Jerusalem

A city divided between east-central Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Jerusalem was founded as far back as the fourth millennium B.C. and was ruled by the Canaanites, Hebrews, Greeks, Romans, Persians, Arabs, Crusaders, Turks, and British before being divided in 1949 into eastern and western sectors under Israeli and Jordanian control. In 1967, Israeli forces captured the eastern sector from Jordan, later declaring the city as a whole to be the capital of Israel. The legal status of Jerusalem, considered a holy city to Jews, Muslims, and Christians, remains fiercely disputed. Population: 729,000.