1.
Asia
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Asia covers an area of 44,579,000 square kilometres, about 30% of Earths total land area and 8. 7% of the Earths total surface area. The continent, which has long been home to the majority of the population, was the site of many of the first civilizations. Asia is notable for not only its large size and population. In general terms, Asia is bounded on the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the south by the Indian Ocean, the western boundary with Europe is a historical and cultural construct, as there is no clear physical and geographical separation between them. The most commonly accepted boundaries place Asia to the east of the Suez Canal, the Ural River, and the Ural Mountains, and south of the Caucasus Mountains, China and India alternated in being the largest economies in the world from 1 to 1800 A. D. The accidental discovery of America by Columbus in search for India demonstrates this deep fascination, the Silk Road became the main East-West trading route in the Asian hitherland while the Straits of Malacca stood as a major sea route. Asia has exhibited economic dynamism as well as robust population growth during the 20th century, given its size and diversity, the concept of Asia—a name dating back to classical antiquity—may actually have more to do with human geography than physical geography. Asia varies greatly across and within its regions with regard to ethnic groups, cultures, environments, economics, historical ties, the boundary between Asia and Africa is the Red Sea, the Gulf of Suez, and the Suez Canal. This makes Egypt a transcontinental country, with the Sinai peninsula in Asia, the border between Asia and Europe was historically defined by European academics. In Sweden, five years after Peters death, in 1730 Philip Johan von Strahlenberg published a new atlas proposing the Urals as the border of Asia, the Russians were enthusiastic about the concept, which allowed them to keep their European identity in geography. Tatishchev announced that he had proposed the idea to von Strahlenberg, the latter had suggested the Emba River as the lower boundary. Over the next century various proposals were made until the Ural River prevailed in the mid-19th century, the border had been moved perforce from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea into which the Ural River projects. The border between the Black Sea and the Caspian is usually placed along the crest of the Caucasus Mountains, the border between Asia and the loosely defined region of Oceania is usually placed somewhere in the Malay Archipelago. The terms Southeast Asia and Oceania, devised in the 19th century, have had several different geographic meanings since their inception. The chief factor in determining which islands of the Malay Archipelago are Asian has been the location of the possessions of the various empires there. Lewis and Wigen assert, The narrowing of Southeast Asia to its present boundaries was thus a gradual process, Asia is larger and more culturally diverse than Europe. It does not exactly correspond to the borders of its various types of constituents. From the time of Herodotus a minority of geographers have rejected the three-continent system on the grounds there is no or is no substantial physical separation between them
2.
Levant
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The Levant is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean. The term Levant entered English in the late 15th century from French and it derives from the Italian Levante, meaning rising, implying the rising of the sun in the east. As such, it is equivalent to the Arabic term Mashriq. Eventually the term was restricted to the Muslim countries of Syria-Palestine, in 1581, England set up the Levant Company to monopolize commerce with the Ottoman Empire. The name Levant States was used to refer to the French mandate over Syria and this is probably the reason why the term Levant has come to be used synonymously with Syria-Palestine. Some scholars misunderstood the term thinking that it derives from the name of Lebanon, today the term is typically used in conjunction with prehistoric or ancient historical references. It does not include Anatolia, the Caucasus Mountains, or any part of the Arabian Peninsula proper, the Sinai Peninsula is sometimes included. The Levant has been described as the crossroads of western Asia, the eastern Mediterranean, and northeast Africa, the populations of the Levant share not only the geographic position, but cuisine, some customs, and a very long history. They are often referred to as Levantines, the term Levant, which appeared in English in 1497, originally meant the East in general or Mediterranean lands east of Italy. It is borrowed from the French levant rising, referring to the rising of the sun in the east, the phrase is ultimately from the Latin word levare, meaning lift, raise. Similar etymologies are found in Greek Ἀνατολή, in Germanic Morgenland, in Italian, in Hungarian Kelet, in Spanish and Catalan Levante and Llevant, most notably, Orient and its Latin source oriens meaning east, is literally rising, deriving from Latin orior rise. The notion of the Levant has undergone a process of historical evolution in usage, meaning. While the term Levantine originally referred to the European residents of the eastern Mediterranean region, it came to refer to regional native. The English Levant Company was founded in 1581 to trade with the Ottoman Empire, at this time, the Far East was known as the Upper Levant. In early 19th-century travel writing, the term sometimes incorporated certain Mediterranean provinces of the Ottoman empire, in 19th-century archaeology, it referred to overlapping cultures in this region during and after prehistoric times, intending to reference the place instead of any one culture. The French mandate of Syria and Lebanon was called the Levant states, today, Levant is the term typically used by archaeologists and historians with reference to the history of the region. Scholars have adopted the term Levant to identify the region due to it being a wider, yet relevant, archaeologists seeking a neutral orientation that is neither biblical nor national have used terms such as Levantine archaeology and archaeology of the Southern Levant. Two academic journals were launched, Journal of Levantine Studies, published by the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute and The Levantine Review
3.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
4.
Egypt
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Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia by a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt is a Mediterranean country bordered by the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Gulf of Aqaba to the east, the Red Sea to the east and south, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. Across the Gulf of Aqaba lies Jordan, and across from the Sinai Peninsula lies Saudi Arabia, although Jordan and it is the worlds only contiguous Afrasian nation. Egypt has among the longest histories of any country, emerging as one of the worlds first nation states in the tenth millennium BC. Considered a cradle of civilisation, Ancient Egypt experienced some of the earliest developments of writing, agriculture, urbanisation, organised religion and central government. One of the earliest centres of Christianity, Egypt was Islamised in the century and remains a predominantly Muslim country. With over 92 million inhabitants, Egypt is the most populous country in North Africa and the Arab world, the third-most populous in Africa, and the fifteenth-most populous in the world. The great majority of its people live near the banks of the Nile River, an area of about 40,000 square kilometres, the large regions of the Sahara desert, which constitute most of Egypts territory, are sparsely inhabited. About half of Egypts residents live in areas, with most spread across the densely populated centres of greater Cairo, Alexandria. Modern Egypt is considered to be a regional and middle power, with significant cultural, political, and military influence in North Africa, the Middle East and the Muslim world. Egypts economy is one of the largest and most diversified in the Middle East, Egypt is a member of the United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, Arab League, African Union, and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Miṣr is the Classical Quranic Arabic and modern name of Egypt. The name is of Semitic origin, directly cognate with other Semitic words for Egypt such as the Hebrew מִצְרַיִם, the oldest attestation of this name for Egypt is the Akkadian
5.
Jordan
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Jordan, officially The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is an Arab kingdom in Western Asia, on the East Bank of the Jordan River. Jordan is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the east and south, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north, Israel, Palestine and the Dead Sea to the west, Jordan is strategically located at the crossroads of Asia, Africa and Europe. The capital, Amman, is Jordans most populous city as well as the countrys economic, what is now Jordan has been inhabited by humans since the Paleolithic period. Three stable kingdoms emerged there at the end of the Bronze Age, Ammon, Moab, later rulers include the Nabataean Kingdom, the Roman Empire, and the Ottoman Empire. After the Great Arab Revolt against the Ottomans in 1916 during World War I, the Emirate of Transjordan was established in 1921 by the then Emir Abdullah I and became a British protectorate. In 1946, Jordan became an independent state known as The Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan. Jordan captured the West Bank, which it later lost in 1967, during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Jordan is a founding member of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and is one of two Arab states to have signed a peace treaty with Israel. The country is a monarchy, but the king holds wide executive and legislative powers. Jordan is a relatively-small, semi-arid, almost-landlocked country with a population numbering at 9.5 million, Sunni Islam, practiced by around 92% of the population, is the dominant religion in Jordan. It coexists with an indigenous Christian minority, Jordan is considered to be among the safest of Arab countries in the Middle East, and has avoided long-term terrorism and instability. The kingdom is also a refuge to thousands of Iraqi Christians fleeing the Islamic State, while Jordan continues to accept refugees, the recent large influx from Syria placed substantial strain on national resources and infrastructure. Jordan is classified as a country of high human development with a middle income economy. The Jordanian economy, one of the smallest economies in the region, is attractive to foreign investors based upon a skilled workforce, the country is a major tourist destination, and also attracts medical tourism due to its well developed health sector. Nonetheless, a lack of resources, large flow of refugees. Jordan is named after the Jordan River, where Jesus is said to have been baptized, the origin of the rivers name is debated, but the most common explanation is that it derives from the word yarad, found in Hebrew, Aramaic, and other Semitic languages. Others regard the name as having an Indo-Aryan origin, combining the words yor and don, another theory is that it is from the Arabic root word wrd, as in people coming to a major source of water. The name Jordan appears in an ancient Egyptian papyrus called Papyrus Anastasi I, the lands of modern-day Jordan were historically called Transjordan, meaning beyond the Jordan River. The name was Arabized into Al-Urdunn during the Muslim conquest of the Levant, during crusader rule, it was called Oultrejordain
6.
Lebanon
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Lebanon, officially known as the Lebanese Republic, is a sovereign state in Western Asia. It is bordered by Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, Lebanons location at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian hinterland facilitated its rich history and shaped a cultural identity of religious and ethnic diversity. At just 10,452 km2, it is the smallest recognized country on the entire mainland Asian continent, the earliest evidence of civilization in Lebanon dates back more than seven thousand years, predating recorded history. Lebanon was the home of the Canaanites/Phoenicians and their kingdoms, a culture that flourished for over a thousand years. In 64 BC, the region came under the rule of the Roman Empire, in the Mount Lebanon range a monastic tradition known as the Maronite Church was established. As the Arab Muslims conquered the region, the Maronites held onto their religion, however, a new religious group, the Druze, established themselves in Mount Lebanon as well, generating a religious divide that has lasted for centuries. During the Crusades, the Maronites re-established contact with the Roman Catholic Church, the ties they established with the Latins have influenced the region into the modern era. The region eventually was ruled by the Ottoman Empire from 1516 to 1918, following the collapse of the empire after World War I, the five provinces that constitute modern Lebanon came under the French Mandate of Lebanon. The French expanded the borders of the Mount Lebanon Governorate, which was populated by Maronites and Druze. Lebanon gained independence in 1943, establishing confessionalism, a unique, foreign troops withdrew completely from Lebanon on 31 December 1946. Lebanon has been a member of the Organisation internationale de la francophonie since 1973, despite its small size, the country has developed a well-known culture and has been highly influential in the Arab world. Before the Lebanese Civil War, the experienced a period of relative calm and renowned prosperity, driven by tourism, agriculture, commerce. At the end of the war, there were efforts to revive the economy. In spite of troubles, Lebanon has the highest Human Development Index and GDP per capita in the Arab world. The name of Mount Lebanon originates from the Phoenician root lbn meaning white, occurrences of the name have been found in different Middle Bronze Age texts from the library of Ebla, and three of the twelve tablets of the Epic of Gilgamesh. The name is recorded in Ancient Egyptian as Rmnn, where R stood for Canaanite L, the name occurs nearly 70 times in the Hebrew Bible, as לְבָנוֹן. The borders of contemporary Lebanon are a product of the Treaty of Sèvres of 1920 and its territory was the core of the Bronze Age Phoenician city-states. After the 7th-century Muslim conquest of the Levant, it was part of the Rashidun, Umyayad, Abbasid Seljuk, with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, Greater Lebanon fell under French mandate in 1920, and gained independence under president Bechara El Khoury in 1943
7.
