences. In July 2011, he spoke in Edinburgh about "Atheism 2.0", an idea of atheism that also incorporates our human need for connection, ritual and transcendence. In July 2009, he spoke at Oxford University about the philosophy of failure and success, and questions the assumptions underlying these two judgments.


title: Alain de Botton

text: He has his own production company, Seneca Productions, which makes television documentaries based upon his works.


title: Alain de Botton

text: De Botton has written in a variety of formats to mixed response. Positive reviews of his books attest that he has made literature, philosophy and art more accessible to a wider audience.


title: Alain de Botton

text: Negative reviews allege that de Botton tends to state the obvious and have characterized some of his books as pompous and lacking focus.


title: Alain de Botton

text: In response to a question about whether he felt "pulled" to be a writer, de Botton responded:So I think where people tend to end up results from a combination of encouragement, accident, and lucky break, etc. etc. Like many others, my career happened like it did because certain doors opened and certain doors closed. You know, at a certain point I thought it would be great to make film documentaries. Well, in fact, I found that to be incredibly hard and very expensive to do and I didn’t really have the courage to keep battling away at that. In another age, I might have been an academic in a university, if the university system had been different. So it's all about trying to find the best fit between your talents and what the world can offer at that point in time.


title: Alain de Botton

text: In 2008, Alain de Botton was one of a team of writers and educators who founded The School of Life. Based in London, Paris, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Seoul, Istanbul, Tel Aviv, São Paulo, Berlin and Melbourne, The School of Life offers an emotional education focusing in particular on the issues of Work and Relationships. In an interview with Metkere.com de Botton said:The idea is to challenge traditional universities and reorganise knowledge, directing it towards life, and away from knowledge for its own sake. In a modest way, it’s an institution that is trying to give people what universities should I think always give them: a sense of direction and wisdom for their lives with the help of culture.


title: Alain de Botton

text: In May 2009, de Botton launched a project called "Living Architecture," which builds holiday rental houses in the UK using leading contemporary architects. These include Peter Zumthor, MVRDV, JVA, NORD and Michael and Patti Hopkins. The most recent house to be announced is a collaboration between the Turner-prize winning artist Grayson Perry, and the architecture firm FAT. The houses are rented out to the general public. De Botton, the creative director and chairman of Living Architecture, aims to improve the appreciation of good contemporary architecture—a task that serves as a practical continuation of his theoretical work on architecture in his book "The Architecture of Happiness". In October 2009, he was appointed an honorary fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), in recognition of his services to architecture.


title: Alain de Botton

text: In 2014, de Botton was invited by three museums—the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne and the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto—to contribute content to special exhibitions based on his work, "Art as Therapy". De Botton and his colleague John Armstrong inserted captions, arranged on large Post-it-style labels designed by the Dutch graphic artist, Irma Boom, bearing slogans and commentary on exhibits throughout the Rijksmuseum.


title: Alain de Botton

text: De Botton has described his relationship with his father as difficult, stating: "When I sold my first bestseller (and a million dollars was peanuts for my father) he was not impressed and wondered what I was going to do with myself." When his father died, his family was left a large trust fund, although de Botton says his income is derived solely from his own activities (book sales, speaking engagements, business consulting, The School of Life). Alain's stepmother, Janet Wolfson de Botton, is a prominent patron of the arts and competition bridge player. He married his wife, Charlotte, in 2003 and they have two sons. De Botton lives in London with his family.


title: Alain de Botton

text: In August 2014, de Botton was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to "The Guardian" opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to September's referendum on that issue.


title: SEAL Team (season 5)

text: The fifth season of the American military drama television series "SEAL Team" premiered on October 10, 2021, on CBS, for the 2021–22 television season for four episodes. Afterwards, the rest of the season moved to Paramount+. The season concluded on January 23, 2022.


title: SEAL Team (season 5)

text: "SEAL Team" follows an elite unit of United States Navy SEALs portrayed by David Boreanaz, Max Thieriot, Neil Brown Jr., A. J. Buckley, and Toni Trucks.


title: SEAL Team (season 5)

text: Despite airing only the first four episodes on CBS, the fifth season of "SEAL Team" ranked #42 with a total of 5.83 million viewers. The season was also the most-watched on Paramount+.


title: SEAL Team (season 5)

text: The number in the "No. overall" column refers to the episode's number within the overall series, whereas the number in the "No. in season" column refers to the episode's number within this particular season. "Production code" refers to the order in which the episodes were produced while "U.S. viewers (millions)" refers to the number of viewers in the U.S. in millions who watched the episode as it was aired.


title: SEAL Team (season 5)

text: On May 14, 2021, it was reported the series was undergoing talks to move to the streaming service Paramount+ if renewed for a fifth season; if a deal were reached, the series would air some of its fifth season episodes on CBS before moving to Paramount+. Four days later, the deal was finalized.


title: SEAL Team (season 5)

text: On May 19, 2021, it was announced that the series would air the first four episodes on Sundays at 10:00 PM ET timeslot after "". On July 12, 2021, it was revealed that the season would premiere on October 10, 2021. Afterwards, the later ten episodes would stream on Paramount+.


title: SEAL Team (season 5)

text: On November 1, following its fourth and final CBS episode, the series made its debut on Paramount+, releasing its fifth episode.


title: Rick Deckard

text: Rick Deckard is a fictional character and the protagonist of Philip K. Dick's 1968 novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?". Harrison Ford portrayed the character in the 1982 film adaptation, "Blade Runner", and reprised his role in the 2017 sequel, "Blade Runner 2049". James Purefoy voiced the character in the 2014 BBC Radio 4 adaptation.


title: Rick Deckard

text: Rick Deckard is a bounty hunter who becomes a specialist plainclothes police officer with the San Francisco Police Department in the early 21st century, responsible for killing androids that escape from off-world colonies. He begins the story as a selfish, self-involved cop who seemingly sees no value in android life, but his experiences cause him to develop empathy toward androids and all living things.


title: Rick Deckard

text: Deckard is married to Iran, one of the more empathetic characters in the novel. She descends into a depression over the state of humanity, and is able to find the empathy necessary to care for an electric toad at the end of the novel.


title: Rick Deckard

text: Harrison Ford portrayed Deckard in the 1982 film. In the film, the bounty hunters are replaced by special police personnel called "Blade Runners", and the androids are called "replicants", terms not used in the original novel. The novel depicts Deckard as an obsequious and officious underling who is human and has a wife, but because of the many versions of the film and because of script, the backstory of the movie version of Rick Deckard becomes unclear. Viewers have to make up their own minds as to whether Deckard is a and therefore has a past. The voice-over in the theatrical release indicates Deckard is divorced, as it mentions an ex-wife. However the voice-over has been removed from subsequent versions and so this detail is not mentioned. If the viewer takes the perspective that Deckard is a replicant then the "ex-wife" only becomes an implanted memory.


title: Rick Deckard

text: Ford reprised the role for the sequel, portraying an older Deckard who is hiding in the radioactive ruins of Las Vegas, violently resisting intrusion. Prior to the events of the film, Deckard's replicant lover Rachael became pregnant with his child but died in childbirth. Deckard was forced to leave the child, a girl, with a replicant freedom movement and scrambled the child's birth records to protect her before disappearing. The pursuit of the child by different groups is the main driving force of the plot. At the end of the film, Deckard finally meets his daughter Ana Stelline, a scientist who designs memories for replicants.


title: Rick Deckard

text: According to M. Blake Wilson, Deckard, the most famous of Dick's criminal justice professionals, is "one of the most humanized human cops in literature", showing a wide range of emotions and empathy, something that was further explored in the movie sequel ("Blade Runner 2049") through the character of K.


title: Kawasaki Frontale

text: The club was founded in 1955 as Fujitsu Soccer Club. It was one of many city clubs that comprised the Japan Soccer League (JSL), including Yomiuri (later Tokyo Verdy 1969), Toshiba (later Consadole Sapporo) and NKK SC (now defunct). They first made the JSL Division 1 in 1977, only to be relegated the next season afterwards and would not return to the top flight until 2000, when they were first promoted to the rebranded J1.


title: Kawasaki Frontale

text: The club co-founded the Japanese second tier three times under its three names: JSL Division 2 (1972), Japan Football League Division 1 (1992) and J.League Division 2 (1999).


title: Kawasaki Frontale

text: Fujitsu's club became professional in 1997, and changed its name – "Frontale" means "frontal" in Italian. The club old crest and colours are based on those of Brazilian side Grêmio, because both clubs have cooperated since 26 March 1997. The club joined the second division of the J.League in 1999, and became the champion of the division. But in the next season, it sank to the bottom of J.League Division 1, and was relegated. In 2004, they were champions of J2 and won promotion to J1 for the second time. With the former rival city clubs out of the way due to relocation or liquidation, Frontale began building its power base in the city.


title: Kawasaki Frontale

text: In 2006, they achieved runner-up position in J1, their highest league position up to that time. In 2007, this club attended the AFC Champions League, and made important success, as the first Japanese club for qualifying its group stage, before Urawa Red Diamonds. But Kawasaki lost in the quarter finals, against Iranian Sepahan, in a penalty shoot-out after two scoreless games.


title: Kawasaki Frontale

text: At long last, after two other second-place finishes in 2008 and 2009, Kawasaki finally won the title in 2017, coming from behind to upstage bitter rivals Kashima Antlers after they were held to a draw at Júbilo Iwata, 16 seasons and 40 years after their first promotion to the top division.


title: Kawasaki Frontale

text: Suddenly, Kawasaki started to create history on the J.League. No J1 team ever had won four titles on a five-year span. On 2020, they successfully won the J1 League with 83 points, staying 17 points clear off Gamba Osaka, the runners-up. They won the title with four games to spare, which was a record under the 34-match league format. With talents not being restricted to the starting XI, Frontale managed to get the best out of the five substitutions allowed by the J. League, per FIFA recommendation, instated after the COVID-19 outbreak. A good example was an stellar season by Kaoru Mitoma.


