Tel Aviv (Hebrew: תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, spring hill) is the second-largest city in Israel and the main cultural and business centre; most countries also maintain their embassies there. Tel Aviv is also the centre of 'Gush Dan' (Hebrew: גוש דן, Dan Bloc), Israel's main metropolitan area. In July 2003, Tel Aviv's so-called "White City" area was declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage site.
As of July 2006, there were 371,400 people residing in Tel Aviv. From the 1960s onward there was a trend towards negative migration, with a slow but steady decline in the population residing in the city proper. This reversed in 2003, with younger families moving back into the city. Tel Aviv's jurisdiction spreads over 51.76 square kilometres, bordering the Mediterranean Sea to the west and various Gush Dan cities to the north, east and south.