Syria
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Syrias capital and largest city is Damascus. Religious groups include Sunnis, Christians, Alawites, Druze, Mandeans, Shiites, Salafis, Sunni Arabs make up the largest religious group in Syria. Its capital Damascus and largest city Aleppo are among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, in the Islamic era, Damascus was the seat of the Umayyad Caliphate and a provincial capital of the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt. The post-independence period was tumultuous, and a number of military coups. In 1958, Syria entered a union with Egypt called the United Arab Republic. Syria was under Emergency Law from 1963 to 2011, effectively suspending most constitutional protections for citizens, Bashar al-Assad has been president since 2000 and was preceded by his father Hafez al-Assad, who was in office from 1970 to 2000. Mainstream modern academic opinion strongly favours the argument that the Greek word is related to the cognate Ἀσσυρία, Assyria, in the past, others believed that it was derived from Siryon, the name that the Sidonians gave to Mount Hermon. However, the discovery of the inscription in 2000 seems to support the theory that the term Syria derives from Assyria. The area designated by the word has changed over time, since approximately 10,000 BC, Syria was one of centers of Neolithic culture where agriculture and cattle breeding appeared for the first time in the world. The following Neolithic period is represented by houses of Mureybet culture. At the time of the pre-pottery Neolithic, people used vessels made of stone, gyps, finds of obsidian tools from Anatolia are evidences of early trade relations. Cities of Hamoukar and Emar played an important role during the late Neolithic, archaeologists have demonstrated that civilization in Syria was one of the most ancient on earth, perhaps preceded by only those of Mesopotamia. The earliest recorded indigenous civilisation in the region was the Kingdom of Ebla near present-day Idlib, gifts from Pharaohs, found during excavations, confirm Eblas contact with Egypt. One of the earliest written texts from Syria is an agreement between Vizier Ibrium of Ebla and an ambiguous kingdom called Abarsal c.2300 BC. The Northwest Semitic language of the Amorites is the earliest attested of the Canaanite languages, Mari reemerged during this period, and saw renewed prosperity until conquered by Hammurabi of Babylon. Ugarit also arose during this time, circa 1800 BC, close to modern Latakia, Ugaritic was a Semitic language loosely related to the Canaanite languages, and developed the Ugaritic alphabet. The Ugarites kingdom survived until its destruction at the hands of the marauding Indo-European Sea Peoples in the 12th century BC, Yamhad was described in the tablets of Mari as the mightiest state in the near east and as having more vassals than Hammurabi of Babylon. Yamhad imposed its authority over Alalakh, Qatna, the Hurrians states, the army of Yamhad campaigned as far away as Dēr on the border of Elam
8.
West Bank
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The West Bank shares boundaries to the west, north, and south with Israel, and to the east, across the Jordan River, with Jordan. The West Bank also contains a significant section of the western Dead Sea shore, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has a land area of 5,640 km2 plus a water area of 220 km2, consisting of the northwest quarter of the Dead Sea. As of July 2015 it has an population of 2,785,366 Palestinians, and approximately 371,000 Israeli settlers. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, illegal under international law and this annexation was recognized only by Britain, Iraq and Pakistan. The term was chosen to differentiate the west bank of the River Jordan from the east bank of this river, the neo-Latin name Cisjordan or Cis-Jordan is the usual name for the territory in the Romance languages and Hungarian. The name West Bank, however, has become the standard usage for this entity in English. The analogous Transjordan has historically used to designate the region now roughly comprising the state of Jordan. From 1517 through 1917, the now known as the West Bank was under Ottoman rule as part of the provinces of Syria. At the 1920 San Remo conference, the victorious Allied powers allocated the area to the British Mandate of Palestine, the San Remo Resolution adopted on 25 April 1920 incorporated the Balfour Declaration of 1917. It and Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations were the basic documents upon which the British Mandate for Palestine was constructed. Faced with the determination of Emir Abdullah to unify Arab lands under the Hashemite banner, the West Bank area, was conquered by Jordan during the 1948 war with the new state of Israel. In 1947, it was designated as part of a proposed Arab state by the United Nations partition plan for Palestine. 1949 Armistice Agreements defined the boundary between Israel and Jordan. In 1950, Transjordan annexed the area west of the Jordan River, naming it West Bank or Cisjordan, Jordan ruled over the West Bank from 1948 until 1967. Jordans annexation was never recognized by the international community, with the exception of the United Kingdom. King Abdullah of Jordan had been crowned King of Jerusalem by the Coptic Bishop on 15 November 1948. and granted Palestinian Arabs in the West Bank, in June 1967, the West Bank and East Jerusalem were captured by Israel as a result of the Six-Day War. With the exception of East Jerusalem and the former Israeli-Jordanian no mans land, the Israeli settlements were, on the other hand, administered subsequently as Judea and Samaria Area directly by Israel. Since the 1993 Oslo Accords, the Palestinian Authority officially controls a geographically non-contiguous territory comprising approx, 11% of the West Bank which remains subject to Israeli incursions
9.
Gaza Strip
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Gaza, together with the West Bank, comprise the Palestinian territories claimed by the Palestinians as the State of Palestine. The territories of Gaza and the West Bank are separated from each other by Israeli territory, both fall under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority, but Gaza has since June 2007 been governed by Hamas, a Palestinian Islamic organization which came to power in free elections in 2006. It has been placed under an Israeli and U. S. -led international economic, the territory is 41 kilometers long, and from 6 to 12 kilometers wide, with a total area of 365 square kilometers. With around 1.85 million Palestinians on some 362 square kilometers, an extensive Israeli buffer zone within the Strip renders much land off-limits to Gazas Palestinians. Gaza has a population growth rate of 2. 91%, the 13th highest in the world. The population is expected to increase to 2.1 million in 2020, by that time, Gaza may be rendered unliveable, if present trends continue. Due to the Israeli and Egyptian border closures and the Israeli sea and air blockade, Sunni Muslims make up the predominant part of the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip. Israel maintains direct control over Gaza and indirect control over life within Gaza, it controls Gazas air and maritime space. It reserves the right to enter Gaza at will with its military, Gaza is dependent on Israel for its water, electricity, telecommunications, and other utilities. When Hamas won the Palestinian legislative election,2006, Fatah refused to join the proposed coalition, when this collapsed under joint Israeli and United States pressure, the Palestinian Authority instituted a non-Hamas government in the West Bank while Hamas formed a government on its own in Gaza. Further economic sanctions were imposed by Israel and the European Quartet against Hamas, a brief civil war between the two groups had broken out in Gaza when, apparently under a U. S. -backed plan, Fatah contested Hamas’s administration. Hamas emerged the victor and expelled Fatah-allied officials and members of the PAs security apparatus from the Strip, since 2007, the Gaza Strip has been de facto governed by Hamas, which claims to represent the Palestinian National Authority and the Palestinian people. Israel maintains direct control over Gaza and indirect control over life within Gaza, it controls Gazas air and maritime space. It reserves the right to enter Gaza at will with its military, Gaza is dependent on Israel for its water, electricity, telecommunications, and other utilities. The Gaza Strip acquired its current northern and eastern boundaries at the cessation of fighting in the 1948 war, article V of the Agreement declared that the demarcation line was not to be an international border. At first the Gaza Strip was officially administered by the All-Palestine Government, All-Palestine in the Gaza Strip was managed under the military authority of Egypt, functioning as a puppet state, until it officially merged into the United Arab Republic and dissolved in 1959. From the time of the dissolution of the All-Palestine Government until 1967, Israel captured the Gaza Strip from Egypt in the Six-Day War in 1967. In 2005, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip under their unilateral disengagement plan, in July 2007, after winning the 2006 Palestinian legislative election, Hamas became the elected government
10.
Mount Meron
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Mount Meron is a mountain in Israel. It has special significance in Jewish religious tradition and parts of it have been declared a nature reserve. At 1,208 metres above sea level, Mount Meron is the highest peak in Israel, though many peaks in the Israeli-occupied area of the Golan Heights, in 1965, an 84000-dunam nature reserve was declared. An additional 1199 dunams were declared part of the reserve in 2005 and it is the highest reserve in Israel, at an altitude of 1208 meters above sea level, and the largest reserve in the north of the country. The village of Meron and the tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai are on Mount Meron, the mountain has a strong undergrowth and it cannot be walked up from every direction. The main path starts at the northwest side of the Meron village, there is a gate next to the road, with a color-marked path of about 10 km. There is also a path on the west side of the mountain, Mt Meron has a Mediterranean climate with hot and dry summers and damp and cool winters. It snows briefly on Mt Meron a few times during every winter, there are 22 days a year with a temperature of 32 °C or higher and 28 days below freezing. Note, the chart is an average of 5 years so the record highs and lows may not be fully accurate
11.
Dead Sea
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The Dead Sea, is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and Palestine to the west. Its surface and shores are 430.5 metres below sea level, the Dead Sea is 304 m deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world. With 34. 2% salinity, it is 9.6 times as salty as the ocean and this salinity makes for a harsh environment in which plants and animals cannot flourish, hence its name. The Dead Sea is 50 kilometres long and 15 kilometres wide at its widest point and it lies in the Jordan Rift Valley and its main tributary is the Jordan River. The Dead Sea has attracted visitors from around the Mediterranean basin for thousands of years and it was one of the worlds first health resorts, and it has been the supplier of a wide variety of products, from asphalt for Egyptian mummification to potash for fertilizers. People also use the salt and the minerals from the Dead Sea to create cosmetics, the Dead Sea water has a density of 1.24 kg/litre, which makes swimming similar to floating. The Dead Sea is receding at an alarming rate, multiple canals and pipelines were proposed to reduce its recession, which had begun causing many problems. The Red Sea–Dead Sea Water Conveyance project, carried out by Jordan, will provide water to neighboring countries, the first phase of the project is scheduled to begin in 2018 and be completed in 2021. In Hebrew, the Dead Sea is Yām ha-Melaḥ, meaning sea of salt, the Bible uses this term alongside two others, the Sea of the Arabah, and the Eastern Sea. The designation Dead Sea never appears in the Bible, in prose sometimes the term Yām ha-Māvet is used, due to the scarcity of aquatic life there. In Arabic the Dead Sea is called al-Bahr al-Mayyit, or less commonly baḥrᵘ lūṭᵃ, another historic name in Arabic was the Sea of Zoʼar, after a nearby town in biblical times. The Greeks called it Lake Asphaltites, the Dead Sea is an endorheic lake located in the Jordan Rift Valley, a geographic feature formed by the Dead Sea Transform. This left lateral-moving transform fault lies along the plate boundary between the African Plate and the Arabian Plate. It runs between the East Anatolian Fault zone in Turkey and the end of the Red Sea Rift offshore of the southern tip of Sinai. It is here that the Upper Jordan River/Sea of Galilee/Lower Jordan River water system comes to an end. The Jordan River is the major water source flowing into the Dead Sea, although there are small perennial springs under and around the Dead Sea, forming pools. The Mujib River, biblical Arnon, is one the larger sources of the Dead Sea other than the Jordan. The Wadi Mujib valley,420 m below the sea level in the southern of Jordan valley, is a biosphere reserve, other more substantial sources are Wadi Darajeh /Nahal Dragot, and Nahal Arugot
12.
Jordan River
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The Jordan River is a 251-kilometre -long river in the Middle East that flows roughly north to south through the Sea of Galilee and on to the Dead Sea. Israel and the West Bank border the river to the west, while the Golan Heights, both Jordan and the West Bank take their names from the river. The Jordan River has a course and a lower one. In this sense, the Jordan Valley may be separated into upper, central, over its upper course, the river drops rapidly in a 75-kilometre run to the once large and swampy Lake Hula, which is slightly above sea level. Exiting the now much diminished lake, it goes through an even steeper drop over the 25 kilometres down to the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan deposits much of the silt it is carrying within the lake, which it leaves again near its southern tip. At that point the river is situated about 210 metres below sea level, two major tributaries enter from the east during this last section, the Yarmouk River and Zarqa River. Its section north of the Sea of Galilee is within the boundaries of Israel, south of the lake, it forms the border between the Kingdom of Jordan, and Israel. The streams coming together to create the River Jordan in its basin are, west to east, Iyyon. Hasbani, a stream flows from Mount Lebanon. Dan, a stream whose source is also at the base of Mount Hermon, Banias, a stream arising from a spring at Banias at the foot of Mount Hermon. The full text of W. F. Lynchs 1849 book Narrative of the United States Expedition to the River Jordan, in 1964, Israel began operating a pumping station that diverts water from the Sea of Galilee to the National Water Carrier. Also in 1964, Jordan constructed a channel that diverted water from the Yarmouk River, another tributary of the Jordan River to the East Ghor Canal. Syria has also built reservoirs that catch the Yarmouks waters, environmentalists blame Israel, Jordan and Syria for extensive damage to the Jordan River ecosystem. In modern times, the waters are 70% to 90% used for human purposes, because of this and the high evaporation rate of the Dead Sea, as well as industrial extraction of salts through evaporation ponds, the sea is shrinking. All the shallow waters of the end of the sea have been drained in modern times and are now salt flats. A small section of the northernmost portion of the Lower Jordan, 3-kilometre below the Sea of Galilee, has been kept pristine for baptism and local tourism. Most polluted is the 100-kilometre downstream stretch—a meandering stream from above the confluence with the Yarmouk to the Dead Sea, environmentalists say the practice of letting sewage and brackish water flow into the river has almost destroyed its ecosystem. Rescuing the Jordan could take decades, according to environmentalists, the same environmentalist organization had said in a report that the Jordan River could dry up by 2011 unless the decay is stopped
13.
