Dimona

Dimona is a city in Israel's Negev desert in the Southern District, about 30 kilometers southeast of Beersheba and 35 kilometers west of the Dead Sea. Established in 1955 as one of Israel's development towns under Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, its first residents were 36 families of Jewish immigrants from North Africa; the city grew from an initial 300 residents to a 2024 population of 39,590. Dimona is home to the Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center, colloquially known as the Dimona Reactor, located 13 kilometers southeast of the city, and it carries the nickname mini-India for a substantial Indian Jewish community of about 7,500 residents, alongside an African Hebrew Israelite community of roughly 3,000. Its economy has shifted from textile manufacturing toward chemical plants, high-tech firms and renewable energy including solar technology installations.