 As of 2016 the city is a major seaport located on Israel 's Mediterranean coastline in the Bay of Haifa covering 63 @.@ 7 square kilometres ( 24 @.@ 6 sq mi ) . It lies about 90 kilometres ( 56 mi ) north of Tel Aviv and is the major regional center of northern Israel . Two respected academic institutions , the University of Haifa and the Technion , are located in Haifa , in addition to the largest k @-@ 12 school in Israel , the Hebrew <unk> School . The city plays an important role in Israel 's economy . It is home to Matam , one of the oldest and largest high @-@ tech parks in the country . Haifa Bay is a center of heavy industry , petroleum refining and chemical processing . Haifa formerly functioned as the western terminus of an oil pipeline from Iraq via Jordan . 