title: Kawasaki Frontale

text: On 2021, Frontale continue to assert their dominance and display great performances throughout the season. They won their first title of the year in their very opening match of the season, after beating Gamba Osaka by 3–2 on the 2021 Japanese Super Cup.


title: Kawasaki Frontale

text: Such rise of standards, eye-catching performances, and increase of national team level players coming from Frontale led foreign clubs to caught attention on their players. Among the most marking departures, Frontale saw two major talents leaving the club mid-season. The first one being Kaoru Mitoma, who got included in the 2020 J.League Best XI in his first full season as a professional despite playing less than half of his matches as a starter for Frontale, being signed by Brighton & Hove Albion of the Premier League. The second one was Ao Tanaka. The 2020 J.League Rookie of the Year which quickly earned his spot on the starting XI after turning professional, transferring to Fortuna Düsseldorf of 2. Bundesliga on loan, which later would have his deal turning permanent. They weren't the only departures leaving a mark on the team, as they followed Hidemasa Morita to Europe, as the latter went on to sign for Santa Clara of the Primeira Liga.


title: Kawasaki Frontale

text: However, despite Frontale having their future performances being apparently threatened after these departures, the club went on to win the 2021 J1 League with a record-breaking season, which saw them: Winning the most points on a single J1 League season ever, with 92 points won on 38 matches; Achieving the least amount of losses on a J1 League season, registering only 2 losses in total (the first J1 loss only came 6 months after the season opening); Being the joint unbeaten team at home matches in a J1 League season, equalling Urawa Red Diamonds's tally on 2006; Being the first ever J1 team to win more than 80 points on consecutive seasons.


title: Kawasaki Frontale

text: Leandro Damião, with 23 gols, was Frontale's individual highlight on the 2021 season, helping him win the MVP award, after being the joint league top-scorer and one of the players with the most assists of the tournament. The latter record was accomplished by another Frontale players, Miki Yamane, which also saw several call-ups for the National Team throughout the 2021 and 2022 season, alongside other Frontale players and formers players, like the team captain Shogo Taniguchi, and midfielder Yasuto Wakizaka. They joined many other players who previously were selected for the Japan national football team while playing at Frontale. Of the selected players, some players can be highlighted, like defender Yoshinobu Minowa, who was selected in 2005. After the 2006 FIFA World Cup, midfielder Kengo Nakamura and forward Kazuki Ganaha became new Japan internationals, especially Kengo Nakamura, who being a mainstay at club and country for a long time. Long-serving for the national team, goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima was also selected while at Frontale, making his debut on the 2008 East Asian Cup. Shuhei Terada, who played all of his 13-year professional career at Frontale, was also selected for the national team from 2008 to 2009.


title: Kawasaki Frontale

text: After five consecutive seasons winning at least one major title from 2017 to 2021, Frontale remained trophyless for the entire 2022 season. Taking their previous overall season into account, the club went through an uninspired season, which saw early eliminations in all four competitions the club played that involved knockout-stage formats. On February, the club already saw their first match of the season resulting on a defeat, after losing 2–0 by Urawa Red Diamonds at the Super Cup. On April, the club was eliminated at the 2022 AFC Champions League at its group stage, finishing their group as runners-up, behind Malaysian champions Johor Darul Ta'zim. On June, at the Emperor's Cup, Frontale were unexpectedly eliminated, at the third round of the competition, after being defeated by J2 League club Tokyo Verdy by 1–0.


title: Kawasaki Frontale

text: On the latter half of the season, Frontale continued an atypically poor run of form. On August, the club started their campaign at the J.League Cup, entering the competition late in the double-legged quarter-finals, after receiving a bye from the early stages of the competition due to their AFC Champions League qualification. The club played this quarter-finals against Cerezo Osaka, and was awarded the hosting rights of the tie's second leg. Despite not losing any of the two legs, Frontale didn't won any, either. At Cerezo, the match ended 1–1, giving a theoric relief for Frontale, who only needed a 0–0 draw or a win to proceed in the competition. Frontale started the second leg winning 2–0, with Marcinho scoring two goals at the 40th and 53th minute. Surprisingly, Frontale collapsed at the dying minutes of the match, conceding two heading goals from Mutsuki Kato and Hiroto Yamada at the 90th and 95th minute, respectively.


title: Kawasaki Frontale

text: Following the elimination at the J.League Cup, only the J1 League title was then available for Frontale to chase. Oscillating placements throughout the campaign, the club still managed to finish 5 separate matchweeks at the top of the league in the first half of the season. On the second half of the season, though, never again did Frontale get past the second place. Serving as a minor consolation for their season, the club held to a hardly-fought title chase alongside Sanfrecce Hiroshima (until the closing matchweeks). On December, at the 38th round, the last round of the season, Frontale were narrow 2 points away from first-placed Yokohama F. Marinos. A 13-goal difference was also in Frontale's way, meaning that in the more realistic scenario, Frontale needed to win their match and expect Marinos to lose theirs. Playing the 38th round against FC Tokyo, Frontale were early threatened with a red card, as Jung Sung-ryong was sent off a few minutes after Frontale's first goal. Despite playing the rest of the match with 10 players, Frontale still managed to win past FC Tokyo by 3–2. Playing against Vissel Kobe, Marinos won the match by 3–1, and then were handed the J1 League title. On the plus side, finishing as the league's runners-up led the club to qualify for the 2023–24 AFC Champions League, entering the competition in the group stage.


title: Kawasaki Frontale

text: The following players have been selected by their country in the World Cup, while playing for Kawasaki Frontale:


title: Kawasaki Frontale

text: The following players have represented their country at the Summer Olympic Games whilst playing for Kawasaki Frontale:


title: Kawasaki Frontale

text: Total (as of 2021): 20 seasons in the top tier, 30 seasons in the second tier and 5 seasons in the Regional Leagues.


title: Kawasaki Frontale

text: Frontale's rivalry with FC Tokyo is known as the Tamagawa Clásico (using the Spanish word ""Clásico"" as used in derbies in Spain and Latin America). The two clubs first met in 1991 in the old Japan Soccer League Division 2 and were rivals for promotion to the J.League in the 1990s. They co-founded the new J2 League in 1999 and were promoted together the same year, and although Frontale were immediately relegated, they were promoted again in 2005 and have regularly met since then.


title: Kawasaki Frontale

text: Frontale also has a Tamagawa rivalry with Tokyo Verdy 1969, which was originally also based in Kawasaki and moved to Chofu, Tokyo in 2000. The two were co-founders of the JSL Division 2 in 1972 and, although spent 20 seasons (1979 to 1999) in separate tiers, rekindled the rivalry in the late 1990s as Kawasaki fans deserted Verdy to support Frontale, seen as a more community-focused club, and since then their fortunes have reversed as Frontale is a top flight mainstay while Verdy sunk into the second tier beginning in 2005.


title: Benzoyl peroxide

text: Benzoyl peroxide is a chemical compound (specifically, an organic peroxide) with structural formula , often abbreviated as (BzO). In terms of its structure, the molecule can be described as two benzoyl (, Bz) groups connected by a peroxide (). It is a white granular solid with a faint odour of benzaldehyde, poorly soluble in water but soluble in acetone, ethanol, and many other organic solvents. Benzoyl peroxide is an oxidizer, but it is principally used as in the production of polymers.


title: Benzoyl peroxide

text: Benzoyl peroxide is mainly used in production of plastics and for bleaching flour, hair, plastics and textiles.


title: Benzoyl peroxide

text: The original 1858 synthesis by Liebig reacted benzoyl chloride with barium peroxide, a reaction described by the following idealized equation:


title: Benzoyl peroxide

text: Benzoyl peroxide is usually prepared by treating hydrogen peroxide with benzoyl chloride under alkaline conditions.


title: Benzoyl peroxide

text: The oxygen–oxygen bond in peroxides is weak, although this weakness is not indicated by the O-O bond distance.. Thus, benzoyl peroxide undergoes homolysis (symmetrical fission), forming free radicals:


title: Benzoyl peroxide

text: The symbol indicates that the products are radicals; i.e., they contain at least one unpaired electron. Such species are highly reactive. The homolysis is usually induced by heating. The half-life of benzoyl peroxide is one hour at 92 °C. At 131 °C, the half-life is one minute.


title: Benzoyl peroxide

text: It has long been known that the compound has oxidizing properties. This property led to the use of BPO to treat various skin conditions, including burns, chronic varicose leg tumors, and tinea sycosis. He also reported animal experiments that showed the relatively low toxicity of the compound.


title: Benzoyl peroxide

text: Treatment with benzoyl peroxide was proposed for wounds by Lyon and Reynolds in 1929, and for sycosis vulgaris and acne varioliformis by Peck and Chagrin in 1934. However, preparations were often of questionable quality. It was officially approved for the treatment of acne in the US in 1960.


title: Benzoyl peroxide

text: Benzoyl peroxide is mainly used as a radical initiator to induce chain-growth polymerization reactions, such as for polyester and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) resins and dental cements and restoratives. It is the most important among the various organic peroxides used for this purpose, a relatively safe alternative to the much more hazardous methyl ethyl ketone peroxide. It is also used in rubber curing and as a finishing agent for some acetate yarns.


title: Benzoyl peroxide

text: Benzoyl peroxide is effective for treating acne lesions. It does not induce antibiotic resistance. It may be combined with salicylic acid, sulfur, erythromycin, or clindamycin (antibiotics), or adapalene (a synthetic retinoid). Two common combination drugs include benzoyl peroxide/clindamycin and adapalene/benzoyl peroxide, adapalene being a chemically stable retinoid that can be combined with benzoyl peroxide unlike tezarotene and tretinoin. Combination products such as benzoyl peroxide/clindamycin and benzoyl peroxide/salicylic acid appear to be slightly more effective than benzoyl peroxide alone for the treatment of acne lesions. The combination tretinoin/benzoyl peroxide was approved for medical use in the United States in 2021.


