Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
(13 kilometers). Many people along the coast obtain their livelihood from the sea directly or
indirectly, through shipping, fi shing, and especially the tourism drawn to the beaches.
The coastal plain runs along the Mediterranean Sea and inland to a width of between
9 miles (14 kilometers) in the north and 25 miles (40 kilometers) in the south. The region
has three subsections. The northern coastal plain includes the western Galilee, Acre, Haifa,
and the rocky Carmel region up to Taninim Lake. Many kibbutzim and moshavim, as well as
small Druze and Arab villages, sprinkle the area. Acre, with its imposing Crusader buildings
and tiny colorful port, is a mixed Jewish-Arab city, once unsuccessfully besieged by Napoleon.
Mount Carmel has vineyards, along with caves inhabited during the Stone Age; human re-
mains 80,000 years old have been found there.
Haifa is Israel's third-largest city and a center of industry, with the country's main oil refi n-
ery, port, and granary. Of all the cities in the world, it was ranked by
Monocle
magazine as the
one with the most business potential in 2011. Its attractions include a Baha'i temple, tomb, and
gardens, composing the main shrine of a religion born in Iran whose leader was exiled to Haifa
by the Ottomans. The University of Haifa sits atop a mountain that affords spectacular views
of the city and Haifa Bay. Nearby is the Technion -Israel Institute of Technology, Israel's most
important engineering and scientifi c university. Historically, Haifa has voted Labor.
To the south of Haifa, the Sharon region's rich red loam grows some of the world's fi nest
oranges, while the sandy shore has many beaches. This is the area of highest population con-
centration, dominated by Tel Aviv and its suburbs. Hadera with its large power plant, Netanya,
and Herzliya line the coast down to Tel Aviv. This region, given the westward bulge of the
Haifa University, with the city of Haifa and Haifa Bay below, September 2007. (Getty Images / Image Bank.)
