Israel
GEOGRAPHY
Size: About 20,700 square kilometers. Occupied
territories comprise additional 7,477 square kilometers: West
Bank, 5,879; Gaza Strip, 378; East Jerusalem, annexed in July
1980, 70; and Golan Heights, annexed in December 1981, 1,150.
Topography: Four general areas: coastal plain--fertile,
humid, and thickly populated--stretches along Mediterranean Sea;
central highlands including Hills of Galilee in north with country's
highest elevation at Mt. Meron (1,208 meters), and arid Judean
Hills in south; Jordan Rift Valley with lowest point (399 meters
below sea level) at Dead Sea; and Negev Desert, which accounts
for about half Israel's area.
Data as of December 1988
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