Editing Haifa (section)

===Religious and ethnic communities===
The population is heterogeneous. [[Israeli Jews]] comprise some 82% of the population, almost 14% are [[Christians in Israel|Christians]] (the majority of whom are [[Arab Christians]])<ref name=demo/> and, some 4% are [[Islam in Israel|Muslims]]. Haifa also includes [[Druze]] and [[Baháʼí Faith]] communities. In 2006, 27% of the Arab population was aged 14 and under, compared to 17% of the Jewish and other population groups. The trend continues in the age 15–29 group, in which 27% of the Arab population is found, and the age 30–44 group (23%). The population of Jews and others in these age groups are 22% and 18% respectively. Nineteen percent of the city's Jewish and other population is between 45 and 59, compared to 14% of the Arab population. This continues with 14% of Jews and others aged 60–74 and 10% over age 75, in comparison to 7% and just 2% respectively in the Arab population.<ref name=demographics/> Arabs in Haifa tend to be wealthier and better educated compare to other Arabs elsewhere in Israel.<ref name=NYT01416/>
[[File:St. Elias Cathedral, front view (Haifa, 2012).jpg|thumb|[[St. Elijah Cathedral, Haifa]]; episcopal see of the [[Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Akka|Archeparchy of Akka]].]]
Haifa is home to the second-largest Arab Christian community in Israel,<ref name=Christian2020>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/mediarelease/DocLib/2019/400/11_19_400e.pdf |title=Christmas 2019 – Christians in Israel |date=29 December 2019 |publisher=Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel) |access-date=26 April 2022 |archive-date=9 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211109084141/https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/mediarelease/DocLib/2019/400/11_19_400e.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> many of them lives in the Arabic-speaking neighborhoods in the lowlands near the sea; neighborhoods such as [[German Colony, Haifa|German Colony]], [[Wadi Nisnas]] and Abbas, are largely [[Christianity in Israel|Arab Christian]].<ref name="auto1"/><ref name="Daniel Lefkowitz"/> There are also a significant number of wealthy Christian Arabs in the [[Hadar HaCarmel|Hadar West]] and Central.<ref name="Daniel Lefkowitz"/> The Christian communities of Haifa are varied and included various denominations, the most prominent among them the [[Melkite Greek Catholic Church|Melkite Greek Catholic]], followed by [[Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem|Greek Orthodox]], [[Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem|Latin Catholics]], [[Maronites]], [[Armenian Orthodox]], and [[Protestants]].<ref>{{cite book |title=European Cultural Diplomacy and Arab Christians in Palestine, 1918–1948: Between Contention and Connection |first=Sary |last=Zananiri |year=2020 |isbn=978-3-030-55540-5 |page=129 |publisher=Springer Nature |quote=}}</ref> The Christian Arab communities in Haifa tend to be wealthier and better educated compare to other Arabs elsewhere in Israel.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Israeli Palestinians: An Arab Minority in the Jewish State |first=Alexander |last=Bligh |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-135-76077-9 |page=132 |publisher=Routledge |quote=}}</ref> The [[Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Akka]] is based in Haifa, and its cathedral episcopal see is [[St. Elijah Cathedral, Haifa|St. Elijah Greek-Melkite Cathedral]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://catholicchurch-holyland.com/?p=3811 |title=The Catholic Church Of The Holy Land » Parishes Greek Melkite Catholic Archeparchy of Akko |website=catholicchurch-holyland.com |access-date=2016-05-19 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160323032025/http://catholicchurch-holyland.com/?p=3811 |archivedate=2016-03-23}}</ref>

Following [[Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon#2000 Israeli withdrawal|Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon]] in 2000, some former [[South Lebanon Army]] soldiers and officers who fled from Lebanon settled in Haifa with [[Lebanese people in Israel|their families]].<ref name="Shachmon 2019">{{Cite journal |last1=Shachmon |first1=Ori |last2=Mack |first2=Merav |date=2019 |title=The Lebanese in Israel – Language, Religion and Identity |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.13173/zeitdeutmorggese.169.2.0343 |journal=Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft |volume=169 |issue=2 |pages=343–366 |doi=10.13173/zeitdeutmorggese.169.2.0343 |jstor=10.13173/zeitdeutmorggese.169.2.0343 |s2cid=211647029 |issn=0341-0137 |access-date=1 May 2022 |archive-date=20 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020065138/https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.13173/zeitdeutmorggese.169.2.0343 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2006, 2.9% of the Jews in the city were [[Haredi Judaism|Haredi]], compared to 7.5% on a national scale.<ref name=demographics/> However, the Haredi community in Haifa is growing fast due to a high fertility rate.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hoval |first=Revital |url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/secular-residents-worry-about-haifa-neighborhood-turning-into-another-bnei-brak-1.381844 |title=Secular residents worry about Haifa neighborhood turning into 'another Bnei Brak' |work=Haaretz |date=1 September 2011 |access-date=24 March 2013 |archive-date=10 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310012152/http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/secular-residents-worry-about-haifa-neighborhood-turning-into-another-bnei-brak-1.381844 |url-status=live}}</ref> 66.6% were secular, compared to a national average of 43.7%.<ref name=demographics/> There is also a Scandinavian Seamen Protestant church, established by Norwegian Righteous Among the Nations pastor Per Faye-Hansen.{{citation needed|date=June 2019}}

Haifa is the center of liberal [[Arab culture|Arabic-speaking culture]], as it was under British colonial rule. The Arabic-speaking neighborhoods, which are mixed Muslim and Christian, are in the lowlands near the sea, while Jewish neighborhoods are at a higher elevation. An active Arab cultural life has developed in the 21st century.<ref name=NYT01416>{{cite news |last=Hadid |first=Diaa |title=In Israeli City of Haifa, a Liberal Palestinian Culture Blossoms |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/04/world/middleeast/in-israeli-city-of-haifa-a-liberal-palestinian-culture-blossoms.html |access-date=4 January 2016 |work=The New York Times |date=4 January 2016 |archive-date=2 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502175750/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/04/world/middleeast/in-israeli-city-of-haifa-a-liberal-palestinian-culture-blossoms.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The city is the center of many Arab-owned businesses such as theaters, bars, cafes, restaurants and [[nightclub]]s which also host different cultural discussions and art exhibitions.<ref name=NYT01416/>