Sea of Galilee
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The Sea of Galilee, also Kinneret, Lake of Gennesaret, or Lake Tiberias, is a large freshwater lake in Israel. It is approximately 53 km in circumference, about 21 km long and its area is 166.7 km2 at its fullest, and its maximum depth is approximately 43 m. At levels between 215 metres and 209 metres below sea level, it is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth, the lake is fed partly by underground springs although its main source is the Jordan River which flows through it from north to south. The Sea of Galilee is situated in northeast Israel, between the Golan Heights and the Galilee region, in the Jordan Rift Valley, the caused by the separation of the African and Arabian Plates. Consequently, the area is subject to earthquakes, and in the past and this is evident by the abundant basalt and other igneous rocks that define the geology of the Galilee. The lake has been called by different names throughout its history, with changing fate of the towns, the lakes name also changed. This name was found in the scripts of Ugarit, in the Aqhat Epic. Kinneret was listed among the cities in Joshua 19,35. A persistent, though likely erroneous popular etymology of the name presumes that the name Kinneret may originate from the Hebrew word kinnor, the scholarly consensus though is that the origin of the name lies with the important Bronze and Iron Age city of Kinneret, excavated at Tell el-Oreimeh. However, there is no evidence that the city of Kinneret itself was not named after the body of water rather than vice versa, or for the origin of the towns name. Sea of Ginosar The Babylonian Talmud, as well as Flavius Josephus mention the sea by the name Sea of Ginosar after the fertile plain of Ginosar that lies on its western side. Ginosar is yet another name derived from Kinneret, Sea of Tiberias is also the name mentioned in Roman texts and in the Jerusalem Talmud, and was adopted into Arabic as Buhairet Tabariyya, Lake Tiberias. This is the name employed by the medieval Persian and Arab scholars Al-Baladhuri, Al-Tabari, in 1989 remains of a hunter-gatherer site were found under the water at the southern end. Remains of mud huts were found which are the oldest known buildings in the world, the Sea of Galilee lies on the ancient Via Maris, which linked Egypt with the northern empires. The Greeks, Hasmoneans, and Romans founded flourishing towns and settlements on the lake including Hippos. The first-century historian Flavius Josephus was so impressed by the area that he wrote, Josephus also reported a thriving fishing industry at this time, with 230 boats regularly working in the lake. Archaeologists discovered one such boat, nicknamed the Jesus Boat, in 1986, much of the ministry of Jesus occurred on the shores of Lake Galilee. In those days, there was a ribbon development of settlements and villages around the lake and plenty of trade
14.
Mediterranean climate
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A Mediterranean climate /ˌmɛdɪtəˈreɪniən/ or dry summer climate, is the climate typical of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin. The Mediterranean climate is characterised by dry summers and mild, moist winters, Mediterranean climate zones are associated with the four large subtropical high pressure cells of the oceans, the Azores High, South Atlantic High, North Pacific High, and South Pacific High. These climatological high pressure cells migrate by latitude according to the angle of the Sun, shifting north-eastward in the summer. These semi-permanent high pressure systems play a role in the formation of the worlds subtropical and tropical deserts as well as the Mediterranean Basins climate. The Azores High is associated with the Mediterranean climate found in the Mediterranean Basin, the Sahara Desert, the South Atlantic High is similarly associated with the Namib Desert and Kalahari Desert, and the Mediterranean climate of the western part of South Africa. Under the Köppen climate classification, hot climates and cool dry-summer climates are often referred to as mediterranean. Under the Köppen climate system, the first letter indicates the climate group, temperate climates or C zones have an average temperature above 0 °C, but below 18 °C, in their coolest months. The second letter indicates the precipitation pattern, Köppen has defined a dry summer month as a month with less than 30 mm of precipitation and with less than one-third that of the wettest winter month. Some, however, use a 40 mm level, the third letter indicates the degree of summer heat, a represents an average temperature in the warmest month above 22 °C, while b indicates the average temperature in the warmest month below 22 °C. Under the Köppen classification, dry-summer climates usually occur on the sides of continents. Under Trewarthas system, at least eight months must have average temperatures of 10 °C or higher, during summer, regions of mediterranean climate are dominated by subtropical high pressure cells, with dry sinking air capping a surface marine layer of varying humidity and making rainfall unlikely. In many Mediterranean climates there is a strong character to daily temperatures in the warm months. The majority of the regions with mediterranean climates have relatively mild winters, however winter and summer temperatures can vary greatly between different regions with a mediterranean climate. Or to consider summer, Athens experiences rather high temperatures in that season, in contrast, San Francisco has cool summers with daily highs around. In North America, areas with Csc climate can be found in the Olympic, Cascade, Klamath and these locations are found at high altitude nearby lower altitude regions characterized by a warm-summer mediterranean climate or hot-summer mediterranean climate. A rare instance of this occurs in the tropics, on Haleakalā Summit in Hawaii. In South America, Csc regions can be found along the Andes in Chile, the town of Balmaceda is one of the few towns confirmed to have this climate. Small areas with a Csc climate can also be found at elevations in Corsica
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Desert
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A desert is a barren area of land where little precipitation occurs and consequently living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to the processes of denudation, about one third of the land surface of the world is arid or semi-arid. This includes much of the regions where little precipitation occurs. Deserts can be classified by the amount of precipitation falls, by the temperature that prevails. Deserts are formed by weathering processes as large variations in temperature between day and night put strains on the rocks which consequently break in pieces, although rain seldom occurs in deserts, there are occasional downpours that can result in flash floods. Rain falling on hot rocks can cause them to shatter and the resulting fragments and this picks up particles of sand and dust and wafts them aloft in sand or dust storms. Wind-blown sand grains striking any solid object in their path can abrade the surface, rocks are smoothed down, and the wind sorts sand into uniform deposits. The grains end up as level sheets of sand or are piled high in billowing sand dunes, other deserts are flat, stony plains where all the fine material has been blown away and the surface consists of a mosaic of smooth stones. These areas are known as desert pavements and little further erosion takes place, other desert features include rock outcrops, exposed bedrock and clays once deposited by flowing water. Temporary lakes may form and salt pans may be left when waters evaporate, there may be underground sources of water in the form of springs and seepages from aquifers. Where these are found, oases can occur, plants and animals living in the desert need special adaptations to survive in the harsh environment. Plants tend to be tough and wiry with small or no leaves, water-resistant cuticles, some annual plants germinate, bloom and die in the course of a few weeks after rainfall while other long-lived plants survive for years and have deep root systems able to tap underground moisture. Animals need to cool and find enough food and water to survive. Many are nocturnal and stay in the shade or underground during the heat of the day and they tend to be efficient at conserving water, extracting most of their needs from their food and concentrating their urine. Some animals remain in a state of dormancy for long periods and they then reproduce rapidly while conditions are favorable before returning to dormancy. People have struggled to live in deserts and the surrounding lands for millennia. Nomads have moved their flocks and herds to wherever grazing is available, the cultivation of semi-arid regions encourages erosion of soil and is one of the causes of increased desertification. Many trade routes have been forged across deserts, especially across the Sahara Desert, large numbers of slaves were also taken northwards across the Sahara
16.
Israel
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Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in the Middle East, on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea. The country contains geographically diverse features within its small area. Israels economy and technology center is Tel Aviv, while its seat of government and proclaimed capital is Jerusalem, in 1947, the United Nations adopted a Partition Plan for Mandatory Palestine recommending the creation of independent Arab and Jewish states and an internationalized Jerusalem. The plan was accepted by the Jewish Agency for Palestine, next year, the Jewish Agency declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel. Israel has since fought several wars with neighboring Arab states, in the course of which it has occupied territories including the West Bank, Golan Heights and it extended its laws to the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, but not the West Bank. Israels occupation of the Palestinian territories is the worlds longest military occupation in modern times, efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict have not resulted in peace. However, peace treaties between Israel and both Egypt and Jordan have successfully been signed, the population of Israel, as defined by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, was estimated in 2017 to be 8,671,100 people. It is the worlds only Jewish-majority state, with 74. 8% being designated as Jewish, the countrys second largest group of citizens are Arabs, at 20. 8%. The great majority of Israeli Arabs are Sunni Muslims, including significant numbers of semi-settled Negev Bedouins, other minorities include Arameans, Armenians, Assyrians, Black Hebrew Israelites, Circassians, Maronites and Samaritans. Israel also hosts a significant population of foreign workers and asylum seekers from Africa and Asia, including illegal migrants from Sudan, Eritrea. In its Basic Laws, Israel defines itself as a Jewish, Israel is a representative democracy with a parliamentary system, proportional representation and universal suffrage. The prime minister is head of government and the Knesset is the legislature, Israel is a developed country and an OECD member, with the 35th-largest economy in the world by nominal gross domestic product as of 2016. The country benefits from a skilled workforce and is among the most educated countries in the world with one of the highest percentage of its citizens holding a tertiary education degree. The country has the highest standard of living in the Middle East and the third highest in Asia, in the early weeks of independence, the government chose the term Israeli to denote a citizen of Israel, with the formal announcement made by Minister of Foreign Affairs Moshe Sharett. The names Land of Israel and Children of Israel have historically used to refer to the biblical Kingdom of Israel. The name Israel in these phrases refers to the patriarch Jacob who, jacobs twelve sons became the ancestors of the Israelites, also known as the Twelve Tribes of Israel or Children of Israel. The earliest known artifact to mention the word Israel as a collective is the Merneptah Stele of ancient Egypt. The area is known as the Holy Land, being holy for all Abrahamic religions including Judaism, Christianity, Islam
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Mediterranean Sea
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The sea is sometimes considered a part of the Atlantic Ocean, although it is usually identified as a separate body of water. The name Mediterranean is derived from the Latin mediterraneus, meaning inland or in the middle of land and it covers an approximate area of 2.5 million km2, but its connection to the Atlantic is only 14 km wide. The Strait of Gibraltar is a strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Gibraltar. In oceanography, it is called the Eurafrican Mediterranean Sea or the European Mediterranean Sea to distinguish it from mediterranean seas elsewhere. The Mediterranean Sea has a depth of 1,500 m. The sea is bordered on the north by Europe, the east by Asia and it is located between latitudes 30° and 46° N and longitudes 6° W and 36° E. Its west-east length, from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Gulf of Iskenderun, the seas average north-south length, from Croatia’s southern shore to Libya, is approximately 800 km. The Mediterranean Sea, including the Sea of Marmara, has an area of approximately 2,510,000 square km. The sea was an important route for merchants and travelers of ancient times that allowed for trade, the history of the Mediterranean region is crucial to understanding the origins and development of many modern societies. In addition, the Gaza Strip and the British Overseas Territories of Gibraltar and Akrotiri, the term Mediterranean derives from the Latin word mediterraneus, meaning amid the earth or between land, as it is between the continents of Africa, Asia and Europe. The Ancient Greek name Mesogeios, is similarly from μέσο, between + γη, land, earth) and it can be compared with the Ancient Greek name Mesopotamia, meaning between rivers. The Mediterranean Sea has historically had several names, for example, the Carthaginians called it the Syrian Sea and latter Romans commonly called it Mare Nostrum, and occasionally Mare Internum. Another name was the Sea of the Philistines, from the people inhabiting a large portion of its shores near the Israelites, the sea is also called the Great Sea in the General Prologue by Geoffrey Chaucer. In Ottoman Turkish, it has also been called Bahr-i Sefid, in Modern Hebrew, it has been called HaYam HaTikhon, the Middle Sea, reflecting the Seas name in ancient Greek, Latin, and modern languages in both Europe and the Middle East. Similarly, in Modern Arabic, it is known as al-Baḥr al-Mutawassiṭ, in Turkish, it is known as Akdeniz, the White Sea since among Turks the white colour represents the west. Several ancient civilisations were located around the Mediterranean shores, and were influenced by their proximity to the sea. It provided routes for trade, colonisation, and war, as well as food for numerous communities throughout the ages, due to the shared climate, geology, and access to the sea, cultures centered on the Mediterranean tended to have some extent of intertwined culture and history. Two of the most notable Mediterranean civilisations in classical antiquity were the Greek city states, later, when Augustus founded the Roman Empire, the Romans referred to the Mediterranean as Mare Nostrum
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Red Sea
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The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait, to the north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez. The Red Sea is a Global 200 ecoregion, the sea is underlain by the Red Sea Rift which is part of the Great Rift Valley. The Red Sea has an area of roughly 438,000 km2, is about 2250 km long and. It has a depth of 2211 m in the central median trench. However, there are also extensive shallow shelves, noted for their marine life, the sea is the habitat of over 1,000 invertebrate species, and 200 soft and hard corals. It is the worlds northernmost tropical sea, the International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Red Sea as follows, On the North. The Southern limits of the Gulfs of Suez and Aqaba, a line joining Husn Murad and Ras Siyyan. Red Sea is a translation of the Greek Erythra Thalassa, Latin Mare Rubrum, Arabic, البحر الأحمر. Al-Baḥr Al-Aḥmar, Somali Badda Cas and Tigrinya Qeyyiḥ bāḥrī, the name of the sea may signify the seasonal blooms of the red-coloured Trichodesmium erythraeum near the waters surface. A theory favored by modern scholars is that the name red is referring to the direction south. The basis of this theory is that some Asiatic languages used color words to refer to the cardinal directions, herodotus on one occasion uses Red Sea and Southern Sea interchangeably. Historically, it was known to western geographers as Mare Mecca. Some ancient geographers called the Red Sea the Arabian Gulf or Gulf of Arabia. C, in that version, the Yam Suph is translated as Erythra Thalassa. The Red Sea is one of four seas named in English after common color terms — the others being the Black Sea, the White Sea and the Yellow Sea. The direct rendition of the Greek Erythra thalassa in Latin as Mare Erythraeum refers to the part of the Indian Ocean. The earliest known exploration of the Red Sea was conducted by ancient Egyptians, one such expedition took place around 2500 BC, and another around 1500 BC. Both involved long voyages down the Red Sea, historically, scholars argued whether these trips were possible
19.
