Beersheba

Beersheba (/bɪərˈʃiːbə/ beer-SHEE-bə), officially Be'er-Sheva[2] (usually spelled Beer Sheva; Hebrew: בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, romanized: Bəʾēr Ševaʿ, .mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}IPA: [ˈbe(ʔ)eʁ ˈʃeva(ʕ)] ⓘ / [beʁˈʃeva]; Arabic: بِئْر السَّبْع, romanized: Biʾr as-Sabʿ Arabic pronunciation: [biʔr‿as.sabʕ]; lit. 'Well of the Oath' or 'Well of the Seven'), 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 214,162,[1] and the second-largest city in area (after Jerusalem), with a total area of 117,500 dunams (45 mi2 / 117.5 km2). 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 Ottomans.[3] The city was captured by the British-led Australian Light Horse troops in the Battle of Beersheba during World War I.