Beersheba, officially Be'er-Sheva, is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the centre of the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in Israel, the eighth-most populous Israeli city with a population of, and the second-largest city in area (after Jerusalem), with a total area of 117,500 dunams (45 mi2 / 117.5 km2).