Israeli-occupied territories
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The Israeli-occupied territories are the territories occupied by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967. Originally, those included the Syrian Golan Heights, the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula and Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip. Withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict, termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for the right of every state in the area to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries. From 1967 to 1982, the four areas were governed under the Israeli Military Governorate, the IMG was dissolved in 1982, after the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty. Between 1998 and 2012, the term Palestinian territories, Occupied was used to refer to territories controlled by the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, the International Court of Justice, the UN General Assembly and the United Nations Security Council regards Israel as the Occupying Power. UN Special Rapporteur Richard Falk called Israels occupation an affront to international law, the Israeli High Court of Justice has ruled that Israel holds the West Bank under belligerent occupation. Israeli governments have preferred the term disputed territories in the case of the West Bank, officially Israel maintains that the West Bank is disputed territory. Israel asserts that since the disengagement of Israel from Gaza in 2005, the significance of the designation of these territories as occupied territory is that certain legal obligations fall on the occupying power under international law. Under international law there are laws of war governing military occupation, including the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907. In 2015, over 800,000 Israelis resided over the 1949 Armistice Lines, Israel captured the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt in the 1967 Six-Day War. It established settlements along the Gulf of Aqaba and in the northeast portion and it had plans to expand the settlement of Yamit into a city with a population of 200,000, though the actual population of Yamit did not exceed 3,000. The Sinai Peninsula was returned to Egypt in stages beginning in 1979 as part of the Israel–Egypt Peace Treaty, as required by the treaty, Israel evacuated Israeli military installations and civilian settlements prior to the establishment of normal and friendly relations between it and Egypt. Israel dismantled eighteen settlements, two air bases, a naval base, and other installations by 1982, including the only oil resources under Israeli control. The evacuation of the population, which took place in 1982, was done forcefully in some instances. The settlements were demolished, as it was feared that settlers might try to return to their homes after the evacuation, since 1982, the Sinai Peninsula has not been regarded as occupied territory. Israels stated purpose for the Security Belt was to create a space separating its northern border towns from terrorists residing in Lebanon, during the stay in the security belt, the IDF held many positions and supported the SLA. The SLA took over daily life in the security zone, initially as the force of the Free Lebanon State. Notably, the South Lebanon Army controlled the prison in Khiam, in addition, United Nations forces and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon were deployed to the security belt
20.
Golan Heights
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The Golan Heights, or simply the Golan or the Syrian Golan, is a region in the Levant. As a geopolitical region, the Golan Heights is the area captured from Syria and occupied by Israel during the Six-Day War and this region includes the western two-thirds of the geological Golan Heights, as well as the Israeli-occupied part of Mount Hermon. The earliest evidence of habitation dates to the Upper Paleolithic period. According to the Bible, an Amorite Kingdom in Bashan was conquered by Israelites during the reign of King Og, throughout the Old Testament period, the Golan was the focus of a power struggle between the Kings of Israel and the Aramaeans who were based near modern-day Damascus. The Itureans, an Arab or Aramaic people, settled there in the 2nd century BCE, organized Jewish settlement in the region came to an end in 636 CE when it was conquered by Arabs under Umar ibn al-Khattāb. In the 16th century, the Golan was conquered by the Ottoman Empire and was part of the Vilayet of Damascus until it was transferred to French control in 1918, when the mandate terminated in 1946, it became part of the newly independent Syrian Arab Republic. Internationally recognized as Syrian territory, the Golan Heights has been occupied and administered by Israel since 1967 and it was captured during the 1967 Six-Day War, establishing the Purple Line. On 19 June 1967, the Israeli cabinet voted to return the Golan to Syria in exchange for a peace agreement, although this was rejected after the Khartoum Resolution of 1 September 1967. In the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, in which Syria tried but failed to recapture the Golan and this part was incorporated into a demilitarised zone that runs along the ceasefire line and extends eastward. This strip is under the control of UNDOF. Israel states it has a right to retain the Golan, citing the text of UN Resolution 242, however, the international community reject Israeli claims to title to the territory and regards it as sovereign Syrian territory. Historically, Israeli Prime Ministers Yitzhak Rabin, Ehud Barak, later, in 2010, Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman told Syria to abandon its dreams of recovering the Golan Heights. Approximately 10% of Syrian Golan Druze have accepted Israeli citizenship, according to the CIA World Factbook, as of 2010, there are 41 Israeli settlements and civilian land use sites in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Arabic names are Jawlān and Djolan, in the Bible, Golan is mentioned as a city of refuge located in Bashan, Deuteronomy 4,43, Joshua 20,8,1 Chronicles 6,71. Nineteenth-century authors interpreted the word Golan as meaning something surrounded, hence a district, the Greek name for the region is Gaulanitis. In the Mishna the name is Gablān similar to Aramaic language names for the region, Gawlāna, Guwlana, Arab cartographers of the Byzantine period referred to the area as jabal, though the region is a plateau. The Muslims took over in 7th century CE, the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia refers to the region as Gaulonitis. The name Golan Heights was not used before the 19th century, the Golan Heights borders Israel, Lebanon, and Jordan
21.
Negev
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The Negev is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The regions largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba, in the north, at its southern end is the Gulf of Aqaba and the resort city of Eilat. It contains several development towns, including Dimona, Arad and Mitzpe Ramon, as well as a number of small Bedouin cities, including Rahat and Tel as-Sabi and Lakyah. There are also several kibbutzim, including Revivim and Sde Boker, the origin of the word negev is from the Hebrew root denoting dry. In the Bible, the word Negev is also used for the direction south, during the British Mandate it was called Beersheba sub-district. The Negev covers more than half of Israel, over some 13,000 km² or at least 55% of the land area. It forms a triangle shape whose western side is contiguous with the desert of the Sinai Peninsula. The Negev has a number of interesting cultural and geological features, among the latter are three enormous, craterlike makhteshim, which are unique to the region, Makhtesh Ramon, Makhtesh Gadol, and Makhtesh Katan. The Negev is a rocky desert and it is a melange of brown, rocky, dusty mountains interrupted by wadis and deep craters. It can be split into five different ecological regions, northern, western and central Negev, the high plateau, the northern Negev, or Mediterranean zone, receives 300 mm of rain annually and has fairly fertile soils. The western Negev receives 250 mm of rain per year, with light, sand dunes can reach heights of up to 30 metres here. The high plateau area of Ramat HaNegev stands between 370 metres and 520 metres above sea level with temperatures in summer and winter. The area gets 100 mm of rain per year, with inferior, the Arabah Valley along the Jordanian border stretches 180 km from Eilat in the south to the tip of the Dead Sea in the north. The Arabah Valley is very arid with barely 50 mm of rain annually and it has inferior soils in which little can grow without irrigation and special soil additives. Vegetation in the Negev is sparse, but certain trees and plants there, among them Acacia, Pistacia, Retama, Urginea maritima. A small population of Arabian leopards, an animal in the Arabian peninsula. The Negev Tortoise is a endangered species that currently lives only in the sands of the western. The Negev shrew is a species of mammal of the family Soricidae found only in Israel, hyphaene thebaica or doum palm can be found in the Southern Negev
22.
Judaean Desert
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The Judaean Desert is a desert in Israel and the West Bank that lies east of Jerusalem and descends to the Dead Sea. It stretches from the northeastern Negev to the east of Beit El and it ends in a steep escarpment dropping to the Dead Sea and the Jordan Valley. The Judaean Desert is crossed by numerous wadis from northeast to southeast and has many ravines, most of them deep, the Judaean Desert is an area with a special morphological structure along the east of the Judaean Mountains. It is sometimes known as יְשִׁימוֹן Yeshimon, meaning desert or wildland, or yet Wilderness of Judah or Wilderness of Judaea, the Judaean Desert lies east of Jerusalem and descends to the Dead Sea. Major urban areas in the region include Jerusalem, Bethlehem, the Gush Etzion, Jericho, the climate ranges from Mediterranean in the west and desert climate in the east, with a strip of steppe climate in the middle. The rain-fed aquifer contains an average volume of some 100 million cubic meters of water. Geography of Israel Qumran Caves Tourism in Israel Tourism in the Palestinian territories Masada Mar Saba Ein Gedi Hiking in the Judaean Desert travel guide from Wikivoyage
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Judaean Mountains
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The Judaean Mountains, or Judaean Hills, is a mountain range in Israel and the West Bank where Jerusalem and several other biblical cities are located. The mountains reach a height of 1,026 metres, the Judean Mountains can be separated to a number of sub-regions, including the Mount Hebron ridge, the Jerusalem ridge and the Judean slopes. These mountains formed the heartland of the Kingdom of Judah, where the earliest Jewish settlements emerged, the range runs in a north south direction from Galilee to the Negev with an average height of 900 metres. The Judaean mountains encompass Jerusalem, Hebron, Bethlehem and Ramallah, the range forms a natural division between the Shephelah coastal plains to the west and the Jordan Rift Valley to the east. The northern section, in the Ramallah area, is known as Samarian Hills. The Judaean Mountains were heavily forested in antiquity, the range is mostly composed of terra rossa soils over hard limestones. The Judaean Mountains are the expression of a series of monoclinic folds which trend north-northwest through Israel. The folding is the expression of the Syrian Arc belt of anticlinal folding that began in the Late Cretaceous Period in northeast Africa. The Syrian Arc extends east-northeast across the Sinai, turns north-northeast through Israel, the Israeli segment parallels the Dead Sea Transform which lies just to the east. In prehistoric times, animals no longer found in the Levant region were found here, including elephants, rhinoceri, giraffes, in ancient times the Judean mountains were the allotment of the Tribe of Judah and the heartland of the former Kingdom of Judah. An Israel Railways line runs from Beit Shemesh along the Brook of Sorek, media related to Judaean Mountains at Wikimedia Commons Pictures Judaean Mountains & Jerusalem Symbolism and Landscape, The Etzion Bloc in the Judaean Mountains, Yossi Katz and John C
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Israeli coastal plain
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Israels Coastal Plain is the coastal plain along Israels Mediterranean Sea coast, extending 187 kilometres north to south. It is a region defined morphologically by the sea, in terms of topography and soil. It is narrow in the north and broadens considerably towards the south, for its entire length, the plain has sandy beaches and a Mediterranean climate. The area was fertile in Biblical times, some of it being continually farmed ever since, although much turned over time into swampland. Today, the area is the center of the countrys citrus farms, the plain has soils made of two sorts of thick river deposits, one dark and heavy - ideal for growing field crops, and the other thin and sandy - ideal for growing citrus fruits. About 57% of Israels population lives in the plain, much of them in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. About 4,320,000 people live on the Israeli Coastal Plain,4,200,000 million of them are Jews, and 120,000 are Israeli Arabs. This accounts for approximately one-third of the world Jewish population, the Israeli Coastal Plain has been populated for thousands of years, with the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B village of Atlit-Yam dating back some 9000 years. The PPNB village was swallowed by the sea due to a rise in sea level caused by the glaciers at the end of the last Ice Age. Settlements are thought to have spread across the plain, from Gaza up to the Galilee. It separates the Western Galilee and the Jezreel Valley from the Mediterranean and its southern segment borders the Jezreel Valley and is - rather unfittingly - known as the Plain of Zebulun. It is a region containing the city of Nahariya and many moshavim and kibbutzim. There are many islands and islets off the coast in this region. The Hof HaCarmel region is the Coastal Plain section stretching along the Mount Carmel range, from Haifa, the soil of the Hof HaCarmel plain is rich and apart from the main city of Haifa in the north, most settlement here is made up of farming communities. The Hof HaCarmel Regional Council is a unit which largely. The Sharon plain is the next stage down the Coastal Plain and this area is Israels most densely populated, containing a number of large towns and cities including Netanya and Herzliya as well as smaller communities inland. The Southern Coastal Plain extends around the Gaza Strip and this page deals only with the Israeli Coastal Plain, therefore the Gaza Strip, which politically belongs to the Palestinian Authority, is not included here
25.
