Tel Aviv  - Tens of thousands of Israelis flocked to Tel Aviv's main Rabin Square Saturday night as the city kicked off its centenary celebrations with a gala concert featuring more than 1,000 singers, dancers and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

In preparation for the celebrations, the city on Friday held a series of street concerts, while a special prayer session was held Saturday morning, the Jewish Sabbath.

Events celebrating the city will continue throughout the year, and include a marathon race, a festival in Jaffa highlighting the city's Middle Eastern heritage, an all-night festival focusing on the history of the city, and in July, the La Scala Opera Company will give a free performance in the city's main park.

Tel Aviv was founded on April 11, 1909, when several dozen Jewish families from Jaffa gathered on a beach north of the historic port to allocate plots of land for a new neighbourhood.

The neighbourhood was initially called Ahuzat Bayit, which translates as "housing property," but later changed its name to Tel Aviv (hill of spring).

The British mandatory authorities gave the new neighbourhood self- governance in 1921 and the local council hurriedly declared Tel Aviv a "city," even though it comprised only a few streets and several piles of sand.

The city's population swelled following anti-Jewish riots in Jaffa, and increased even further with waves of immigration of Jews fleeing anti-Semitism in Europe in the 1930s.

In 1949, following the first Arab-Israeli war, Tel Aviv incorporated Jaffa into its municipal boundaries.

Approximately 400,000 people currently live in Tel Aviv's municipal boundaries, while the population of greater Tel Aviv - an area that includes cities and towns bordering the metropolis - numbers 3 million.

Although the Israeli government sits in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv is Israel's economic and cultural hub. (dpa)