title: Benzoyl peroxide

text: Benzoyl peroxide for acne treatment is typically applied to the affected areas in gel, cream, or liquid, in concentrations of 2.5% increasing through 5.0%, and up to 10%. No strong evidence supports the idea that higher concentrations of benzoyl peroxide are more effective than lower concentrations.


title: Benzoyl peroxide

text: Classically, benzoyl peroxide is thought to have a three-fold activity in treating acne. It is sebostatic, comedolytic, and inhibits growth of "Cutibacterium acnes", the main bacterium associated with acne. In general, acne vulgaris is a hormone-mediated inflammation of sebaceous glands and hair follicles. Hormone changes cause an increase in keratin and sebum production, leading to blocked drainage. "C. acnes" has many lytic enzymes that break down the proteins and lipids in the sebum, leading to an inflammatory response. The free-radical reaction of benzoyl peroxide can break down the keratin, therefore unblocking the drainage of sebum (comedolytic). It can cause nonspecific peroxidation of "C. acnes", making it bactericidal, and it was thought to decrease sebum production, but disagreement exists within the literature on this.


title: Benzoyl peroxide

text: Some evidence suggests that benzoyl peroxide has an anti-inflammatory effect as well. In micromolar concentrations it prevents neutrophils from releasing reactive oxygen species, part of the inflammatory response in acne.


title: Benzoyl peroxide

text: As a medication, benzoyl peroxide is mostly used to treat acne, either alone or in combination with other treatments. Some versions are sold mixed with antibiotics such as clindamycin. It is on the WHO List of Essential Medicines, and, in the US, it is available as an over-the-counter and generic medication. It is also used in dentistry for teeth whitening.


title: Benzoyl peroxide

text: Application of benzoyl peroxide to the skin may result in redness, burning, and irritation. This side effect is dose-dependent.


title: Benzoyl peroxide

text: Because of these possible side effects, it is recommended to start with a low concentration and build up as appropriate, as the skin gradually develops tolerance to the medication. Skin sensitivity typically resolves after a few weeks of continuous use. Irritation can also be reduced by avoiding harsh facial cleansers and wearing sunscreen prior to sun exposure.


title: Benzoyl peroxide

text: One in 500 people experience hypersensitivity to BPO and are liable to experience burning, itching, crusting, and possibly swelling. About one-third of people experience phototoxicity under exposure to ultraviolet (UVB) light.


title: Benzoyl peroxide

text: As a bleach, it has been used as a medication and a water disinfectant. In specialized contexts, the name may be abbreviated as BPO.


title: Benzoyl peroxide

text: Benzoyl peroxide is potentially explosive like other organic peroxides, and can cause fires without external ignition. The hazard is acute for the pure material, so the compound is generally used as a solution or a paste. For example, cosmetics contain only a small percentage of benzoyl peroxide and pose no explosion risk.


title: Benzoyl peroxide

text: Benzoyl peroxide breaks down in contact with skin, producing benzoic acid and oxygen, neither of which is very toxic.


title: Benzoyl peroxide

text: With regards to BPO's carcinogenic potential, one study concluded, "caution should be recommended in the use of this and other free radical-generating compounds". A 1999 IARC review of carcinogenicity studies found no evidence linking BPO acne medication to skin cancers in humans. However, some animal studies found that the compound could act as a carcinogen and enhance the effect of known carcinogens.


title: Benzoyl peroxide

text: In a 1977 study using a human maximization test, 76% of subjects acquired a contact sensitization to benzoyl peroxide. Formulations of 5% and 10% were used.


title: Benzoyl peroxide

text: The U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has developed criteria for a recommended standard for occupational exposure to benzoyl peroxide.


title: Benzoyl peroxide

text: Contact with fabrics or hair, such as from still-moist acne medication, can cause permanent color dampening almost immediately. Even secondary contact can cause bleaching, for example, contact with a towel that has been used to wash off benzoyl peroxide-containing hygiene products.


title: European Free Trade Association

text: The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is a regional trade organization and free trade area consisting of four European states: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. The organization operates in parallel with the European Union (EU), and all four member states participate in the European Single Market and are part of the Schengen Area. They are not, however, party to the European Union Customs Union.


title: European Free Trade Association

text: EFTA was historically one of the two dominant western European trade blocs, but is now much smaller and closely associated with its historical competitor, the European Union. It was established on 3 May 1960 to serve as an alternative trade bloc for those European states that were unable or unwilling to join the then European Economic Community (EEC), the main predecessor of the EU. The Stockholm Convention (1960), to establish the EFTA, was signed on 4 January 1960 in the Swedish capital by seven countries (known as the "outer seven": Austria, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom). A revised Convention, the Vaduz Convention, was signed on 21 June 2001 and entered into force on 1 June 2002.


title: European Free Trade Association

text: Since 1995, only two founding members remain, namely Norway and Switzerland. The other five, Austria, Denmark, Portugal, Sweden and the United Kingdom, had joined the EU at some point in the intervening years. The initial Stockholm Convention was superseded by the Vaduz Convention, which aimed to provide a successful framework for continuing the expansion and liberalization of trade, both among the organization's member states and with the rest of the world.


title: European Free Trade Association

text: Whilst the EFTA is not a customs union and member states have full rights to enter into bilateral third-country trade arrangements, it does have a coordinated trade policy. As a result, its member states have jointly concluded free trade agreements with the EU and a number of other countries. To participate in the EU's single market, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway are parties to the Agreement on a European Economic Area (EEA), with compliances regulated by the EFTA Surveillance Authority and the EFTA Court. Switzerland has a set of bilateral agreements with the EU instead.


title: European Free Trade Association

text: On 12 January 1960, the Treaty on the European Free Trade Association was initiated in the Golden Hall of the Stockholm City Hall. This established the progressive elimination of customs duties on industrial products, but did not affect agricultural or fisheries products.


title: European Free Trade Association

text: The main difference between the early EEC and the EFTA was that the latter did not operate common external customs tariffs unlike the former: each EFTA member was free to establish its individual customs duties against, or its individual free trade agreements with, non-EFTA countries.


title: European Free Trade Association

text: The founding members of the EFTA were: Austria, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. During the 1960s, these countries were often referred to as the "Outer Seven", as opposed to the Inner Six of the then European Economic Community (EEC).


title: European Free Trade Association

text: Finland became an associate member in 1961 and a full member in 1986, and Iceland joined in 1970. The United Kingdom and Denmark joined the EEC in 1973 and hence ceased to be EFTA members. Portugal also left EFTA for the European Community in 1986. Liechtenstein joined the EFTA in 1991 (previously its interests had been represented by Switzerland). Austria, Sweden, and Finland joined the EU in 1995 and thus ceased to be EFTA members.


title: European Free Trade Association

text: Twice, in 1972 and in 1994, the Norwegian government had tried to join the EU (still the EEC, in 1973) and by doing so, leave the EFTA. However, both the times, the membership of the EU was rejected in national referendums, keeping Norway in the EFTA. Iceland applied for EU membership in 2009 due to the 2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis, but has since dropped its bid.


title: European Free Trade Association

text: Between 1994 and 2011, EFTA memberships for Andorra, San Marino, Monaco, the Isle of Man, Turkey, Israel, Morocco, and other European Neighbourhood Policy partners were discussed.


title: European Free Trade Association

text: In November 2012, after the Council of the European Union had called for an evaluation of the EU's relations with Andorra, Monaco, and San Marino, which they described as "fragmented", the European Commission published a report outlining the options for their further integration into the EU. Unlike Liechtenstein, which is a member of the EEA via the EFTA and the Schengen Agreement, relations with these three states are based on a collection of agreements covering specific issues. The report examined four alternatives to the current situation:


title: European Free Trade Association

text: However, the Commission argued that the sectoral approach did not address the major issues and was still needlessly complicated, while EU membership was dismissed in the near future because "the EU institutions are currently not adapted to the accession of such small-sized countries". The remaining options, EEA membership and a FAA with the states, were found to be viable and were recommended by the commission. In response, the Council requested that negotiations with the three microstates on further integration continue, and that a report be prepared by the end of 2013 detailing the implications of the two viable alternatives and recommendations on how to proceed.


title: European Free Trade Association

text: As EEA membership is currently only open to EFTA or EU member states, the consent of existing EFTA member states is required for the microstates to join the EEA without becoming members of the EU. In 2011, Jonas Gahr Støre, then Foreign Minister of Norway which is an EFTA member state, said that EFTA/EEA membership for the microstates was not the appropriate mechanism for their integration into the internal market due to their different requirements from those of larger countries such as Norway, and suggested that a simplified association would be better suited for them. Espen Barth Eide, Støre's successor, responded to the commission's report in late 2012 by questioning whether the microstates have sufficient administrative capabilities to meet the obligations of EEA membership. However, he stated that Norway would be open to the possibility of EFTA membership for the microstates if they decided to submit an application, and that the country had not made a final decision on the matter. Pascal Schafhauser, the Counsellor of the Liechtenstein Mission to the EU, said that Liechtenstein, another EFTA member state, was willing to discuss EEA membership for the microstates provided their joining did not impede the functioning of the organization. However, he suggested that the option of direct membership in the EEA for the microstates, outside of both the EFTA and the EU, should be considered. On 18 November 2013, the EU Commission concluded that "the participation of the small-sized countries in the EEA is not judged to be a viable option at present due to the political and institutional reasons", and that Association Agreements were a more feasible mechanism to integrate the microstates into the internal market.