Mount Carmel
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Mount Carmel is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. The range is a UNESCO biosphere reserve and a number of towns are located there, most notably the city of Haifa, Israels third largest city, located on the northern slope. The phrase Mount Carmel has been used in three ways, To refer to the 39 km-long mountain range, stretching as far in the southeast as Jenin. To refer to the northwestern 19 km of the mountain range, to refer to the headland at the northwestern end of the range. The Carmel range is approximately 6.5 to 8 kilometres wide, sloping gradually towards the southwest, the Jezreel Valley lies to the immediate northeast. The mountain formation is an admixture of limestone and flint, containing many caves, the sloped side of the mountain is covered with luxuriant vegetation, including oak, pine, olive, and laurel trees. There is also a small kibbutz called Beit Oren, which is located on one of the highest points in the range to the southeast of Haifa. As part of a 1929–1934 campaign, between 1930 and 1932, Dorothy Garrod excavated four caves, and a number of shelters, in the Carmel mountain range at el-Wad, el-Tabun. Garrod discovered Neanderthal and early human remains, including the skeleton of a Neanderthal female, named Tabun I. The excavation at el-Tabun produced the longest stratigraphic record in the region, the four caves and rock-shelters together yield results from the Lower Paleolithic to the present day, representing roughly a million years of human evolution. Taken together, these emphasize the paramount significance of the Mount Carmel caves for the study of cultural and biological evolution within the framework of palaeo-ecological changes. In 2012, UNESCOs World Heritage Committee added sites of human evolution at Mount Carmel to the List of World Heritage Sites, the World Heritage Site includes four caves on the southern side of the Nahal Me’arot/Wadi El-Mughara Valley. The site fulfils criteria in two categories, natural and cultural. According to the Books of Kings, Elisha travelled to Carmel straight after cursing a group of men because they had mocked him. After this, bears out of the forest and mauled 42 of them. During World War I, Mount Carmel played a significant strategic role, the Battle of Megiddo took place at the head of a pass through the Carmel Ridge, which overlooks the Valley of Jezreel from the south. General Allenby led the British in the battle, which was the point in the war against the Ottoman Empire. Archaeologists have discovered ancient wine and oil presses at various locations on Mt. Carmel, according to the Books of Kings, there was an altar to God on the mountain, which had fallen into ruin by the time of Ahab, but Elijah built a new one
26.
Jezreel Valley
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For the ancient city, see Jezreel For the kibbutz, see Yizreel. The Jezreel Valley, is a fertile plain and inland valley south of the Lower Galilee region in Israel. The Samarian highlands and Mount Gilboa border the valley from the south and to the north lie the Israeli cities Afula, to the west is the Mount Carmel range, and to the east is the Jordan Valley. The Jezreel Valley takes its name from the ancient city of Jezreel which was located on a low hill overlooking the edge of the valley. The word Jezreel comes from the Hebrew, and means God sows or El sows, the area has been known as the Plain of Esdraelon. The valley perhaps once acted as the channel by which the Dead Sea, located southeast of the valley, connected to the Mediterranean Sea. About two million years ago, as the land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan Rift Valley rose, this connection was lost, and periodic floods from the Mediterranean Sea ceased. This resulted in the Dead Sea no longer having a connection to the ocean, biblical cities in the Jezreel Valley include Jezreel, Megiddo, Beit Shean Shimron and Afula. Archaeological excavations have indicated near continuous settlement from the Ghassulian culture of the Chalcolithic Age to the Ayyubid periods of the 11–13th centuries. Due to the terrain, Egyptian chariots were only able to travel from Egypt as far as the Jezreel valley. In Christian eschatology, the part of the valley on which the Battle of Megiddo was fought is believed to be the site of the penultimate battle between good and evil, known as Armageddon. According to 2Kings 9, 1–10, after Jehu kills King Jehoram, he confronts Jezebel in Jezreel and they comply, tossing her out the window and leaving her in the street to be eaten by dogs. Only Jezebels skull, feet, and hands remained, in the early 1900, the Ottomans constructed the Jezreel Valley railway which ran along the entire length of the valley. In the 1870s, the Sursock family of Beirut purchased the land from the Ottoman government for approximately £20,000. Between 1912 and 1925 the Sursock family sold their 80,000 acres of land in the Vale of Jezreel to the American Zion Commonwealth for about nearly three-quarters of a million pounds. The land was purchased by the Jewish organization as part of an effort to resettle Jews who inhabited the land, as well as others who came from distant lands and the Jewish National Fund. After the land was sold to the American Zion Commonwealth, some of the Arab farmers who lived in villages and had been working for the absentee landowners were evicted. This was a feeling among the Jewish residents, part of a socialist ideology of the Yishuv
27.
Galilee
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Al-Jalīl) is a region in northern Israel. The term Galilee traditionally refers to the part and divided into Upper Galilee. By this definition it overlaps with much of the administrative Northern District of the country, the regions Israelite name is from the Hebrew root galil, an ultimately unique word for district, and usually circle. The Hebrew form used in Isaiah 8,23 is in the state, glil hagoyim, meaning Galilee of the Nations. The region in turn gave rise to the English name for the Sea of Galilee referred to as such in many languages including ancient Arabic and these are the three names used in originally internal Jewish-authored literature rather than the Sea of Galilee. However, Jews did use the Galilee to refer to the whole region, most of Galilee consists of rocky terrain, at heights of between 500 and 700 m. Several high mountains are in the region, including Mount Tabor and Mount Meron, as a result of this climate, flora and wildlife thrive in the region, while many birds annually migrate from colder climates to Africa and back through the Hula–Jordan corridor. According to the Bible, Galilee was named by the Israelites and was the region of Naphthali and Dan. However, Dan was dispersed among the people rather than isolated to the lands of Dan, as the Tribe of Dan was the hereditary local law enforcement. Normally, Galilee is just referred to as Naphthali, hiram, to reciprocate previous gifts given to David, accepted the upland plain among the mountains of Naphtali and renamed it the land of Cabul for a time. After Judea became a Roman province in 6, C. E. Galilee briefly became a part of it, the Galilee region was presumably the home of Jesus during at least 30 years of his life. Much of the first three Gospels of the New Testament give an account of Jesus public ministry in this province, particularly in the towns of Nazareth, Galilee is also cited as the place where Jesus performed many public miracles, including curing a blind man. After the death of Jesus, some accounts suggest his disciples returned to Galilee, many are cited for their large number of students and followers throughout the Jewish people among the common people. According to the Talmud, one of the most important founders of the modern Jewish faith, simeon bar Yochai, one of the most famed of all the Tannaim, hid from the Romans in the Galilee, and dug tunnels there to hide. Many miracles are ascribed to him during his Galilean period after escaping Judea proper, in medieval Hebrew legend, he may have written the Zohar while there. Eastern Galilee retained a Jewish majority until the seventh century, after the Arab caliphate took control of the region in 638, it became part of Jund al-Urdunn. Its major towns were Tiberias, Baysan, Acre, Saffuriya, the Shia Fatimids conquered the region in the 10th century, a breakaway sect, venerating the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim, formed the Druze religion, centered in Mount Lebanon and partially Galilee. During the Crusades, Galilee was organized into the Principality of Galilee, the Jewish population of Galilee increased significantly following their expulsion from Spain and welcome from the Ottoman Empire
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Mount Hermon
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Mount Hermon is a mountain cluster constituting the southern end of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range. Its summit straddles the border between Syria and Lebanon and, at 2,814 m above sea level, is the highest point in Syria. On the top, in the United Nations buffer zone between Syrian- and Israeli-occupied territories, is the highest permanently manned UN position in the world, the southern slopes of Mount Hermon extend to the Israeli-occupied portion of the Golan Heights, where the Mount Hermon ski resort is located. A peak in this rising to 2,236 m is the highest elevation in Israeli-controlled territory. Mount Hermon is actually a cluster of mountains with three summits, each about the same height. The Hermon range covers an area of about 700 km2 of which about 70 km2 are under Israeli control, most of the portion of Mount Hermon within the Israeli-controlled area constitutes the Hermon nature reserve. The entire relatively narrow range, with the Lebanon-Syria boundary along its spine, the mountain forms one of the greatest geographic resources of the area. Because of its height it captures a great deal of precipitation in a dry area of the world. The Jurassic limestone is broken by faults and solution channels to form a karst topography, Mount Hermon has seasonal winter and spring snow falls, which cover all three of its peaks for most of the year. Melt water from the mountains western and southern bases seeps into the rock channels and pores, feeding springs at the base of the mountain. These merge to become the Jordan River, additionally, the runoff facilitates fertile plant life below the snow line, where vineyards and pine, oak, and poplar trees are abundant. The springs, and the mountain itself, are contested by the nations of the area for the use of the water. Mount Hermon is also called the mountain, the gray-haired mountain. It is also called the eyes of the nation in Israel because its elevation makes it Israels primary strategic early warning system, in the Book of Enoch, Mount Hermon is the place where the Watcher class of fallen angels descended to Earth. They swear upon the mountain that they would take wives among the daughters of men, the mountain or summit is referred to as Saphon in Ugaritic texts where the palace of Baal is located in a myth about Attar. The Book of Chronicles also mentions Mount Hermon as a place where Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, france, in his book on the Gospel of Matthew, noted that Mount Hermon was a possible location of the Transfiguration of Jesus. Various Temples of Mount Hermon can be found in villages on the slopes, there is a sacred building made of hewn blocks of stone on the summit of Mount Hermon. Known as Qasr Antar, it is the highest temple of the ancient world and was documented by Sir Charles Warren in 1869
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Massif
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In geology, a massif is a section of a planets crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its structure while being displaced as a whole. The term is used to refer to a group of mountains formed by such a structure. In mountaineering and climbing literature, a massif is frequently used to denote the mass of an individual mountain. The massif is a structural unit of the crust than a tectonic plate and is considered the fourth largest driving force in geomorphology. The word is taken from French, where it is used to refer to a mountain mass or compact group of connected mountains forming an independent portion of a range. One of the most notable European examples of a massif is the Massif Central of the Auvergne region of France, the Face on Mars is an example of an extraterrestrial massif. Massifs may also form such as with the Atlantis Massif
30.
Borders of Israel
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Israels borders are the borders of the State of Israel. The borders have changed from time to time with developments in Israels military, the border with Egypt is the international border demarcated in 1906 between Britain and the Ottoman Empire. They are referred to as the 1923 Paulet-Newcombe Agreement borders, being those of Mandate Palestine, Israels borders with Egypt and Jordan have now been formally recognized and confirmed as part of the peace treaties with those countries, and with Lebanon as part of the 1949 Armistice Agreements. As of 2002, the borders with Syria and Palestinian National Authority were still in dispute, the Sykes–Picot Agreement of 1916 secretly divided the Ottoman Empire lands of Middle East between British and French spheres of influence. They agreed that Palestine was to be designated as an international enclave and this agreement was revised by Britain and France in 1919. It was agreed that Palestine and the Vilayet of Mosul in modern-day Iraq would be part of the British sphere in exchange for British support of French influence in Syria and Lebanon. In October 1919 the British envisaged the area that is today southern Lebanon, in the East, matters were more complicated. Was part of the Ottoman province of Damascus which in the Sykes-Picot agreement had been allocated to the French, at the San Remo Conference the Allied Supreme Council granted the mandates for Palestine and Mesopotamia to Britain without precisely defining the boundaries of the mandated territories. That said, the 1920 agreement contained Article 25, which created provision for the possible later exclusion of land east of the Jordan from the Balfour Declaration, the boundary between the forthcoming British and French mandates was defined in broad terms. That agreement placed the bulk of the Golan Heights in the French sphere, the treaty also established a joint commission to settle the border and mark it on the ground. In accordance with the process, a nearby parcel of land that included the ancient site of Dan was transferred from Syria to Palestine early in 1924. In this way the Golan Heights became part of the French Mandate of Syria, when the French Mandate of Syria ended in 1944, the Golan Heights remained part of the newly independent state of Syria. In June 1922, the League of Nations approved the Palestine Mandate, the French/Italian dispute was resolved on September 29,1923, and both Mandates came into force on that date. Britain administered the part west of the Jordan as Palestine, Palestine comprised 23% of the Mandate territory and Transjordan comprised 77%. Technically they were one mandate but most official documents referred to them as two separate mandates, Transjordan remained under British control until 1946, when it gained independence. Britain declared that the Mandate was to end on 15 May 1948, on 14 May 1948, David Ben-Gurion, in a ceremony in Tel-Aviv, declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz-Israel, to be known as the State of Israel. Eliahu Epstein, Agent, Provisional Government of Israel said in a letter to President Truman seeking recognition from the U. The United Nations in June 2000 was called upon to decide the Lebanese border to determine whether Israel had fully withdrawn from Lebanon in compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 425 and this line came to be called the Blue Line
31.
