Page 62 - Bible Geography and Near East Studies

Israel has also had to endure terrorist attacks from the West Bank in recent decades. Beginning in 2000,
Israel built a 440-mile security fence along the border of the West Bank and Israel. Some of the fence
(less than 10 percent) is a solid wall, 26 feet high. The concrete security walls stand only in high-
population areas or where there have been problems with snipers.

Though random acts of violence continue, suicide bombings in Israel decreased from 73 from 2000 to
2003 to 12 over the next three years. Today, Israel remains one of the most stable countries in the
Middle East. Part of the reason for this success can be credited to its deep-rooted commitment to the
rules of the parliamentary democracy. Israel ranks among the top 20 nations in the world economically.
Tourism is one of Israel’s major sources of income in the country,
attracting 3.6 million foreign tourists in 2017, yielding a 25 percent
growth since 2016 and contributing NIS 20 billion to the Israeli
economy.

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Israel today

The total area of the State of Israel is 8,630 sq. miles (22,145 sq
km.), of which 8,367 sq. miles (21,671 sq. km.) is land area. Israel is
some 470 km. (290 miles) in length and about 85 miles (135 km)
across at the widest point. The country is bordered by Lebanon to
the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the
southwest, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west.

Mountains and plains, fertile land, and desert are often minutes
apart. The width of the country, from the Mediterranean Sea in the
west to the Dead Sea in the east, can be crossed by car in about 90
minutes, and the trip from Metulla, in the far North, to Eilat at the
country's southern tip takes about nine hours.

Geographical Features
Israel may be divided into four geographical regions: three parallel
strips running north to south and a large, mostly arid, zone in the southern half.

The coastal plain runs parallel to the Mediterranean Sea and is composed of a sandy
shoreline, bordered by stretches of fertile farmland extending up to 25 miles (40 km)
inland.

In the North, expanses of sandy beach are occasionally punctuated by jagged chalk and sandstone cliffs.
The coastal plain is home to more than half of Israel's 7 million people and includes major urban centers,
deep-water harbors, most of the country's industry, and a large part of its agriculture and tourist
facilities.

7 https://mfa.gov.il/mfa/aboutisrael/land/pages/the%20land-%20geography%20and%20climate.aspx
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