Introduction
Local council in Israel
Local council in IsraelMitzpe Ramon
מִצְפֵּה רָמוֹן‎متسبي رمونLocal councilHebrew transcription(s) • ISO 259Miçpe RamonView of Mitzpe Ramon from Har Gamal, Picture of Nubian ibex, Wise Observatory, Crater View
FlagCoat of armsMitzpe RamonShow map of Southern Negev region of IsraelMitzpe RamonShow map of IsraelCoordinates: 30°36′46″N 34°48′14″E / 30.61278°N 34.80389°E / 30.61278; 34.80389Country IsraelDistrictSouthernFounded1951Government • Head of MunicipalityElia WinterArea • Total62,875 dunams (62.875 km2; 24.276 sq mi)Elevation839 m (2,753 ft)Population (2024) • Total5,843 • Density92.93/km2 (240.7/sq mi)Name meaningRamon LookoutWebsitemitzpe-ramon.muni.il
Mitzpe Ramon (Hebrew: מִצְפֵּה רָמוֹן, Ramon Lookout; Arabic: متسبي رمون) is a local council in the Negev desert of southern Israel. It is situated on the northern ridge at an elevation of 860 meters (2,800 feet) overlooking the world's largest erosion cirque, known as the Makhtesh Ramon. In 2024 it had a population of 5,843.
History
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Mitzpe Ramon in 1957
Mitzpe Ramon was founded in 1951 as a camp for the workers building Highway 40. The town's first permanent residents, several young families from Kibbutz Re'im and other parts of Israel began settling there in 1956. After five years, the town was home to 370 residents including 160 children, most of them veteran Israelis. There were also 180 housing units to absorb new immigrants They were joined by immigrants from North Africa, Romania, and India in the 1960s, and it became the southernmost of the Negev's development towns.
Conditions in the early years were harsh, with limited food supplies and practically no modern-day amenities. Ice blocks and provisions were delivered once a week by a supply truck. There was a single school with one classroom for all ages. The homes of the first settlers were prefabricated asbestos barracks. Later, rows of small attached stone houses were built and after that, apartment buildings, beginning in the early 1960s.
On 29 April 1964, a Nord 2501D Noratlas (4X-FAD/044) of the IAF crashed into a mountain near Mitzpe Ramon, killing all nine on board, including pilots Hagay Gilboa and Shlomo Tzlil. The crash is currently Israel's deadliest.
In 1972, Mitzpe Ramon had a population of about 1,400 people living in 300 households. The town further grew after Ramon Airbase was completed in 1982. In 1988, the town had a population of about 3,000, and it experienced more significant population growth when it absorbed Soviet immigrants during the 1990s post-Soviet aliyah.
In February 2026, it was announced that Mitzpe Ramon will become Israel's "Space City". Funded by government and private organizations, the project aims to establish the largest civilian space ecosystem in the country, including a technology campus, a space mission control center, laboratories simulating the Mars environment, a startup accelerator program, and an academic campus dedicated to international research.