Mandatory Palestine
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Mandatory Palestine was a geopolitical entity under British administration, carved out of Ottoman Southern Syria after World War I. British civil administration in Palestine operated from 1920 until 1948, further confusing the issue was the Balfour Declaration of 1917, promising British support for a Jewish national home in Palestine. At the wars end the British and French set up a joint Occupied Enemy Territory Administration in what had been Ottoman Syria, the British achieved legitimacy for their continued control by obtaining a mandate from the League of Nations in June 1922. The civil Mandate administration was formalized with the League of Nations consent in 1923 under the British Mandate for Palestine, the land west of the Jordan River, known as Palestine, was under direct British administration until 1948. The land east of the Jordan, a region known as Transjordan, under the rule of the Hashemite family from the Hijaz. The divergent tendencies regarding the nature and purpose of the mandate are visible already in the discussions concerning the name for this new entity. As a set-off to this, certain of the Arab politicians suggested that the country should be called Southern Syria in order to emphasise its close relation with another Arab State. During the British Mandate period the area experienced the ascent of two major nationalist movements, one among the Jews and the other among the Arabs, following its occupation by British troops in 1917–1918, Palestine was governed by the Occupied Enemy Territory Administration. In July 1920, the administration was replaced by a civilian administration headed by a High Commissioner. The first High Commissioner, Herbert Samuel, a Zionist recent cabinet minister, arrived in Palestine on 20 June 1920, following the arrival of the British, Muslim-Christian Associations were established in all the major towns. In 1919 they joined to hold the first Palestine Arab Congress in Jerusalem and its main platforms were a call for representative government and opposition to the Balfour Declaration. The Zionist Commission was formed in March 1918 and was active in promoting Zionist objectives in Palestine, on 19 April 1920, elections were held for the Assembly of Representatives of the Palestinian Jewish community. The Zionist Commission received official recognition in 1922 as representative of the Palestinian Jewish community, Rutenberg soon established an electric company whose shareholders were Zionist organizations, investors, and philanthropists. Palestinian-Arabs saw it as proof that the British intended to favor Zionism, when Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Kamil al-Husayni died in March 1921, High Commissioner Samuel appointed his half-brother Mohammad Amin al-Husseini to the position. Amin al-Husseini, a member of the clan of Jerusalem, was an Arab nationalist. As Grand Mufti, as well as the influential positions that he held during this period. In 1922, al-Husseini was elected President of the Supreme Muslim Council which had created by Samuel in December 1921. The Council controlled the Waqf funds, worth annually tens of thousands of pounds, in addition, he controlled the Islamic courts in Palestine
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World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
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Sykes-Picot Treaty
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The Sykes–Picot Agreement /ˈsaɪks pi. ko/, officially known as the Asia Minor Agreement, was a secret 1916 agreement between Great Britain and France, to which the Russian Empire assented. The agreement defined their mutually agreed spheres of influence and control in Southwestern Asia, the agreement was based on the premise that the Triple Entente would succeed in defeating the Ottoman Empire during World War I. The negotiations leading to the agreement occurred between November 1915 and March 1916 and it was signed 16 May 1916, the deal was exposed to the public in Izvestia and Pravda on 23 November 1917 and in the British Guardian on November 26,1917. The agreement is still mentioned when considering the region and its present-day conflicts, France got control of southeastern Turkey, northern Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Russia was to get Istanbul, the Turkish Straits and Armenia, the controlling powers were left free to determine state boundaries within their areas. Further negotiation was expected to determine international administration pending consultations with Russia and other powers, including Hussein bin Ali, an international administration was proposed for Palestine apart to the Acre-Haifa zone which was intended to be a British enclave in northern Palestine to enable access to the Mediterranean. The British gained control of the territory in 1920 and ruled it as Mandatory Palestine from 1923 until 1948 and they also ruled Mandatory Iraq from 1920 until 1932, while the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon lasted from 1923 to 1946. The terms were negotiated by British diplomat Mark Sykes and a French counterpart, the agreement is seen by many as a turning point in Western and Arab relations. It negated the UKs promises to Arabs made through Colonel T. E. Lawrence for a national Arab homeland in the area of Greater Syria, in exchange for supporting the British against the Ottoman Empire. Zionism was first discussed at the British Cabinet level on 9 November 1914, david Lloyd George, then Chancellor of the Exchequer referred to the ultimate destiny of Palestine. Lloyd Georges law firm Lloyd George, Roberts and Co had been engaged a decade before by the Zionist Federation of Great Britain, Samuel then outlined the Zionist position more fully in a conversation with Foreign Secretary Edward Grey. He spoke of Zionist aspirations for a Jewish state in Palestine, I also said it would be a great advantage if the remainder of Syria were annexed by France, as it would be far better for the state to have a European power as neighbour than the Turk. The same evening, Prime Minister H. H, in January 1915, Samuel submitted a Zionist memorandum entitled The Future of Palestine to the Cabinet after discussions with Chaim Weizmann and Lloyd George. On 5 February 1915, Samuel had another discussion with Grey, Zionism and the Jewish question were not considered by the report of the De Bunsen Committee, prepared to determine British wartime policy toward the Ottoman Empire, and submitted in June 1915. I imagine that the object of Zionism is the realization of the ideal of an existing centre of nationality rather than boundaries or extent of territory. The moment I return I will let you know how things stand at Pd, in May 1917, William Ormsby-Gore wrote, French intentions in Syria are surely incompatible with the war aims of the Allies as defined to the Russian Government. Nothing in the plan precluded rule through an Arab suzerainty in the remaining areas, the Anglo-French settlement was not part of the Sykes–Picot Agreement. Sykes was not affiliated with the Cairo office that had been corresponding with Sherif Hussein bin Ali and he stated that the accomplished fact of the independence of the Hejaz rendered it almost impossible that an effective and real autonomy should be refused to Syria
34.
City council (Israel)
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City councils - plural, (Hebrew, עִירִיּוֹת Iriyot / singular, (Hebrew, עִירִיָּה Iriya - are the official designations of the cities within Israels system of local government. City mayors and members of the city councils are elected every five years, list of cities in Israel Local council Regional council Local Government in Israel. 2009 Local Authorities on Israel Government portal City Council Ordinance
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Eilat
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Eilat is Israels southernmost city, a busy port and popular resort at the northern tip of the Red Sea, on the Gulf of Aqaba. The citys beaches, coral reef, nightlife and desert landscapes make it a destination for domestic. A concerted effort by the Israeli Government to populate Elat began in 1955, Eilats arid desert climate and low humidity are moderated by proximity to a warm sea. Temperatures often exceed 40 °C in summer, and 21 °C in winter, Eilat averages 360 sunny days a year. With an annual rainfall of 28 millimetres and summer temperatures of 40 °C and higher, water resources. The main elements that influenced the history were the copper resources and other minerals, the ancient international roads that crossed the area. These resulted in a settlement density that defies the environmental conditions, like numerous other localities, Eilat is mentioned in the Bible both in singular and plural form. The original settlement was probably at the tip of the Gulf of Eilat. Ancient Egyptian records also document the extensive and lucrative mining operations, Eilat is mentioned in antiquity as a major trading partner with Elim, Thebes Red Sea Port, as early as the Twelfth dynasty of Egypt. In antiquity Eilat bordered the states of Edom, Midian and the territory of the Rephidim. Eilat is first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible in the Book of Exodus, the first six stations of the Exodus are in Egypt. The 7th is the crossing of the Red Sea and the 9th–13th are in and around Eilat, after the exodus from Egypt, station 12 refers to a dozen campsites in and around Timna in Modern Israel near Eilat. When King David conquered Edom, which up to then had been a border of Edom and Midian, he took over Eilat. The commercial port city and copper based industrial center were maintained by Egypt until reportedly rebuilt by Solomon at a known as Ezion-Geber. In 2 Kings 14, 21–22 All the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old and he rebuilt Elath, and restored it to Judah, after his fathers death. And again in 2 Kings 16,6, At that time the king of Edom recovered Elath for Edom and it was a prosperous Judean trading port from the 9th through 7th centuries BCE. Naʾaman, Nadav. During the Roman period a road was built to link the area with the Nabataean city of Petra, in the writings of medieval Muslim scholars, such as Al-Waqidi, it is told that Muhammad made a treaty with Eilats population, Jews and Christians. In the treaty, Muhammad offered protection to the Jews and the Christians, preserving their self-rule over the city, another reference to the Eilat in Islamic texts is believed to appear in the Quran, sura 7, 163–169
36.
Local council (Israel)
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There are 265 local councils in Israel. Local councils should not be confused with local committees, which are lower-level administrative entities, Local council status is determined by passing a minimum threshold, enough to justify operations as independent municipal units, although not large enough to be declared a city. In general this applies to all settlements of over 2,000 people, the Israeli Interior Minister has the authority of deciding whether a locality is fit to become a municipal council. Local councils also have an important role in town planning, the Union of Local Authorities in Israel is the umbrella organization of local councils in Israel. The union represents the local councils vis a vis the national government, ULAI was established in 1938, under the British Mandate, as the League of Local Councils. Regional council City council List of cities in Israel Local Government in Israel
37.
Metula
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Metula is a town in the Northern District of Israel. Metula is located between the sites of the Biblical cities of Dan, Abel Bet Maakha, and Eyon, in 2015 it had a population of 1,614. Traces of ancient settlement have been here, including wine presses. A tomb excavated in 1967 contained at least four graves dating from between the third century and the late sixth century. A settlement existed in the area in the Roman-Byzantine era, in 1816, the traveller Buckingham visited a large village, called Metully, altogether inhabited by Druses. In 1875, Victor Guérin described Methelleh or Metelleh as a village with a spring, when the Druse Rebellion of 1895 broke out, the men of Mutallah joined its ranks. Since the women were not able to cope with the work, the owner of the land and it had been inhabited and cultivated by more than 600 Druze tenant farmers. When the Druse Rebellion was put down, the men returned and demanded their rights back. Ossovetski called in the Turkish authorities, who came to arrest the Druse as deserters and rebels, however many were unsatisfied and eight years of feuds and violent clashes ensued. Eventually an agreement was reached between the villagers and the Jewish Colonization Association in 1904 for a payment of 60,000 francs. This episode brought much criticism of the methods of Rothschilds agents, the Jewish settlement was founded in June 1896 by 60 farming families from more established settlements and 20 families of non-farming professions. Most of the founders were immigrants from Russia, pioneers from Petah Tikva also joined in settling Metula, as did some scholars from Safed. At the end of World War I, Metula was in the area of French military occupation, the British Zionist Norman Bentwich wrote in 1919, Metullah, the most northern outpost, is acquiring a new function as a summer resort for the rest of the country. The 1920 boundary agreement between Britain and France stated that Metula was to be in Palestine, but it was not until 1924 that the change to British control was complete, during the intervening years, the residents of Metula even took part in elections for the Lebanese parliament. Illegal immigrants passed through here between 1920–1923, when Metullah was used as a transit stop into the British Mandate of Palestine from the French mandatory territory in Syria, the flow of illegal immigrants increased in 1933-34. Often, immigrants were robbed along the way, defensive positions were located along both sides of the main road, and were part of the settlements perimeter defence network during the 1936-39 riots. Buildings were made of cement, with rectangular slits, the positions were manned by militia and the men of Metullah, and remained in use up until the War of Independence. The bridge over Nahal Ayyun was built by the British in the years 1943-44, on June 17,1946 all four Palmach battalions captured and destroyed 11 border bridges to prevent enemy forces from entering the country
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Territorial waters
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Adjustment of these boundaries is called, in international law, maritime delimitation. Normally, the baseline from which the sea is measured is the low-water line along the coast as marked on large-scale charts officially recognized by the coastal state. Straight baselines can alternatively be defined connecting fringing islands along a coast, across the mouths of rivers, or with certain restrictions across the mouths of bays. An indentation shall not, however, be regarded as a bay unless its area is as large as, or larger than, the baseline across the bay must also be no more than 24 nautical miles in length. Waters landward of the baseline are defined as waters, over which the state has complete sovereignty. Lakes and rivers are considered internal waters, however, archipelagic states may designate certain sea lanes through these waters. A states territorial sea extends up to 12 nautical miles from its baseline, if this would overlap with another states territorial sea, the border is taken as the median point between the states baselines, unless the states in question agree otherwise. A state can also choose to claim a territorial sea. Conflicts still occur whenever a coastal nation claims an entire gulf as its territorial waters while other nations recognize the more restrictive definitions of the UN convention. In the U. S. federal system, individual states exercise ownership up to 3 nautical miles from shore and this will typically be 12 nautical miles wide, but could be more, or less, if it would otherwise overlap another states contiguous zone. However, unlike the sea, there is no standard rule for resolving such conflicts. The United States invoked a contiguous zone out to 24 nmi on 24 September 1999, an exclusive economic zone extends from the outer limit of the territorial sea to a maximum of 200 nautical miles from the territorial sea baseline, thus it includes the contiguous zone. A coastal nation has control of all resources within its exclusive economic zone, including fishing, mining, oil exploration. Indeed, the economic zone is still popularly, though erroneously. Article 76 gives the definition of continental shelf of coastal countries. For the physical geography definition, see the continental shelf page, coastal states have the right of exploration and exploitation of its natural resources, however other states could lay cables and pipelines if they are authorised by the coastal state. The foot of the slope is determined as the point of maximum change in the gradient at its base. The portion of the continental shelf beyond the 200 nautical mile limit is known as the extended continental shelf
39.
