Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Samarian region of the West Bank, is also Israel's narrowest, at times extending only 9 miles
(14 kilometers) in width.
Tel Aviv itself is very much a Mediterranean and largely secular city of beaches and white
concrete buildings, including the world's greatest concentration of Bauhaus (International
Style of architecture) structures. This is Israel's cultural, business, and intellectual center, prid-
ing itself on an active nightlife and many cafes. It also contains Israel's clothing design indus-
try and stock exchange, as well as the headquarters of all the main newspapers and political
parties.
Jaffa, on the southern end of Tel Aviv, is a mixed Jewish-Arab area. It has one of the world's
oldest continuously used harbors, although today it is reduced to a small fi shing port. Tel
Aviv has many other suburbs of varying socioeconomic levels, including Ramat Aviv, Rishon
LeZion, Ramat Gan, Holon, and Giva'tayim.
To the south, Ashdod is another major commercial port, as is the smaller city of Ashkelon
down the coast. Beyond Ashdod, the southern coastal plain becomes drier, gradually leading
into the Sinai desert to the west and the Negev desert to the east and south. Israel's nuclear
reactor is in this area. Across from the Gaza Strip, the small town of Sderot and several agri-
cultural villages have become the targets for hundreds of rockets fi red from the Gaza Strip.
The Central Hill Country
Parallel to the coastal plain and to its east is a rocky hill region, most of which is in the West
Bank. In the central hill country of Israel, on the far northern end, in the Golan Heights and on
the border with Lebanon and Syria, is Israel's highest mountain, Mount Hermon (9,232 feet,
or 2,814 meters, high). Southward is the Galilee plateau. The Shomron and Judean Hills in the
center of this geological region are located mainly in the West Bank. Israel's corridor to Jerusa-
lem runs through these hills. Farther south is the hilly part of the Negev desert.
The rocky terrain is interrupted at its northern end by Israel's fertile Jezreel and Hula Val-
leys, which are important agricultural areas that also have light industry. In ancient times, the
route through the Jezreel Valley connected the Mediterranean with the empires to the east. The
valley contains many ancient and Biblical sites. Today, corn, sunfl owers, and wheat are grown
there, and sheep and cattle graze in the pastures.
The Hula Valley was once a swampy malarial area. Its draining in the 1950s was one of the
country's main engineering projects; in more recent years some water has been restored to bal-
ance the ecological system. This valley remains an important stop for birds migrating between
Europe and Africa.
Although the hills of central Israel appear to be fairly continuous, they were shaped at dif-
ferent periods of time and are not geologically consistent. They were created from the move-
ment of the Euro-Asian and nearby African-Arabian tectonic plates, making them cousins to
Europe's Alps, though much lower. The Galilee hills reach a height of 4,000 feet (1,219 meters)
and are largely limestone, dolomite, and chalk. Toward the Golan Heights, however, the hills
are basalt because of volcanic eruptions.
The region's most famous feature is the historic city of Jerusalem, Israel's capital, an im-
portant center for three major religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Jerusalem are