title: European Free Trade Association

text: The Norwegian electorate had rejected treaties of accession to the EU in two referendums. At the time of the first referendum in 1972, their neighbour, Denmark joined. Since the second referendum in 1994, two other Nordic neighbours, Sweden and Finland, have joined the EU. The last two governments of Norway have not advanced the question, as they have both been coalition governments consisting of proponents and opponents of EU membership.


title: European Free Trade Association

text: Since Switzerland rejected the EEA membership in a referendum in 1992, more referendums on EU membership have been initiated, the last time being in 2001. These were all rejected. Switzerland has been in a customs union with fellow EFTA member state and neighbour Liechtenstein since 1924.


title: European Free Trade Association

text: On 16 July 2009, the government of Iceland formally applied for EU membership, but the negotiation process was suspended in mid-2013, and in 2015 the foreign ministers wrote to withdraw its application.


title: European Free Trade Association

text: Denmark was a founding member of EFTA in 1960, but its membership ended in 1973, when it joined the European Communities. Greenland was covered by Denmark's EFTA membership from 1961 and the Faroe Islands from 1968. Since then, the Faroe Islands have examined the possibility of membership of EFTA. In Greenland there has been a political debate about whether the Government of Greenland consider filing for membership of the EFTA. However, membership of the EFTA is not possible without the Kingdom of Denmark as a state becoming a member of the organization on behalf of the Faroe Islands and/or Greenland. EFTA assumes that membership is reserved for states. Special procedures for the accession of states are laid down in accordance with Article 56 of the EFTA Convention. The Kingdom of Denmark's membership of EFTA is reserved for the Kingdom of Denmark under international law. As parts of the Kingdom of Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Greenland cannot, with the current treaty basis, become independent members of the EFTA.


title: European Free Trade Association

text: In the event of regaining membership of EFTA for the Kingdom of Denmark it can be arranged to take effect for only the Faroe Islands and/or Greenland. EFTA membership would be geographically separated from EU membership(which is limited to Denmark). It is possible to assume that membership of the EU with effect for Denmark does not preclude membership of the EFTA with effect for the Faroe Islands and/or Greenland. This form of membership of the EFTA appears to be possible in accordance with the EFTA treaty.


title: European Free Trade Association

text: In mid-2005, representatives of the Faroe Islands raised the possibility of their territory joining the EFTA. According to Article 56 of the EFTA Convention, only states may become members of the EFTA. The Faroes are an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, and not a sovereign state in their own right. Consequently, they considered the possibility that the "Kingdom of Denmark in respect of the Faroes" could join the EFTA, though the Danish Government has stated that this mechanism would not allow the Faroes to become a separate member of the EEA because Denmark was already a party to the EEA Agreement.


title: European Free Trade Association

text: The Government of Denmark officially supports membership of the EFTA with effect for the Faroe Islands.


title: European Free Trade Association

text: The Faroes already have an extensive bilateral free trade agreement with Iceland, known as the Hoyvík Agreement.


title: European Free Trade Association

text: The United Kingdom was a co-founder of EFTA in 1960, but ceased to be a member upon joining the European Economic Community. The country held a referendum in 2016 on withdrawing from the EU (popularly referred to as "Brexit"), resulting in a 51.9% vote in favour of withdrawing. A 2013 research paper presented to the Parliament of the United Kingdom proposed a number of alternatives to EU membership which would continue to allow it access to the EU's internal market, including continuing EEA membership as an EFTA member state, or the Swiss model of a number of bilateral treaties covering the provisions of the single market.


title: European Free Trade Association

text: In the first meeting since the Brexit vote, EFTA reacted by saying both that they were open to a UK return, and that Britain has many issues to work through. The president of Switzerland Johann Schneider-Ammann stated that its return would strengthen the association. However, in August 2016 the Norwegian Government expressed reservations. Norway's European affairs minister, Elisabeth Vik Aspaker, told the "Aftenposten" newspaper: "It's not certain that it would be a good idea to let a big country into this organization. It would shift the balance, which is not necessarily in Norway's interests."


title: European Free Trade Association

text: In late 2016, the Scottish First Minister said that her priority was to keep the whole of the UK in the European single market but that taking Scotland alone into the EEA was an option being "looked at". However, other EFTA states have stated that only sovereign states are eligible for membership, so it could only join if it became independent from the UK, unless the solution scouted for the Faroes in 2005 were to be adopted (see above).


title: European Free Trade Association

text: In early 2018, British MPs Antoinette Sandbach, Stephen Kinnock and Stephen Hammond all called for the UK to rejoin EFTA.


title: European Free Trade Association

text: In 1992, the EU, its member states, and the EFTA member states signed the Agreement on the European Economic Area in Oporto, Portugal. However, the proposal that Switzerland ratify its participation was rejected by referendum. (Nevertheless, Switzerland has multiple bilateral treaties with the EU that allow it to participate in the European Single Market, the Schengen Agreement and other programmes). Thus, except for Switzerland, the EFTA members are also members of the European Economic Area (EEA). The EEA comprises three member states of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and 27 member states of the European Union (EU), including Croatia which the agreement is provisionally applied to, pending its ratification by all contracting parties. It was established on 1 January 1994 following an agreement with the European Community (which had become the EU two months earlier). It allows the EFTA-EEA states to participate in the EU's Internal Market without being members of the EU. They adopt almost all EU legislation related to the single market, except laws on agriculture and fisheries. However, they also contribute to and influence the formation of new EEA relevant policies and legislation at an early stage as part of a formal decision-shaping process. One EFTA member, Switzerland, has not joined the EEA but has a series of bilateral agreements, including a free trade agreement, with the EU.


title: European Free Trade Association

text: The following table summarises the various components of EU laws applied in the EFTA countries and their sovereign territories. Some territories of EU member states also have a special status in regard to EU laws applied as is the case with some European microstates.


title: European Free Trade Association

text: A Joint Committee consisting of the EEA-EFTA States plus the European Commission (representing the EU) has the function of extending relevant EU law to the non EU members. An EEA Council meets twice yearly to govern the overall relationship between the EEA members.


title: European Free Trade Association

text: Rather than setting up pan-EEA institutions, the activities of the EEA are regulated by the EFTA Surveillance Authority and the EFTA Court. The EFTA Surveillance Authority and the EFTA Court regulate the activities of the EFTA members in respect of their obligations in the European Economic Area (EEA). Since Switzerland is not an EEA member, it does not participate in these institutions.


title: European Free Trade Association

text: The EFTA Surveillance Authority performs a role for EFTA members that is equivalent to that of the European Commission for the EU, as "guardian of the treaties" and the EFTA Court performs the European Court of Justice-equivalent role.


title: European Free Trade Association

text: The original plan for the EEA lacked the EFTA Court or the EFTA Surveillance Authority: the European Court of Justice and the European Commission were to exercise those roles. However, during the negotiations for the EEA agreement, the European Court of Justice informed the Council of the European Union by way of letter that it considered that it would be a violation of the treaties to give to the EU institutions these powers with respect to non-EU member states. Therefore, the current arrangement was developed instead.


title: European Free Trade Association

text: The EEA and Norway Grants are the financial contributions of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway to reduce social and economic disparities in Europe. They were established in conjunction with the 2004 enlargement of the European Economic Area (EEA), which brought together the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway in the Internal Market. In the period from 2004 to 2009, €1.3 billion of project funding was made available for project funding in the 15 beneficiary states in Central and Southern Europe. The EEA and Norway Grants are administered by the Financial Mechanism Office, which is affiliated to the EFTA Secretariat in Brussels.


title: European Free Trade Association

text: EFTA also originated the Hallmarking Convention and the Pharmaceutical Inspection Convention, both of which are open to non-EFTA states.


title: European Free Trade Association

text: EFTA has several free trade agreements with non-EU countries as well as declarations on cooperation and joint workgroups to improve trade. Currently, the EFTA States have established preferential trade relations with 24 states and territories, in addition to the 27 member states of the European Union.


title: European Free Trade Association

text: EFTA member states' citizens enjoy freedom of movement in each other's territories in accordance with the EFTA convention. EFTA nationals also enjoy freedom of movement in the European Union (EU). EFTA nationals and EU citizens are not only visa-exempt but are legally entitled to enter and reside in each other's countries. The Citizens' Rights Directive (also sometimes called the "Free Movement Directive") defines the right of free movement for citizens of the European Economic Area (EEA), which includes the three EFTA members Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein plus the member states of the EU. Switzerland, which is a member of EFTA but not of the EEA, is not bound by the Directive but rather has a separate bilateral agreement on free movement with the EU.


title: European Free Trade Association

text: As a result, a citizen of an EFTA country can live and work in all the other EFTA countries and in all the EU countries, and a citizen of an EU country can live and work in all the EFTA countries (but for voting and working in sensitive fields, such as government / police / military, citizenship is often required, and non-citizens may not have the same rights to welfare and unemployment benefits as citizens).


title: European Free Trade Association

text: The Portugal Fund came into operation in February 1977 when Portugal was still a member of EFTA. It was to provide funding for the development of Portugal after the Carnation Revolution and the consequential restoration of democracy and the decolonization of the country's overseas possessions. This followed a period of economic sanctions by most of the international community, which left Portugal economically underdeveloped compared to the rest of the western Europe. When Portugal left EFTA in 1985 in order to join the EEC, the remaining EFTA members decided to continue the Portugal Fund so that Portugal would continue to benefit from it. The Fund originally took the form of a low-interest loan from the EFTA member states to the value of US$100 million. Repayment was originally to commence in 1988, however, EFTA then decided to postpone the start of repayments until 1998. The Portugal Fund was dissolved in January 2002.