Israel Central Bureau of Statistics
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The CBS is headquartered in the Givat Shaul neighborhood of Jerusalem, with another branch in Tel Aviv. It is headed by a Government Statistician, who is appointed on the recommendation of the prime minister, professor Emeritus Shlomo Yitzhaki of Hebrew University has served in that position and as Director of the CBS since 2002. The bureaus annual budget in 2011 was NIS237 million, the work of the CBS follows internationally accepted standards which enable comparison of statistical information with other countries. The CBS also conducts a Census of Population and Housing every ten years, as well as periodic, the work of CBS is overseen by the Public Commission of Statistics. The data is disseminated in a variety of publications, among them the Statistical Abstract of Israel. Current and updated information is brought to the publics attention through daily press releases. Government ministries use the data collected by CBS for policymaking, planning and tracking development, the data is also made available to academic research institutions and the general public. CBSs end of 2009 and provisional end of 2008 Israeli city and town populations
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Annexation
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Annexation is the political transition of land from the control of one entity to another. It is also the incorporation of unclaimed land into a states sovereignty, in international law it is the forcible transition of one states territory by another state or the legal process by which a city acquires land. Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral and it can also imply a certain measure of coercion, expansionism or unilateralism on the part of the stronger of the merging entities. Because of this, more positive euphemisms like political union/unification or reunification are sometimes seen in discourse, during World War II, the use of annexation deprived whole populations of the safeguards provided by international laws governing military occupations. The Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 amplified the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 with respect to the question of the protection of civilians, the team cemented in a brass plaque on Halls Ledge and hoisted the Union Flag to stake the UKs claim. One example of a claimed annexation after World War II is the Kingdom of Norways southward expansion of the dependent territory Queen Maud Land. On most maps there had been an area between Queen Maud Lands borders of 1939 and the South Pole until June 12,2015 when Norway formally claimed to have annexed that area. The Antarctic Treaty, however, states, The treaty does not recognize, dispute, nor establish territorial sovereignty claims, within countries that are subdivided noncontiguously, annexation can also take place whereby a lower-tier subdivision can annex territory under the jurisdiction of a higher-tier subdivision. An example of this is in the United States, where incorporated cities, municipalities can also annex or be annexed by other municipalities, though this is less common in the United States. Laws governing the ability and the extent cities can expand in this fashion are defined by the individual states constitutions, annexation of neighbouring communities occurs in Canada. Irredentism List of national border changes since World War I Texas annexation Adam Roberts, transformative military occupation, applying the laws of war and human rights,100 The American Journal of International Law
41.
Israeli settlement
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Such settlements within Palestinian territories currently exist in Area C of the West Bank and in East Jerusalem, and within Syrian territory in the Golan Heights. Israel dismantled 18 settlements in the Sinai Peninsula in 1982, while in 2005 all 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip were dismantled, but only four in the West Bank. In the West Bank, however, Israel continues to expand its remaining settlements as well as settling new areas, the International Court of Justice also says these purportedly annexed settlements are illegal in a 2004 advisory opinion. Similar criticism was advanced by the EU and the US, Israel disputes the position of the international community and the legal arguments that were used to declare the settlements illegal. Most of the spending goes to the security of the Israeli citizens living there, on 30 June 2014, according to the Yesha Council,382,031 Israeli citizens lived in the 121 officially recognised Israeli settlements in the West Bank, almost exclusively Jewish citizens of Israel. In January 2015 the Israeli Interior Ministry gave figures of 389,250 Israeli citizens living in the West Bank, settlements range in character from farming communities and frontier villages to urban suburbs and neighborhoods. The four largest settlements, Modiin Illit, Maale Adumim, Beitar Illit, Ariel has 18,000 residents, while the rest have around 37,000 to 55,500 each. The 1967 Six-Day War left Israel in control of the entire West Bank of the Jordan River, the entire Sinai Peninsula up to the Suez Canal, and the Gaza strip. Most of the Golan Heights, since 1981, administered under the Golan Heights Law, as early as 1967, Israeli settlement policy was started by the Labor government of Levi Eshkol. The basis for Israeli settlement in the West Bank became the Allon Plan and it implied Israeli annexation of major parts of the Israeli-occupied territories, especially East Jerusalem, Gush Etzion and the Jordan Valley. The settlement policy of the government of Yitzhak Rabin, was derived from the Allon Plan. The first settlement was Kfar Etzion, in the southern West Bank, many settlements began as Nahal settlements. They were established as military outposts and later expanded and populated with civilian inhabitants, Ariel Sharon declared in the same year that there was a plan to settle 2 million Jews in the West Bank by 2000. Since 1967, government-funded settlement projects in the West Bank are implemented by the Settlement Division of the World Zionist Organization, though formally a non-governmental organization, it is funded by the Israeli government and leases lands from the Civil Administration to settle in the West Bank. It is authorized to create settlements in the West Bank on lands licensed to it by the Civil Administration, traditionally, the Settlement Division has been under the responsibility of the Agriculture Ministry. Since the Olso Accords, it was housed within the Prime Ministers Office. In 2007, it was moved back to the Agriculture Ministry, in 2009, the Netanyahu Government decided to subject all settlement activities to additional approval of the Prime Minister and the Defense Minister. In 2011, Netanyahu sought to move the Settlement Division again under the control of PMO
42.
Israeli West Bank barrier
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The Israeli West Bank barrier or wall is a separation barrier in the West Bank or along the Green Line. Barrier opponents claim it seeks to annex Palestinian land under the guise of security, in Hebrew, descriptions include, separation fence, separation wall and security fence. In Arabic, it is called wall of apartheid جدار الفصل العنصري, in English, the BBCs style guide uses the terms barrier as does The Economist, PBS and the New York Times. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs uses the phrase security fence in English, the International Court of Justice has used the term wall explaining the other expressions sometimes employed are no more accurate if understood in the physical sense. It is also referred to as the Apartheid Wall or Apartheid Fence in a derogatory manner, Seam zone refers to the land between the 1949 Armistice Agreement Line and the fence. The barrier contains an on-average 60-metre wide exclusion area, the width of some sections is larger due to topographic conditions. The width of some sections is 3 metres where the barrier is constructed as a wall up to 8 metres high. These sections are narrower, require less land, and provide protection against snipers. Wall construction is common in urban settings, e. g. Qalqilyah and Jerusalem. The barrier nearly encircles some Palestinian towns, about 20% follows the line. Some 27,520 to 31,000 Palestinians will be captured on the Israeli side, another 124,000, on the other hand, will effectively be controlled and isolated. Some 230,000 Palestinians in Jerusalem will be placed on the West Bank side, most of the barrier was built at the northern and western edges of the West Bank, mostly beyond the Green Line and created 9 enclaves, which enclosed 15,783 ha. An additional barrier, circa 10 km long, run south of Ramallah, by contrast, the International Court of Justice states that in such cases it is only legal to build the barrier inside Israel. The barrier route has been challenged in court and changed several times, argument presented to the court has reiterated that the cease-fire line of 1949 was negotiated without prejudice to future territorial settlements or boundary lines. In 1992, the idea of creating a barrier separating the Israeli. In 1994, a first barrier was constructed along the Green Line between Bat Hefer and Tulkarm, in 1995, the Shahal commission was established to discuss how to implement a separation barrier. In 2000, Prime Minister Ehud Barak approved financing of a 74 km fence between the Wadi Ara region and Latrun, on 23 June 2002, the Ariel Sharon Government definitely approved the plan in principle and work at the barrier begun. By 2003,180 km had been completed and in 2004, by 2006,362 km of the barrier had been completed,88 km was under construction and 253 km had not yet been started
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Israelis
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Israelis are citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel, a multiethnic society that is home to people of different ethnic backgrounds. The largest ethnic groups in Israel are Jews, followed by Arabs, among the Jewish population, hundreds of thousands of Jews born in Israel are descended from both Ashkenazi and Mizrahi Jews. More than 50% of the Jewish population is of at least partial Mizrahi descent, almost 10% of the general population of Israel is estimated to be living abroad. As of 2013, Israels population is 8 million, of which the Israeli civil government records 75. 3% as Jews,20. 7% as non-Jewish Arabs, Israels official census includes Israeli settlers in the occupied territories. 280,000 Israeli settlers live in settlements in the Judea and Samaria Area,190,000 in East Jerusalem, and 20,000 in the Golan Heights. Among Jews,70. 3% were born in Israel, mostly from the second or third generation of their family in the country, and the rest are Jewish immigrants. Of the Jewish immigrants,20. 5% were from Europe and the Americas, and 9. 2% were from Asia, Africa, nearly half of all Israeli Jews are descended from immigrants from the European Jewish diaspora. Approximately the same number are descended from immigrants from Arab countries, Iran, Turkey, over 200,000 are of Ethiopian and Indian-Jewish descent. Defined as non-Jews and non-Arabs, they make up about 3. 5% of Israelis, Israels two official languages are Hebrew and Arabic. Hebrew is the language of government and is spoken by the majority of the population. Arabic is spoken by the Arab minority and by members of the Mizrahi Jewish community. English is studied in school and is spoken by the majority of the population as a second language, other languages spoken in Israel include Russian, Yiddish, Spanish, Ladino, Amharic, Armenian, Romanian, and French. In recent decades, between 650,000 and 1,300,000 Israelis have emigrated, a known in Hebrew as yerida. Emigrants have various reasons for leaving, but there is generally a combination of economic, los Angeles is home to the largest community of Israelis outside Israel. The main Israeli ethnic and religious groups are as follows, The CBS traces the paternal country of origin of Israeli Jews as of 2010 is as follows. A fraction of Palestinians remained within Israels borders following the 1948 Palestinian exodus and are the largest group of Arabic-speaking, the vast majority of the Arab citizens of Israel are Sunni Muslim, while 9% of them are Christian. As of 2013, the Arab population of Israel amounts to 1,658,000, the Arab citizens of Israel also include the Bedouin. In 1999,110,000 Bedouin lived in the Negev,50,000 in the Galilee and 10,000 in the region of Israel
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Israeli Jews
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Israeli Jews, also known as Jewish Israelis, refers to Israeli citizens or residents who are Jews, and also the descendants of Israeli-Jewish emigrants outside of Israel. Israeli Jews are found mostly in Israel and the Western world, as well as other countries worldwide, Israeli Jews mostly speak Hebrew and most follow at least some religious Jewish practices. Israel, the Jewish state, currently has almost half the worlds Jews, the Jewish population in Israel is composed from all Jewish diaspora communities, including Ashkenazi Jews, Sephardi Jews, Mizrahi Jews, Beta Israel, Bene Israel, Karaite Jews, and many other groups. Among the Jewish population, over 25% of the schoolchildren and over 35% of all newborns are of mixed ancestry of both Ashkenazi and Sephardi/Mizrahi descent and increases by 0. 5% each year, over 50% of the Jewish population is of at least a partial Sephardi/Mizrahi descent. Israels Central Bureau of Statistics estimated the Israeli Jewish population was 6,335,000 as of December 2015. An IDI Guttman Study of 2008 shows that a plurality of Israeli Jews identify themselves first as Jews and Israeli second, and that only 39% consider themselves first and foremost Israeli. Jews living in the prior to the establishment of the State of Israel were commonly referred to in English as Palestinian Jews. Jews have long considered The Land of Israel to be their homeland, according to the Hebrew Bible the connection to the Land of Israel began in the covenant of the pieces when the region, which it called the land of Canaan, was promised to Abraham by God. Abraham settled in the region, where his son Isaac and grandson Jacob grew up with, later on, Jacob and his sons went to Egypt. Decades later their descendants were led out of Egypt by Moses and Aaron, given the Tablets of Stone, returned to the land of Canaan and conquered it under the leadership of Joshua. After the period of the judges, in which the Israelites did not have a leadership, the Kingdom of Israel was established. This kingdom was split into two—the Kingdom of Judah and the Kingdom of Israel. After the destruction of these kingdoms and the destruction of the first Temple, after about 70 years parts of the Israelites were permitted to return to the region and soon thereafter they built the Second Temple. Later on they established the Hasmonean Kingdom, the region was conquered by the Roman Empire in 63 BC. During the 2nd century CE a series of rebellions against the Roman Empire ended up with the destruction of the second temple, the area was later conquered from the Eastern Roman Empire by the Muslim Caliphate in the 7th century. Throughout the centuries the size of Jewish population in the land fluctuated, before the birth of modern Zionism, by the early 19th century, more than 10,000 Jews were still living in the area that is today modern Israel. Following centuries of Diaspora, the 19th century saw the rise of Zionism, the Jewish Nationalist Movement, a desire to see the creation of a Jewish State in Palestine, and significant immigration. Zionism remained a minority movement until the rise of Nazism in 1933, in the late 19th century large numbers of Jews began moving to the Turkish and later British-controlled region
