Geography

Israel is located at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. It is bounded on the north by Lebanon, on the northeast by Syria, on the east and southeast by Jordan, and on the southwest by Egypt. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean in the west and the Gulf of Eilat (also known as the Gulf of Aqaba) in the south.

Before June 1967, the area composing Israel (resulting from the armistice lines of 1949 and 1950) was about 20,700 sq km, which included 445 sq km of inland waters. It stretched 424 km (263 mi) from north to south and its width ranged from 114 km (71 mi) to, at its narrowest point, 15 km (9 mi). In the June 1967 War, Israel captured territories totalling an additional 7,099 sq km. These territories include the West Bank, 5,879 sq km; East Jerusalem (annexed, according Israeli law), 70 sq km; and the Golan Heights (de facto annexation), 1,150 sq km.

Topography

Israel is divided into four main geographical regions: the Mediterranean coastal plain, the central hills, the Jordan Rift Valley and the Negev Desert.

Mediterranean Coastal Plain

The Coastal Plain stretches from the Lebanese border in the north to Gaza in the south, interrupted only by Cape Carmel at Haifa Bay. It is about 40 kilometres wide at Gaza and narrows toward the north to about 5 kilometres at the Lebanese border. The region is fertile and humid (historically malarial) and is known for its citrus and viniculture. The plain is traversed by several short streams, of which only two, the Yarkon and Kishon, have permanent water flows.

The Central Hills

East of the coastal plain lies the central highland region. In the north of this region lie the mountains and hills of Upper Galilee and Lower Galilee; farther to the south are the Samarian Hills with numerous small, fertile valleys; and south of Jerusalem are the mainly barren hills of Judea. The central highlands average 610 metres (2,000 ft) in height and reach their highest elevation at Har Meron, at 1,208 metres (3,963 ft), in Galilee near Zefat (Safad). Several valleys cut across the highlands roughly from east to west; the largest is the Yizreel or Jezreel Valley (also known as the Plain of Esdraelon), which stretches 48 km (30 mi) from Haifa southeast to the valley of the Jordan River, and is 19 km across at its widest point.

Jordan Rift Valley

East of the central highlands lies the Jordan Rift Valley, which is a small part of the 6,500-kilometre-long (4,040 mi) Syrian-East African Rift. In Israel, the Rift Valley is dominated by the Jordan River, the Sea of Galilee (an important freshwater source also known as Lake Tiberias and to Israelis as Lake Kinneret), and the Dead Sea. The Jordan, Israel's largest river (322 km / 200 mi), originates in the Dan, Baniyas, and Hasbani rivers near Mount Hermon in the Anti-Lebanon Mountains and flows south through the drained Hula Basin into the freshwater Lake Tiberias. Lake Tiberias is 165 square kilometres (63.7 sq mi) in size and, depending on the season and rainfall, is at about 213 metres (700 ft) below sea level. With a water capacity estimated at 3 cubic kilometres (106 billion cubic feet), it serves as the principal reservoir of the National Water Carrier (also known as the Kinneret-Negev Conduit). The Jordan River continues its course from the southern end of Lake Tiberias (forming the boundary between the West Bank and Jordan) to its terminus in the highly saline Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is 1,020 square kilometres (393 sq mi) in size and, at 399 metres (1,309 ft) below sea level, is the lowest point in the world. South of the Dead Sea, the Rift Valley continues in the Nahal HaArava (Wadi al Arabah in Arabic), which has no permanent water flow, for 170 kilometres (106 mi) to the Gulf of Aqaba.

Negev Desert

The Negev Desert comprises approximately 12,000 square kilometres (4,600 sq. miles), more than half of Israel's total land area. Geographically it is an extension of the Sinai Desert, forming a rough triangle with its base in the north near Beersheba (aka Beersheva), the Dead Sea and the southern Judean Hills, and it has its apex in the southern tip of the country at Eilat. Topographically, it parallels the other regions of the country, with lowlands in the west, hills in the central portion, and the Nahal HaArava as its eastern border.

Geology

Israel is divided east-west by a mountain range running north to south along the coast. Jerusalem sits on the top of this ridge, east of which lies the Dead Sea graben (an elongated, relatively depressed crustal unit bounded by faults on both sides).

The numerous limestone and sandstone layers of the Israeli mountains allow the water to pour from the west flank to the east. Several springs have formed along the Dead Sea, each an oasis, most notably the oasis' at Ein Gedi and Ein Bokek where settlements have now developed.

Small natural caves and abris are common around the country. These have been used for thousands of years historically as shelter, housing, storage rooms, barns and as places of public gatherings. Israel also has a number of large limestone karsts. These caves are around comfortable temperature of 20°C, although only one is open to the public.

Rivers and Lakes

Israel has the Jordan River running along its border with Jordan. The Jordan River eventually empties into the Dead Sea, the lowest point on Earth and its saltiest body of water. Israel also has the Sea of Galilee, which is in fact a lake. On the western side of the lake is found the resort town of Tiberas.

Elevation Extremes

• Lowest point is at the Dead Sea at -408 metres (-1,339 feet). This is also the lowest point on land on the Earth.
• Highest point is at Mount Meron at 1,208 metres (3,955 feet) in the Upper Galilee region near Safed.