title: 2021 Dutch general election

text: General elections were held in the Netherlands from 15 to 17 March 2021 to elect all 150 members of the House of Representatives. Following the elections and lengthy coalition formation talks, the sitting government remained in power.


title: 2021 Dutch general election

text: The election had originally been scheduled to take place on 17 March; however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government decided to open some polling stations two days in advance to ensure safe voting for elderly and immunocompromised citizens. Citizens aged 70 years or older were also given the opportunity to vote by post.


title: 2021 Dutch general election

text: The 2017 general election was held after a five-year coalition government between the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and Labour Party (PvdA). The PvdA suffered heavy losses in the election, being reduced from 38 to 9 seats, while the VVD lost 8 seats, falling from 41 to 33 but remaining the largest party. The Party for Freedom (PVV) came in second with 20 seats, 5 more than it won in the 2012 election, while the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) gained 6 seats to win 19 in total. Democrats 66 (D66) gained 7 to win 19, GroenLinks (GL) gained 10 to win 14, and the Socialist Party (SP) lost 1 to win 14. The election also saw two new parties, Denk and Forum for Democracy (FvD), enter the House of Representatives, winning 3 and 2 seats, respectively. Four other smaller parties maintained representation in the lower chamber: Christian Union (CU) and Party for the Animals (PvdD) with 5 seats each, 50PLUS with 4 seats, and the Reformed Political Party (SGP) with 3 seats.


title: 2021 Dutch general election

text: The third Rutte cabinet was inaugurated after the longest coalition formation in Dutch history, with 225 days between the election and the cabinet being sworn in. The cabinet was led by Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who presided over a coalition consisting of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), Democrats 66 (D66) and Christian Union (CU). The coalition held a narrow majority in both legislative chambers at the time of the cabinet's inauguration, with 76 of 150 seats in the House of Representatives and 38 of 75 seats in the Senate. Following the 2019 Senate election, it had a minority of 32 seats in the upper chamber. After Wybren van Haga was expelled from the VVD faction in 2019, the coalition lost its majority in the House of Representatives. On 15 January 2021, two months before the election, the third Rutte cabinet resigned following a parliamentary inquiry into the Dutch childcare benefits scandal, and continued as a demissionary cabinet.


title: 2021 Dutch general election

text: Pursuant to articles C.1, C.2 and C.3 of the electoral law, elections for the House of Representatives take place every four years in March. The 150 members of the House of Representatives are elected by open list proportional representation. The number of seats per list is determined using the D'Hondt method, effectively resulting in an electoral threshold of 1/150th (0.67%) of votes to secure a seat. Voters have the option to cast a preferential vote. The seats won by a list are first allocated to the candidates who, in preferential votes, have received at least 25 percent of the number of votes needed for one seat (effectively 0.17% of the total votes), regardless of their placement on the electoral list. If multiple candidates from a list pass this threshold, their ordering is determined based on the number of votes received. Any remaining seats are allocated to candidates according to their placement on the electoral list.


title: 2021 Dutch general election

text: A record number of 89 parties registered with the Electoral Council in order to compete in the election. Most parties, however, did not achieve (nationwide) ballot access, as they were not able to pay the €11,250 deposit and/or did not receive enough endorsements (30 for each of the 19 electoral districts in the European Netherlands, and 10 for the Caribbean Netherlands).


title: 2021 Dutch general election

text: The left-wing parties - Socialist Party, Labour Party and GroenLinks - total less than 20 per cent of the vote. According to political scientist Cas Mudde, the steady decline of the left since 2006 can be explained mainly by a media agenda dominated by societal issues, especially identity issues, at the expense of economic and social issues. The fraction of unrepresented vote due to the natural electoral threshold is 1.99%.


title: 2021 Dutch general election

text: Rutte claimed the result was a vote of confidence in the VVD and has ruled out a coalition with the PVV and FvD. He was expected to form a four-party government with D66, CDA, and smaller parties. On 23 March, Rutte said that he preferred a coalition with the new right-wing party called JA21, which has eight seats in the Senate that can help form a government majority in both chambers; however, this proposal could potentially meet with resistance from D66 due to disagreements on issues such as climate change, EU integration, and migration policies. If a coalition were formed including CU, there would be differences on medico-ethical issues with D66. Rutte could also potentially speak to left-wing parties, such as the SP, PvdA, GL, or Volt, if other attempts fail. SP leader Lilian Marijnissen said that it was very unlikely that she would join a VVD-led coalition but did not rule it out completely. PvdA leader Lilianne Ploumen said she would want to sit alone with another party, while GL leader Jesse Klaver said he is open to a progressive coalition with VVD and D66, despite the party's poor election performance.


title: 2021 Dutch general election

text: While Rutte was in the process of negotiations to form a new coalition, informateur Kajsa Ollongren (D66) was photographed by a journalist of the Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau as she was leaving Parliament with a document from the coalition negotiations under her arm. The document contained the note "position elsewhere" next to the name of Pieter Omtzigt of the CDA, who has been a vocal critic of Rutte and played a key role in exposing the child welfare scandal that forced the resignation of Rutte's previous cabinet. This photograph caused speculation about whether Rutte was planning to sideline Omtzigt, but Rutte initially denied any involvement in the matter. After further notes emerged confirming he had discussed the possibility of Omtzigt as minister, he said he had "misremembered", and was accused by numerous opposition leaders of having lied to the media and the Dutch people. Parliament held a vote of no-confidence in Rutte as prime minister, which narrowly failed, but D66 and the CDA, which served in Rutte's previous cabinet, instead submitted a motion of censure against Rutte as parliamentary leader; this motion was passed by a large majority, with only Rutte's own VVD voting against. Informateurs Wouter Koolmees (D66) and Tamara van Ark (VVD) resigned after the scandal, and were replaced by veteran informateur Herman Tjeenk Willink (PvdA). On September 7, Johan Remkes was appointed as informateur. On September 30, the four parties from the previous governing coalition, the VVD, D66, CDA, and CU, agreed to negotiate forming the same coalition again. After long coalition talks, the four parties agreed to present their coalition agreement on 15 December 2021. With a coalition officially formed, the Fourth Rutte cabinet was inaugurated on 10 January 2022.


title: Beersheba

text: Beersheba or Beer Sheva, officially Be'er-Sheva (, ; ), is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the centre of the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in Israel, the eighth-most populous Israeli city with a population of , and the second-largest city in area (after Jerusalem), with a total area of 117,500 dunams.


title: Beersheba

text: The Biblical site of Beersheba is Tel Be'er Sheva, lying some 4 km distant from the modern city, which was established at the start of the 20th century by the Ottoman Turks. The city was captured by the British-led Australian Light Horse in the Battle of Beersheba during World War I. In 1947, "Bir Seb'a" (), as it was known, was envisioned as part of the Arab state in the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine. Following the declaration of Israel's independence, the Egyptian army amassed its forces in Beersheba as a strategic and logistical base. In the Battle of Beersheba waged in October 1948, it was captured by the Israel Defense Forces.


title: Beersheba

text: Beersheba has grown considerably since Israel's independence. A large portion of the population is made up of the descendants of Sephardi Jews and Mizrahi Jews who immigrated from Arab countries after 1948, as well as smaller communities of Bene Israel and Cochin Jews from India. Second and third waves of immigration have taken place since 1990, bringing Russian-speaking Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union, as well as Beta Israel immigrants from Ethiopia. The Soviet immigrants have made the game of chess a major sport in Beersheba, and it is now Israel's national chess center, with more chess grandmasters per capita than any other city in the world.


title: Beersheba

text: Beersheba is home to Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. This city also serves as a center for Israel's high-tech and developing technology industry.


title: Beersheba

text: The city has constructed over 250 roundabouts, earning its moniker as the "Roundabouts Capital of the Israel" and apparently the largest number in the world.


title: Beersheba

text: The Book of Genesis gives two etymologies for the name "Be'er Sheba". Genesis 21:28-31 relates:Then Abraham set seven ewes apart. And Abimelech said to Abraham, "What mean these seven ewes, which you have set apart? And [Abraham] said, "That you are to take these seven ("sheba") ewes from me, to be for me a witness that I have dug this well ("bǝ'er")." Therefore the name of that place was Be'er Sheba, for there the two of them had sworn ("nishbǝ'u").Genesis 26 relates:And Isaac redug the wells which had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, and which the Philistines had sealed after the death of Abraham, and he used the same names as had his father . . . And they arose in the morning, and they swore ("wa-yishabǝ'u") each to his fellow, and Isaac sent them off, and they departed him in peace. On that same day, Isaac's men came to him to tell him of the well which they had dug, and they said to him, "We found water." And he called it "Shib'a" ("seven" normally, possibly "oath" or a proper noun); therefore the name of the city is Be'er Sheba to this day.The original name could therefore relate to the oath of Abraham and Abimelech ('well of the oath') or the seven ewes in that oath ('well of the seven'), as related in , and/or to the oath of Isaac and Abimelech in . Alternatively, Obadiah Sforno suggested that the well is called Seven because it was the seventh dug; the narrative of Genesis 26 includes three wells dug by Abraham which are reopened by Isaac (Esek, Sitnah, Rehoboth), for a total of six, after which Isaac goes to Beersheba, the seventh well.


title: Beersheba

text: The double name of Shib'a and Beersheba is referenced again by the Masoretic Text in Joshua 19:2, usually translated "Beersheba or Sheba"; however the Septuagint reads "Beersheba and Samaa (Σαμαὰ)" which fits with MT 1 Chron. 4:28.


title: Beersheba

text: Beersheba is mainly dealt with in the Hebrew Bible in connection with the Patriarchs Abraham and Isaac, who both dig a well and close peace treaties with King Abimelech of Gerar at the site. Hence it receives its name twice, first after Abraham's dealings with Abimelech (), and again from Isaac who closes his own covenant with Abimelech of Gerar and whose servants also dig a well there (). The place is thus connected to two of the three Wife–sister narratives in the Book of Genesis.


