The Old City is now a world heritage site, but modern-day Jerusalem extends far beyond its borders, with a wider population estimated at about 1.2 million people.
Israelis and Palestinians both claim Jerusalem as their capital and its status remains a key point of argument in the conflict between the two.
According to historians, the original kingdom of Israel emerged during the Iron Age. After a series of battles with neighboring empires, an independent Jewish Kingdom, Judea, was established before then being co-opted by the Romans.
Arab control of the area followed over several centuries, leaving the Jewish people without an officially recognized land.
A determination to reclaim a Jewish homeland was led by the Zionist movement and during World War I, the United Kingdom’s foreign secretary, Arthur Balfour, announced support for the establishment of a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine.
After 30 years of this “British Mandate,” a United Nations partition plan was devised for the area. In 1947, this resolution was adopted by the UN and the modern-day State of Israel was born.
That decision was immediately met with anger by Arabs and war with the Jews in 1948 led to the division of Jerusalem. Israel captured the west of the city while Arab-Jordanian forces annexed the city’s east.
