The meaning of Bethlehem in Aramaic house of bread. Bethlehem is located about 10 km south of East Jerusalem, at an altitude of about 765 meters above sea any higher than Jerusalem thirty-meter level. And contain the Bethlehem area towns of Beit Sahour and Beit Jala and Artas, villages Ta'amra also at Bethlehem University bearing her name.
Bethlehem great importance to Christians for being the birthplace of Jesus Christ.
In Bethlehem, many churches, and perhaps the most important Church of the Nativity, built by Constantine the Great (330 AD). Just above the cave or grotto, which is believed to be the stable where Jesus was born. Believes that this church is the oldest churches in the world. There is also a basement of another relative is believed that Jerome had spent thirty years of his life which translates the Bible.
According to the Oslo agreement, the transfer of civil and security authorities in the city into the hands of the Palestinian National Authority in 1995.