title: Beersheba

text: According to the Hebrew Bible, Beersheba was founded when Abraham and Abimelech settled their differences over a well of water and made a covenant (see ). Abimelech's men had taken the well from Abraham after he had previously dug it so Abraham brought sheep and cattle to Abimelech to get the well back. He set aside seven lambs to swear that it was he that had dug the well and no one else. Abimelech conceded that the well belonged to Abraham and, in the Bible, Beersheba means "Well of Seven" or "Well of the Oath".


title: Beersheba

text: Beersheba is further mentioned in following Bible passages: Isaac built an altar in Beersheba (Genesis 26:23–33). Jacob had his dream about a stairway to heaven after leaving Beersheba. (Genesis 28:10–15 and 46:1–7). Beersheba was the territory of the tribe of Simeon and Judah (Joshua 15:28 and 19:2). The sons of the prophet Samuel were judges in Beersheba (I Samuel 8:2). Saul, Israel's first king, built a fort there for his campaign against the Amalekites (I Samuel 14:48 and 15:2–9). The prophet Elijah took refuge in Beersheba when Jezebel ordered him killed (I Kings 19:3). The prophet Amos mentions the city in regard to idolatry (Amos 5:5 and 8:14). Following the Babylonian conquest and subsequent enslavement of many Israelites, the town was abandoned. After the Israelite slaves returned from Babylon, they resettled the town. According to the Hebrew Bible, Beersheba was the southernmost city of the territories settled by Israelites, hence the expression "from Dan to Beersheba" to describe the whole kingdom.


title: Beersheba

text: Zibiah, the consort of King Ahaziah of Judah and the mother of King Jehoash of Judah, was from Beersheba.


title: Beersheba

text: The city has been destroyed and rebuilt many times over the centuries. Unimportant for centuries, Be’er Sheva regained importance under Byzantine rule (in the 4th–7th century), when it was a key point on the Limes Palestinae, a defense line built against the desert tribes; however, it fell to the Arabs in the 7th century and to the Turks in the 16th. It long remained a watering place and small trade centre for the nomadic Bedouin tribes of the Negev, despite Turkish efforts at town planning and development around 1900. Its capture in 1917 by the British Army opened the way for their conquest of Palestine and Syria. After being taken by Israeli troops in October 1948, Beersheba was rapidly settled by new immigrants and has since developed as the administrative, cultural, and industrial centre of the Negev. It is one of the largest cities in Israel outside of metropolitan Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Haifa.


title: Beersheba

text: Human settlement in the area dates from the Copper Age. The inhabitants lived in caves, crafting metal tools and raising cattle. Findings unearthed at Tel Sheva, an archaeological site east of modern-day Beersheba, suggest the region has been inhabited since the 4th millennium BC.


title: Beersheba

text: Tel Be'er Sheva, an archaeological site containing the ruins of an ancient town believed to have been the Biblical Beersheba, lies a few kilometers east of the modern city. The town dates to the early Israelite period, around the 10th century BCE. The site was probably chosen due to the abundance of water, as evidenced by the numerous wells in the area. According to the Hebrew Bible, the wells were dug by Abraham and Isaac when they arrived there. The streets were laid out in a grid, with separate areas for administrative, commercial, military, and residential use. It is believed to have been the first planned settlement in the region, and is also noteworthy for its elaborate water system; in particular, a huge cistern carved out of the rock beneath the town.


title: Beersheba

text: During the Persian rule 539 BC–c. 332 BC Beersheba was at the south of Yehud Medinata autonomous province of the Persian Achaemenid Empire. During that era the city was rebuilt and a citadel had been built. Archeological finds from between 359 and 338 BC have been made and include pottery and Ostracon.


title: Beersheba

text: During the Hasmonean rule, the city did not take importance as it was not mentioned when conquered from Edom or described in the Hasmonean wars.


title: Beersheba

text: During Roman rule the city was in the Coele-Syria region. During the Roman era and later Byzantine periods, the town served as a front-line defense against Nabatean attacks. Around 64-63 BC Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus made Be'er Sheva the southern part of the Judea province, in the following years the city was on the limes belt, which in this region is attributed to the time of Vespasian, The city become centre of an eparchy in around 268.


title: Beersheba

text: Beersheba was described in the Madaba Map and Eusebius of Caesarea as a large village with a Roman garrison.


title: Beersheba

text: In 1483, during the late Mamluk era, the pilgrim Felix Fabri noted Beersheba as a city. Fabri also noted that Beersheba marked the southern-most border of "the Holy Land".


title: Beersheba

text: The present-day city was built to serve as an administrative center by the Ottoman administration for the benefit of the Bedouin at the outset of the 20th century and was given the name of "Bir al-Sabi" (well of the seven). Until World War I, it was an overwhelmingly Muslim township, with some 1,000 residents. Ben-David and Kressel have argued that the Bedouin traditional market was the cornerstone for the founding of Beersheba as capital of the Negev during this period, and Negev Bedouin anthropologist and educationalist, Aref Abu-Rabia, who worked for the Israeli Ministry of Education and Culture, described it as "the first Bedouin city."


title: Beersheba

text: In June 1899, the Ottoman government ordered the creation of the Beersheba sub-district ("kaza") of the district ("mutasarrıflık") of Jerusalem, with Beersheba to be developed as its capital. Implementation was entrusted to a special bureau of the Ministry of the Interior. There were multiple reasons for the decision. The British incorporation of Sinai into Egypt led to a need for the Ottomans to consolidate their hold on southern Palestine. There was also a desire to encourage the Bedouin to become sedentary, with a predicted increase of tranquility and tax revenue. The first governor ("kaymakam"), Isma'il Kamal Bey, lived in a tent lent by the local sheikh until the government house ("Saraya") was built. Kamal was replaced by Muhammed Carullah Efendi in 1901, who in turn was replaced by Hamdi Bey in 1903. The governor in 1908 was promoted to 'adjoint' ("mutassarrıf muavin") to the governor of the Jerusalem district, which placed him above the other sub-district governors.


title: Beersheba

text: A visitor to Beersheba in May 1900 found only a ruin, a two-storey stone khan, and several tents. By the start of 1901 there was a barracks with a small garrison and other buildings. The Austro-Hungarian-Czech orientalist Alois Musil noted in August 1902:


title: Beersheba

text: By 1907 there was a large village and military post, with a residence for the "kaymakam" and a large mosque. The population increased from 300 to 800 between 1902 and 1911, and by 1914 there were 1,000 people living in 200 houses.


title: Beersheba

text: A plan for the town in the form of a grid was developed by a Swiss and a German architect and two others. The grid pattern can be seen today in Beersheba's Old City. Most of the residents at the time were Arabs from Hebron and the Gaza area, although Jews also began settling in the city. Many Bedouin abandoned their nomadic lives and built homes in Beersheba.


title: Beersheba

text: During World War I, the Ottomans built a military railroad from the Hejaz line to Beersheba, inaugurating the station on October 30, 1915. The celebration was attended by the Ottoman army commander Jamal Pasha and other senior government officials. The train line was captured by Allied forces in 1917, towards the end of the war. Today, it forms part of the Israeli railway network.


title: Beersheba

text: Beersheba played an important role in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in World War I. The Battle of Beersheba was part of a wider British offensive in aimed at breaking the Turkish defensive line from Gaza to Beersheba. On October 31, 1917, three months after taking Rafah, General Allenby's troops breached the line of Turkish defense between Gaza and Beersheba. Approximately five-hundred soldiers of the Australian 4th Light Horse Regiment and the 12th Light Horse Regiment of the 4th Light Horse Brigade, led by Brigadier General William Grant, with only horses and bayonets, charged the Turkish trenches, overran them and captured the wells in what has become known as the Battle of Beersheba, called the "last successful cavalry charge in British military history." On the edge of Beersheba's Old City is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery containing the graves of Australian, New Zealand and British soldiers. The town also contains a memorial park dedicated to them.


title: Beersheba

text: During the Palestine Mandate, Beersheba was a major administrative center. The British constructed a railway between Rafah and Beersheba in October 1917; it opened to the public in May 1918, serving the Negev and settlements south of Mount Hebron. In 1928, at the beginning of the tension between the Jews and the Arabs over control of Palestine, and wide-scale rioting which left 133 Jews dead and 339 wounded, many Jews abandoned Beersheba, although some returned occasionally. After an Arab attack on a Jewish bus in 1936, which escalated into the 1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine, the remaining Jews left.


title: Beersheba

text: At the time of the 1922 census of Palestine, Beersheba had a population of 2,012 Muslims, 235 Christians, 98 Jews and 11 Druze (total 2,356). At the time of the 1931 census, Beersheba had 545 occupied houses and a population of 2,791 Muslims, 152 Christians, 11 Jews and 5 Baháʼí (total 2,959). The 1945 village survey conducted by the Palestine Mandate government found 5,360 Muslims, 200 Christians and 10 others (total 5,570).


title: Beersheba

text: In 1947, the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) proposed that Beersheba be included within the Jewish state in their partition plan for Palestine. However, when the UN's Ad Hoc Committee revised the plan, they moved Beersheva to the Arab state on account of it being primarily Arab. Egyptian forces had been stationed at Beersheva since May 1948.


