The First Aliyah (Hebrew: העלייה הראשונה, romanized: HaAliyah HaRishona), also known as the agriculture Aliyah, was a major wave of Jewish immigration (aliyah) to Ottoman Palestine between 1881 and 1903. Jews who migrated in this wave came mostly from Eastern Europe, stimulated by pogroms and violence against the Jewish communities there. A smaller number came from other areas such as Yemen and were primarily motivated by religious purposes. Estimates of the numbers of Jews who immigrated range from 25,000 to a total 60,000, with between 50-70% who later immigrated elsewhere. Many of the European Jewish immigrants during the late 19th-early 20th century period gave up after a few months and went back to their country of origin, often suffering from hunger and disease.
During the first Aliyah, agricultural settlements called Moshava were established. The immigrants engaged almost exclusively in agriculture.