Ramat Gan (Literally: Garden height) is a city in the center of Israel, located east of Tel Aviv and part of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. It is home to one of the world’s major diamond exchanges, and many high-tech industries.
Ramat Gan is an eclectic town famous for many things that have no relation to each other – including diamonds, football, malls, Iraqi restaurants, the Bar-Ilan university (which is known as the “religious” university), and even a Safari. Living up to its name, small green public gardens are plentiful and all streets are tree lined.
History and Economics
Ramat Gan was founded in 1921 as a moshav, a communal farming community. According to the 1931 census, The young community had 975 inhabitants, in 253 houses – but over time the population grew (as it did the entire country of Israel and Tel Aviv) and today its population exceeds 160,000.
The city is located in the Gush Dan metropolitan area, east of Tel Aviv. It is bounded in the north by the Yarkon River and in the east by Bnei Brak. Givatayim lies to the southwest.
North Ramat Gan features a cluster of sparkling sky scrapers, which, at night, impresses you with a magnificent Manhattan-style skyline. Ramat Gan’s economy is dominated by the Diamond Exchange District in the northwest of the city, home to a large concentration of skyscrapers, including Moshe Aviv Tower (City Gate), Israel’s second tallest at over 240 metres (790 ft), the Israel Diamond Exchange (a world leader in diamonds) and many high-tech businesses.
The rest of the city, just like its name, is residential with green gardens here and there. It is the greenest city in Israel, with its 25% green area.
Some foriegn embassies are located here (including embassies of Ghana, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Eritrea, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the European Economic Community). Ramat Gan Sheraton City Towers, which is a preferred hang out for Likud Party primaries conferences.
In the North East, you will find the first successful shopping mall in Israel (Ayalon Mall) surrounded by huge outlets. Next to it, the biggest soccer stadium in the country and the Ramat Gan National Park. On the other side of town, Bar Ilan University, a world famous institution combining modern studies with Rabbinical curriculum.
The city is also an important center for industry and manufacturing hub, mainly for food and beverages, textile and furniture. The Elite Tower, set to be the tallest one in the city, is being built on the site of the historic Elite Candy factory. As a tribute to the history of the site, the lower floors of the tower will house a chocolate museum.
If you are feeling sick, two major hospitals are available – the Sheba Medical Center located in southeastern Ramat-Gan and Tel HaShomer, which is Israel’s largest hospital.
Last but not least, Ramat-Gan is known for its Iraqi heritage. Many Jewish immigrants from Iraq settled here in the 1950’s and as a result, many good Iraqi restaurants can be found here.
What To Do in Ramat Gan
For higher culture in Ramat Gan, one might go to the Ramat Gan Theater, the Diamond Theater and the Russell Cultural Center. The Beit Zvi School of Performing Arts is based in Ramat Gan as well.
For more popular mass market fun, Ramat Gan operates two cinemas complexes: the Lev-Elram Cinema and the “Yes Planet” megaplex.
Looking for nightlife? Clubs and bars are scarce, just take a quick cab to Tel Aviv.
Ramat Gan Stadium
Sport fans will like it here, as Ramat Gan is a football city. Ramat-Gan Stadium was Israel’s national football stadium until 2014, and holds some major events like the Maccabiah Games (The Jewish olympics) that are held in it every four years and many music concerts.
Hakoah Amidar and Hapoel Ramat-Gan are the two main football clubs of the city, both play at the Winter Stadium.
Ramat Gan Safari
Ramat-Gan also has a safari park. The 250-acre site consists of both a drive-through African safari area and a modern outdoor zoo. It houses 1,600 animals, and has the largest animal collection in the Middle East.
The African animal park opened to the general public in 1974. In 1981, the zoo was established in the middle of the park to replace the Tel Aviv Zoo, which had closed down. It has more than 700,000 visitors annually from all social and ethnic groups of Israel as well as tourists from abroad.
The safari houses 83 species of mammals, 92 species of birds and 23 species of reptiles. Among other outstanding groups of animals, it has white rhinos, hippos, lions, African and Asian elephants, gorillas, orangutans, and a Komodo dragon. All animals are seen in open air enclosures amid subtropical gardens.
Along with the safari, the place is home for the Israeli Wildlife Hospital (IWH) that was founded in 2005 as a cooperative enterprise between Ramat Gan Safari and the government Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA). The IWH treats over 2,000 wild animals annually. As Israel is located on a central migration route (over half a billion birds migrate over Israel every migratory season) the IWH receives more than 100 avian species every year.
How Far Is It From Tel Aviv?
As we said, the two cities are bordering each other, so it depends what neighborhoods in both cities you are referring to. from the city center of Ramat Gan to the city center of Tel Aviv is about a 15 minutes drive.
There is many options for public transport, mainly buses. Dont forget to charge your Rav-Kav card before boarding the bus!
What does “Ramat Gan” Mean?
Ramat Gan (רמת גן) in hebrew is Garden heights.
Can You Drink The Water In Ramat Gan?
Yes, as the water in Ramat-Gan (and all over Israel) is very safe to drink.
There are regulations for guaranteeing the quality of drinking water, and the Ministry of Health makes sure to update these based on scientific development, accumulated knowledge, analytical developments and international legislation.
Water sources are tested in laboratory tests (for the detection of over 130 different components) before they are approved for supply as drinking water, and all the water supplied to the public is decontaminated with Chlorine, which prevents the development of harmful bacteria.
WeWe have written a post with more information on this topic, including answers to more questions about the different taste of water in Israel (and why it is like that), and what you can do to filter it or buy bottled water cheap.
Read it here: Can You Drink The Water In Tel Aviv? (Local Guy Answers)
Ramat Gan Olim Department
The Ramat-Gan Olim Department strives to help new Olim, Toshavim Chozrim, and Internationals from ages 0 to 120 to acclimate and integrate into Israeli society via social and cultural activities, Hebrew language studies for all ages, and more.
It offers a variety of services: assisting children from kindergarten through high school with formal and informal education, organizing workshops for families and adults, and organizing a range of social and cultural events.
Get more info in the education portal of the municipality of Ramat-Gan.