title: Beersheba

text: It was Yigal Allon who proposed the conquest of Beersheba, which was approved by Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. According to Israeli historian Benny Morris, he ordered the "conquest of Beersheba, occupation of outposts around it, [and] demolition of most of the town." The objective was to break the Egyptian blockade of Israeli convoys to the Negev. The Egyptian army did not expect an offensive and fled en masse. Israel bombed the town on October 16, At 4:00 am on October 21, the 8th Brigade's 89th battalion and the Negev Brigade's 7th and 9th battalions moved in, some troops advancing from Mishmar HaNegev junction, north of Beersheba, others from the Turkish train station and Hatzerim. By 9:45, Beersheba was in Israeli hands. Around 120 Egyptian soldiers were taken prisoner. All of the Arab inhabitants who had resisted, were expelled with the remaining Arab civilians, 200 men and 150 women and children, taken to the police fort and, on October 25, the women, children, disabled and elderly were driven by truck to the Gaza border. The Egyptian soldiers were interned in POW camps. Some men lived in the local mosque and were put to work cleaning but when it was discovered that they were supplying information to the Egyptian army they were also deported. The town was subject to large-scale looting by the Haganah, and by December, in one calculation, the total number of Arabs driven out from Beersheva and surrounding areas reached 30,000 with many ending up in Jordan as refugees. Following Operation Yoav, a 10-kilometer radius exclusion zone around Beersheba was enforced into which no Bedouin were allowed. In response, the United Nations Security Council passed two resolutions on the 4th and 16 November demanding that Israel withdraw from the area.


title: Beersheba

text: Following the conclusion of the war, the 1949 Armistice Agreements formally granted Beersheba to Israel. The town was then transformed into an Israeli city with only an exiguous Arab minority. Beersheba was deemed strategically important due to its location with a reliable water supply and at a major crossroads, northwest to Hebron and Jerusalem, east to the Dead Sea and al Karak, south to Aqaba, west to Gaza and southwest to Al-Auja and the border with Egypt.


title: Beersheba

text: After a few months, the town's war-damaged houses were repaired. As a post-independence wave of Jewish immigration to Israel began, Beersheba experienced a population boom as thousands of immigrants moved in. The city rapidly expanded beyond its core, which became known as the "Old City," as new neighborhoods were built around it, complete with various housing projects such as apartment buildings and houses with auxiliary farms, as well as shopping centers and schools. The Old City was turned into a city center, with shops, restaurants, and government and utility offices. An industrial area and one of the largest cinemas in Israel were also built in the city. By 1956, Beersheba was a booming city of 22,000. In 1959, during the Wadi Salib riots, riots spread quickly to other parts of the country, including Beersheba.


title: Beersheba

text: Soroka Hospital opened its doors in 1960. By 1968, the population had grown to 80,000. The University of the Negev, which would later become Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, was established in 1969. The then Egyptian president Anwar Sadat visited Beersheba in 1979. In 1983, its population was more than 110,000. During the 1990s post-Soviet aliyah, the city's population greatly increased as many immigrants from the former Soviet Union settled there.


title: Beersheba

text: As part of its Blueprint Negev project, the Jewish National Fund funded major redevelopment projects in Beersheba. One project was the Beersheba River Walk, a riverfront district with green spaces, hiking trails, a 3,000-seat sports hall, a boating lake filled with recycled waste water, promenades, restaurants, cafés, galleries, boat rentals, a 12,000-seat amphitheater, playgrounds, and a bridge along the route of the city's Mekorot water pipes. At the official entrance to the river park is the Beit Eshel Park, which consists of a park built around a courtyard with historic remains from the settlement of Beit Eshel.


title: Beersheba

text: Four new shopping malls were also built. Among them is Kanyon Beersheba, a ecologically planned mall with pools for collecting rainwater and lighting generated by solar panels on the roof. It will be situated next to an 8,000-meter park with bicycle paths. In addition, the first ever farmer's market in Israel was established as an enclosed, circular complex with 400 spaces for vendors surrounded by parks and greenery.


title: Beersheba

text: A new central bus station was built in the city. The station has a glass-enclosed complex also containing shops and cafés.


title: Beersheba

text: Some $10.5 million was also invested in renovating Beersheba's Old City, preserving historical buildings and upgrading infrastructure. The Turkish Quarter was also redeveloped with newly cobbled streets, widened sidewalks, and the restoration of Turkish homes into areas for dining and shopping.


title: Beersheba

text: In 2011, city hall announced plans to turn Beersheba into the "water city" of Israel. One of the projects, "Beersheva beach," is a 7-dunam fountain opposite city hall. Other projects included fountains near the Soroka Medical Center and in front of the Shamoon College of Engineering.


title: Beersheba

text: In the 1990s, as skyscrapers began to appear in Israel, the construction of high-rise buildings began in Beersheba. Today, downtown Beersheba has been described as a "clean, compact, and somewhat sterile-looking collection of high-rise office and residential towers." The city's tallest building is Rambam Square 2, a 32-story apartment building. Many additional high-rise buildings are planned or are under construction, including skyscrapers. There are further plans to build luxury residential towers in the city.


title: Beersheba

text: In December 2012, a plan to build 16,000 new housing units in the Ramot Gimel neighborhood was scrapped in favor of creating a new urban forest, which spans and serves as the area's "green lung", as part of the plans to develop a "green band" around the city. The forest includes designated picnic areas, biking trails, and walking trails. According to Mayor Ruvik Danilovich, Beersheba still has an abundance of open, underdeveloped spaces that can be used for urban development.


title: Beersheba

text: In 2017, a new urban building plan was approved for the city, designed to raise the city's population to 340,000 by 2030. Under the plan, 13,000 more housing units will be built, along with industrial and business developments occupying a total of four million square meters. A second public hospital is also planned. Planning for a light rail system also began. In 2019, the construction of a new public hospital, which will be named after Shimon Peres, was approved. The hospital will be a complex that will feature 1,900 beds, commerce, hotel, alternative medicine, and paramedical services, and research centers, with the possibility of apartment units for medical faculty employees, students, and senior housing. It will be linked to the rest of the city by a light rail system.


title: Beersheba

text: On August 31, 2004, sixteen people were killed in two suicide bombings on commuter buses in Beersheba for which Hamas claimed responsibility. On August 28, 2005, another suicide bomber attacked the central bus station, seriously injuring two security guards and 45 bystanders. During Operation Cast Lead, which began on December 27, 2008, and lasted until the ceasefire on January 18, 2009, Hamas fired 2,378 rockets (such as Grad rockets) and mortars, from Gaza into southern Israel, including Beersheba. The rocket attacks have continued, but have been only partially effective since the introduction of the Iron Dome rocket defense system.


title: Beersheba

text: In 2010, an Arab attacked and injured two people with an axe. In 2012, a Palestinian from Jenin was stopped before a stabbing attack in a "safe house." On October 18, 2015, a lone gunman shot and killed a soldier guarding the Beersheva bus station before being gunned down by police. In September 2016, the Shin Bet thwarted a Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror attack at a wedding hall in Beersheba.


title: Beersheba

text: On March 22, 2022, a convicted Islamic State supporter carried out a stabbing and vehicle-ramming attack, killing four people and injuring two others.


title: Beersheba

text: The 1950 emblem, designed by Abraham Khalili, featured a tamarix tree, a factory and water flowing from a pipeline. In 1972 the emblem was modernized with the symbolic representation of the Twelve Tribes and a tower. Words from the Bible are inscribed: Abraham "planted a tamarix tree in Beersheba." (Genesis 21:33) Since 2012, it has incorporated the number seven as part of the city rebranding.


title: Beersheba

text: Beersheba is located on the northern edge of the Negev desert south-east of Tel Aviv and south-west of Jerusalem. The city is located on the main route from the center and north of the country to Eilat in the far south. The Beersheba Valley has been populated for thousands of years, as it has available water, which flows from the Hebron hills in the winter and is stored underground in vast quantities. The main river in Beersheba is "Nahal Beersheva", a "wadi" that floods in the winter. The Kovshim and Katef streams are other important wadis that pass through the city. Beersheba is surrounded by a number of satellite towns, including Omer, Lehavim, and Meitar, and the Bedouin localities of Rahat, Tel as-Sabi, and Lakiya.


title: Beersheba

text: Just north west of the city (near Ramot neighborhood ) is a region called Goral hills (heb:גבעות גורל lit: hills of fate), the area has hills with up to above sea level and low as above sea level. Due to heavy construction the flora unique to the area is endangered.


title: Beersheba

text: North east of the city (north to the Neve Menahem neighborhood) there are Loess plains and dry river bands.


title: Beersheba

text: Beersheba has a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification "BWh") with Mediterranean influences. The city has both characteristics of Mediterranean and desert climates. Summers are hot and dry, and winters are mild. Rainfall is highly concentrated in the winter season. In summer, the temperatures are high in daytime and nighttime with an average high of and an average low of . Winters have an average high of and average low of . Snow is very rare; a snowfall on February 20, 2015, was the first such occurrence in the city since 2000.


title: Beersheba

text: Precipitation in summer is rare, the most rainfalls come in winter between September to May, but the annual amount is low, averaging per year. Sandstorms, haze and fog are common, especially in winter, as a result of the high humidity.


title: Beersheba

text: Beersheba is one of the fastest-growing cities in Israel. Though it has a population of about 200,000, the city is larger in area than Tel Aviv, and its urban plan calls for an eventual population of 450,000–500,000. It is planned to have a population of 340,000 by 2030. In 2010, the National Council for Planning and Construction approved a master plan with the goal of increasing the population of Beersheba and its metropolitan area to 1 million by 2020. The population of Beersheba is predominantly Jewish. Jews and others represent 97.3% of the population, of whom Jews are 86.5%. Arabs constitute around 2.69% of city population.


title: Beersheba

text: The largest employers in Beersheba are Soroka Medical Center, the municipality, Israel Defense Forces and Ben-Gurion University. A major Israel Aerospace Industries complex is located in the main industrial zone, north of Highway 60. Numerous electronics and chemical plants, including Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, are located in and around the city.


