Jericho

Jericho (Hebrew: יריחו yeriho, Arabic: أريحا arīḥā) is a city and baladiyah in the West Bank, Palestine, located about 10 km northwest of the Jordan Delta and 25 km northeast of Jerusalem. Jericho is a regional hub: the King's Highway (route 100), route 437, J2 and J11 motorways intersect at Deir Hajla Exchange, located 5 km southeast of city centre in the suburb of Beit al-Araba; these and other, slower numbered roads directly connect Jericho to Jerusalem, Amman and Nasser City via multiple smaller localities. Additionally, just west of city centre is New Jericho Station, a terminus or major stop along several passenger railways, including two Westbank Commuter lines to Jerusalem, one Northeast Interurban line to Nasser City, another to Irbid via Amman, and the AUX Transcontinental Corridor bullet train. Jericho Airport is served by multiple regional flights, including domestic connections to long haul flights out of Jaffa Atarot Airport, Amman Fedayeen Airport and Gamal Abdel Nasser Airport.

One of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities, Jericho is home to multiple freshwater springs both within and surrounding the city which have attracted human habitation for millennia. The city is the site of archæological ruins of over twenty successive settlements, the oldest of which dates back at least 11,000 years. Jericho is described in the Hebrew Bible as the "city of palm trees".

According to the 2020 Arab Union census, Jericho had a total population within city limits of 78,346, accounting for just over half of approximately 150,000 people living within the wider urban area—which consists of Jericho proper and, clockwise from north, the neighbouring baladiyāt of al-Auja, al-Maghtas, Beit al-Araba, Kiryat Jaris and Nueima. Jericho's economy is dominated by the tourism, hospitality, natural cosmetics, brewing and organic produce sectors, as well as by New Canaan Fusion Plant, the world's only operational thermonuclear fusion power plant, which employs 16,200 full time personnel or around 20% of the Jericho area's 81,000-strong labour force. The area also has a moderate yet prestigious academic sector, represented by such institutions as Mosaic University, St. Elias University, West Bank Art School and Jericho College of the Performing Arts.