Petah Tikva Municipality

Petah Tikva (Hebrew: פֶּתַח תִּקְוָה, IPA: [ˈpetaχ tikˈva], "Opening of Hope") known as Em HaMoshavot ("Mother of the Moshavot"), is a city in the Center District of Israel, 10.6 km (6.59 mi) east of Tel Aviv. It was founded in 1878, mainly by religious orthodox Jews, also known as the Old Yishuv, and became a permanent settlement in 1883 with the financial help of Baron Edmond de Rothschild. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, at the end of 2009, the city's population stood at 209,600.[1] The population density is approximately 5,800 inhabitants per square kilometre (15,000 /sq mi). Petah Tikva's jurisdiction covers 35,868 dunams (~35.9 km2 or 15 sq mi).