title: Beersheba

text: Beersheba is emerging as a high-tech center, with an emphasis on cyber security. A large high-tech park is being built near the Be'er Sheva North Railway Station. Deutsche Telekom, Elbit Systems, EMC, Lockheed Martin, Ness Technologies, WeWork and RAD Data Communications have already opened facilities there, as has a cyberincubator run by Jerusalem Venture Partners. A Science park funded by the RASHI-SACTA Foundation, Beersheba Municipality and private donors was completed in 2008. Another high-tech park is located north of the city near Omer.


title: Beersheba

text: An additional three industrial zones are located on the southeastern side of the city – Makhteshim, Emek Sara and Kiryat Yehudit – and a light industry zone between Kiryat Yehudit and the Old City.


title: Beersheba

text: According to the Municipality CBS, in 2022, Beersheba has a ca.8,975 preschoolers in ca.300 preschools & kindergartens. A total of 99 schools teaching a student population of ca.45,291: 60 elementary schools with an enrollment of 19,617 (ca.3,200 of whom are entering the 1st grade), and 39 high schools with an enrollment of 16,699. Of Beersheba's 12th graders, 90% earned a Bagrut matriculation certificate in 2022. The city also has several private schools and yeshivot in the religious sector with 3,000 or more students.


title: Beersheba

text: Beersheba is home to one of Israel's major universities, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, located on an urban campus in the city (Dalet neighborhood). Other schools in Beersheva are the Open University of Israel, Shamoon College of Engineering (SCE), Kaye Academic College of Education, Practical Engineering College of Beersheba (), and a campus of the Israeli Air and Space College ("Techni Be'er sheva ").


title: Beersheba

text: After Israeli independence, Beersheba became a "laboratory" for Israeli architecture. "Mishol Girit," a neighborhood built in the late 1950s, was the first attempt to create an alternative to the standard public housing projects in Israel. "Hashatiah" (literally, "the carpet"), also known as (the model neighborhood), was hailed by architects around the world. Today, Beersheba is divided into seventeen residential neighborhoods in addition to the Old City and Ramot, an umbrella neighborhood of four sub-districts. Many of the neighbourhoods are named after letters of the Hebrew alphabet, which also have numerical value, but descriptive place names have been given to some of the newer neighborhoods.


title: Beersheba

text: In 1953, Cinema Keren, the Negev's first movie theater, opened in Beersheba. It was built by the Histadrut and had seating for 1,200 people.


title: Beersheba

text: Beersheba is the home base of the Israel Sinfonietta, founded in 1973. Over the years, the Sinfonietta has developed a broad repertoire of symphonic works, concerti for solo instruments and large choral productions, among them Handel's "Israel in Egypt," masses by Schubert and Mozart, Rossini's "Stabat Mater" and Vivaldi's "Gloria." World-famous artists have appeared as soloists with the Sinfonietta, including Pinchas Zukerman, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Shlomo Mintz, Gary Karr, and Paul Tortelier. In the 1970s, a memorial commemorating fallen Israeli soldiers designed by the sculptor Danny Karavan was erected on a hill north-east of the city. The Beersheba Theater opened in 1973. The Light Opera Group of the Negev, established in 1980, performs musicals in English every year.


title: Beersheba

text: Landmarks in the city include "Abraham's well", a well dating to at least the 12th century CE (now inside a visitors center), and the old Turkish railway station, now the focus of development plans. The Artists House of the Negev, in a Mandate-era building, showcases artwork connected in some way to the Negev.


title: Beersheba

text: The Negev Museum of Art reopened in 2004 in the Ottoman Governor's House, and an art and media center for young people was established in the Old City.


title: Beersheba

text: In 1906, during the Ottoman era, the Great Mosque of Beersheba was built with donations collected from the Bedouin residents in the Negev. It was used actively as a mosque until the city fell to Israeli forces in 1948. The mosque was used until 1953 as the city's courthouse. From then until the 1990s, when it was closed for renovations, the building housed an archeological museum, which the city intended to turn into the archeological branch of the Negev Museum. In 2011, however, the Supreme Court of Israel, sitting as the High Court of Justice, ordered the property to be turned into a museum of Islam without reverting to a place of worship.


title: Beersheba

text: Beersheba is the central transport hub of southern Israel, served by roads, railways and air. Beersheba is connected to Tel Aviv via Highway 40, the second longest highway in Israel, which passes to the east of the city and is called the Beersheba bypass because it allows travellers from the north to go to southern locations, avoiding the more congested city center. From west to east, the city is divided by Highway 25, which connects to Ashkelon and the Gaza Strip to the northwest, and Dimona to the east. Finally, Highway 60 connects Beersheba with Jerusalem and the Shoket Junction, and goes through the West Bank. On the local level, a partial ring road surrounds the city from the north and east, and Road 406 (Rager Blvd.) goes through the city center from north to south.


title: Beersheba

text: Metrodan Beersheba, established in 2003, had a fleet of 90 buses and operates 19 lines in the city between 2003 and 2016, most of which depart from the Beersheba Central Bus Station. These lines were formerly operated by the municipality as the 'Be'er Sheva Urban Bus Services'. Inter-city buses to and from Beersheba are operated by Egged, Dan BaDarom and Metropoline. The intercity bus service was transferred to Dan Be'er Sheva in 25'th of November 2016 and Metrodan Beersheva had been shut down. With the change to Dan Be'er Sheva the company introduced electronic payment stopping pay at the driver which was common in Beersheba.


title: Beersheba

text: Israel Railways operates two stations in the city that form part of the railway to Beersheba: the old Be'er Sheva North University station, adjacent to Ben Gurion University and Soroka Medical Center, and the new Be'er Sheva Central station, adjacent to the central bus station. Between the two stations, the railway splits into two, and also continues to Dimona and the Dead Sea factories. An extension is planned to Eilat and Arad.


title: Beersheba

text: The Be'er Sheva North University station is the terminus of the line to Dimona. All stations of Israel Railways can be accessed from Beersheba using transfer stations in Tel Aviv and Lod. Until 2012, the railway line to Beersheba used a slow single-track configuration with sharp curves and many level crossings which limited train speed. Between 2004 and 2012 the line was double tracked and rebuilt using an improved alignment and all its level crossings were grade separated. The rebuilding effort cost NIS 2.8 billion and significantly reduced the travel time and greatly increased the train frequency to and from Tel Aviv and Kiryat Motzkin to Beersheba. In addition, Beersheba will be linked to Tel Aviv and Eilat by a new passenger and freight high-speed railway system.


title: Beersheba

text: There have been plans for a light rail system in Beersheba for many years, and a light rail system appears in the master plan for the city. An agreement was signed for the construction of a light rail system in 1998, but was not implemented. In 2008, the Israeli Finance Ministry contemplated freezing the Tel Aviv Light Rail project and building a light rail system in Beersheba instead, but that did not happen. In 2014, mayor Ruvik Danilovich announced that the light rail system will be built in the city. In 2017, the Ministry of Transport gave the Beersheba municipality approval to proceed with preliminary planning on a light rail system.


title: Beersheba

text: In Be'er Sheva there are over 250 roundabouts, giving the city its nickname of "Roundabout Capital of Israel". Many roundabouts, part of Be'er-Sheva's urban oasis project, include fountains, landscaping and sculptures by well-known artists (such as Menashe Kadishman's The Horse Circle and Jeremy Langford's The Drip Circle). Some commemorate famous people and international and local organizations, or mark important events. Some are named after the twin cities of Beer Sheva.


title: Beersheba

text: Well-known roundabouts are: Ilan Ramon Circle, Phantom Circle near the Air Force Technical School, Champions Square near Terner Stadium and Conch Arena, Chess Circle, Harp Circle near the Municipal Conservatory and the Be'er-Sheva Performing Arts Center, College Circle, Ben Gurion Circle, Light Circle, Freemasons Circle, Shofarot Circle, Twin Towers Circle.


title: Beersheba

text: Hapoel Be'er Sheva plays in the Israeli Premier League, the top tier of Israeli football, having been promoted in the 2008–2009 Liga Leumit season. The club has won the Israeli championship five times, in 1975, 1976, 2016, 2017 and 2018, as well as the State Cup in 1997, 2020 and 2022. Beersheba has two other local clubs, Maccabi Be'er Sheva (based in Neve Noy) and F.C. Be'er Sheva (based in the north of Dalet), a continuation of the defunct Beitar Avraham Be'er Sheva. Hapoel play at the Turner Stadium.


title: Beersheba

text: Beersheba has a basketball club, Hapoel Be'er Sheva. The team plays at The Conch Arena, which seats 3,000.


title: Beersheba

text: Beersheba has become Israel's national chess center; thanks to Soviet immigration, it is home to the largest number of chess grandmasters of any city in the world. The city hosted the World Team Chess Championship in 2005, and chess is taught in the city's kindergartens. The Israeli chess team won the silver medal at the 2008 Chess Olympiad and the bronze at the 2010 Olympiad. The chess club was founded in 1973 by Eliyahu Levant, who is still the driving spirit behind it.


title: Beersheba

text: The city has the second largest wrestling center (AMI wrestling school) in Israel. The center is run by Leonid Shulman and has approximately 2,000 students, most of whom are from Russian immigrant families since the origins of the club are in the Nahal Beka immigrant absorption center. Maccabi Be'er Sheva has a freestyle wrestling team, whilst Hapoel Be'er Sheva has a Greco-Roman wrestling team. In the 2010 World Wrestling Championships, AMI students won five medals. Cricket is played under the auspices of Israel Cricket Association. Beersheba is also home to a rugby team, whose senior and youth squads have won several national titles (including the recent Senior National League 2004–2005 championship). Beersheba's tennis center, which opened in 1991, features eight lighted courts, and the Beersheba (Teyman) airfield is used for gliding.


title: Beersheba

text: In 2012, the Beersheba "ring trail", a 42-kilometer hiking trail around the city, won third place in the annual environmental competition of the European Travelers Association.