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Arab citizens of Israel
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Arab citizens of Israel or Arab population of Israel are Israeli citizens, whose cultural and linguistic heritage or ethnic identity is Arab. The majority of the Arabs in Israel are Muslim but some are Christian or Druze, many identify as Palestinian and commonly self-designate themselves as Palestinian citizens of Israel. The traditional vernacular of most Arab citizens, irrespective of religion, is the Palestinian dialect of Arabic, Most Arab citizens of Israel are functionally bilingual, their second language being Modern Hebrew. By religious affiliation, most are Muslim, particularly of the Sunni branch of Islam, There is a significant Arab Christian minority from various denominations as well as the Druze, among other religious communities. According to Israels Central Bureau of Statistics, the Arab population in 2013 was estimated at 1,658,000, the majority of these identify themselves as Arab or Palestinian by nationality and Israeli by citizenship. Many have family ties to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as to Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Syria, Negev Bedouins and the Druze tend to identify more as Israelis than other Arab citizens of Israel. They have the right to apply for citizenship, are entitled to municipal services, how to refer to the Arab citizenry of Israel is a highly politicized issue and there are a number of self-identification labels used by members of this community. According to The New York Times, most prefer now to identify themselves as Palestinian citizens of Israel rather than as Israeli Arabs, the New York Times uses both Palestinian Israelis and Israeli Arabs to refer to the same population. Common practice in academic literature is to identify this community as Palestinian as it is how the majority self-identify. There are, however, individuals from among the Arab citizenry who reject the term Palestinian altogether, a minority of Israels Arab citizens include Israeli in some way in their self-identifying label, the majority identify as Palestinian by nationality and Israeli by citizenship. The Israeli establishment prefers Israeli Arabs or Arabs in Israel, and also uses the terms the minorities and these labels have been criticized for denying this population a political or national identification, obscuring their Palestinian identity and connection to Palestine. The term Israeli Arabs in particular is viewed as a construct of the Israeli authorities and it is nonetheless used by a significant minority of the Arab population, reflecting its dominance in Israeli social discourse. Other terms used to refer to this population include Palestinian Arabs in Israel, Israeli Palestinian Arabs, and the Arabs inside the Green Line. The latter appellation, among others listed above, are not applied to the East Jerusalem Arab population or the Druze in the Golan Heights, as these territories were occupied by Israel in 1967. In the aftermath of the 1948 war, British Mandate of Palestine was de facto divided into three parts, the State of Israel, the Jordanian-held West Bank, and the Egyptian-held Gaza Strip. Of the estimated 950,000 Arabs that lived in the territory that became Israel before the war, Benny Morris says, Most of Palestines 700,000 refugees fled their homes because of the flail of war. But it is true that there were several dozen sites, including Lydda and Ramla. The other 20%, some 156,000, remained, Arab citizens of Israel today are largely composed of the people who remained and their descendants
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Palestinians
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Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one half of the worlds Palestinian population continues to reside in historic Palestine, the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Israel. Of the Palestinian population who live abroad, known as the Palestinian diaspora, the history of a distinct Palestinian national identity is a disputed issue amongst scholars. Palestinian was used to refer to the nationalist concept of a Palestinian people by Palestinian Arabs in a limited way until World War I, Modern Palestinian identity now encompasses the heritage of all ages from biblical times up to the Ottoman period. Founded in 1964, the Palestine Liberation Organization is an organization for groups that represent the Palestinian people before the international community. Since 1978, the United Nations has observed an annual International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, herodotus also employs the term as an ethnonym, as when he speaks of the Syrians of Palestine or Palestinian-Syrians, an ethnically amorphous group he distinguishes from the Phoenicians. Herodotus makes no distinction between the Jews and other inhabitants of Palestine, the Greek word reflects an ancient Eastern Mediterranean-Near Eastern word which was used either as a toponym or ethnonym. In Ancient Egyptian Peleset/Purusati has been conjectured to refer to the Sea Peoples, among Semitic languages, Akkadian Palaštu is used of Philistia and its 4 city states. Biblical Hebrews cognate word Plištim, is usually translated Philistines, the Arabic word Filastin has been used to refer to the region since the time of the earliest medieval Arab geographers. It appears to have used as an Arabic adjectival noun in the region since as early as the 7th century CE. The Arabic newspaper Falasteen, published in Jaffa by Issa and Yusef al-Issa, the first Zionist bank, the Jewish Colonial Trust, was founded at the Second Zionist Congress and incorporated in London in 1899. The JCT was intended to be the instrument of the Zionist Organization. On 27 February 1902, a subsidiary of this Trust called the Anglo-Palestine Company was established in London with the assistance of Zalman David Levontin and this Company was to become the future Bank Leumi. Following the 1948 establishment of Israel, the use and application of the terms Palestine and Palestinian by, for example, the English-language newspaper The Palestine Post, founded by Jews in 1932, changed its name in 1950 to The Jerusalem Post. Jews in Israel and the West Bank today generally identify as Israelis, Arab citizens of Israel identify themselves as Israeli and/or Palestinian and/or Arab. Anyone born, after that date, of a Palestinian father – whether in Palestine or outside it – is also a Palestinian. Thus, the Jews of Palestine were/are also included, although limited only to the Jews who had resided in Palestine until the beginning of the Zionist invasion. The Charter also states that Palestine with the boundaries it had during the British Mandate, is a territorial unit. The although the timing and causes behind the emergence of a distinctively Palestinian national consciousness among the Arabs of Palestine are matters of scholarly disagreement
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Palestinian return to Israel
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Palestinian return to Israel refers to the movement of Palestinians into the territory of Israel. The period from 1948 to 1956 saw extensive attempts by Palestinians to cross the border, during the 1990s, following numerous attacks against Israeli citizens by Palestinians, escalating policies of closure of the Green Line replaced labor mobility. In the 2000s, this policy has been supplemented by physical barriers in the West Bank and Gaza, Israeli policy to prevent the refugees returning to their homes was initially formulated by David Ben-Gurion and Yosef Weitz and formally adopted by the Israeli cabinet in June 1948. Despite much of the community, including the US President Harry Truman, insisting that the repatriation of Palestinian refugees was essential. Alan Baker, then legal adviser to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that from 1948 until 2001, the then deputy minister of the Israeli Ministry of Public Security, Gideon Ezra, said that 57,000 Jordanian came illegally under the three years to 2001. An expert in the Ministry of Labor said that number is totally illogical, Palestinian infiltration refers to numerous border-crossings by Palestinians considered illegal by the Israeli authorities, during the first years of Israeli statehood. Between 30,000 and 90,000 Palestinian refugees returned to Israel as a result, in 1951, Palestinian infiltrators killed an Israeli teenage girl at her home in Jerusalem. On June 9,1953 Palestinian infiltrators attacked Hadera and Lod killing a Lod resident, the attacks came just one day after Jordan agreed to prevent armed infiltration to Israel. During June 1953, infiltrators destroyed a house in Mishmar Ayalon, in the same month Palestinian gunmen killed a couple in Kfar Hess. During May 1954, Arab militants attacked an Israeli bus killing its passengers one by one, the attack known as Maale Akrabim massacre, resulted in the death of 11 passengers and according to the testimonies of the survivors, the bodies of the victims were desecrated. During 1955, infiltrators killed two hikers at Judean Hills and a girl attending a wedding party. In 1956, infiltrators opened fire at a synagogue in the community of Shafrir killing three children. Also in the year, a resident of Ashkelon was killed. During September and October 1956, many Israeli civilians, including four archeologists, were killed in series of attacks, Israeli leadership came to the conclusion that only retaliatory strikes would be able to create the necessary factor of deterrence, that would convince the Arab armies to prevent infiltration. This was the cause for the establishment in August 1953 of Unit 101, during the years 1954–1956, a number of such raids took place. The reprisals led to more Arab hatred and the infiltrations became increasingly more violent, the tactical success of the raids led to the establishment of a very unstable balance of threat, which essentially left Israel in a state of border warfare. The Israeli government has accused the Arab governments of supporting and sponsoring the infiltrations, the non-prevention of armed infiltration over an agreed border is widely considered an act of war, therefore Israel argued that their retaliatory strikes, which were also acts of war, were justified. The terms of the Armistice Agreement restricted Egypts use and deployment of armed forces in the Gaza
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Green Line (Israel)
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It served as the de facto borders of the State of Israel from 1949 until the Six-Day War in 1967. The name comes from the ink used to draw the line on the map while the armistice talks were going on. After the Six-Day War, the territories captured by Israel beyond the Green Line came to be designated as East Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights and these territories are often referred to as Israeli-occupied territories. The Green Line was intended as a line rather than a permanent border. The 1949 Armistice Agreements were clear that they were not creating permanent borders, similar provisions are contained in the Armistice Agreements with Jordan and Syria. The Green Line refers to the lines, rather than permanent borders. All movement across the lines was banned and monitored by the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization. Most commonly, the term was applied to the boundary between Jordan-controlled Jerusalem and the West Bank and Israel, the Palestinian and Arab leaders had repeatedly rejected any permanent partition of Mandatory Palestine. Although Israel has always argued that the Green Line has no legal significance. The territories beyond the Green Line were administered by the Israeli military or later also by the Palestinian Authority, citizenship by residence, for example, was determined with reference to the Green Line, as well as a persons refugee status. The extension of the municipality boundary of Jerusalem in 1980 was an exception to this position and this claim has not been recognised by any country or by the United Nations Security Council. A notional Green Line continues to divide Jerusalem at the boundary of East Jerusalem, the Golan Heights are another exception, having been informally incorporated by Israel with the 1981 Golan Heights Law. The UN Security Council declared this to be null and without any legal effect. Israeli settlements in these areas are subject to the laws of Israel rather than those of the Palestinian Authority. The sections of the Green Line that delineate the boundaries between Israel, the West Bank and Gaza run through heavily populated regions, consequently, the Green Line underwent various slight adjustments, and special arrangements were made for limited movement in certain areas. Jerusalem was divided in half, into East and West Jerusalem, the village of Bartaa, partially due to errors on the map, was left with one third of its area on the Israeli side and two thirds outside of it. Kibbutz Ramat Rachel was left almost entirely outside the Israeli side of the Green Line, the green line was redrawn in blue ink on the southern map to give the impression that a movement in the green line had been made. During the war in 1947-48, Jews residing east of the Line, all but a few of the Gush Etzion defenders were massacred
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Wikimedia Atlas of Israel
Geographic data related to Israel at OpenStreetMap
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