Geography of the West Bank
Location:
Middle East, west of Jordan
Geographic coordinates:
Map references:
Middle East
Area:
total:
5,860 kmē
land:
5,640 kmē
water:
220 kmē
note:
includes West Bank, Latrun Salient , and the northwest quarter of the Dead Sea, but excludes Mount Scopus; East Jerusalem and Jerusalem No Man's Land are also included only as a means of depicting the entire area occupied by Israel in 1967
Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than Delaware
Land boundaries:
total:
404 km
border countries:
Israel 307 km, Jordan 97 km
Coastline:
0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims:
none (landlocked)
Climate:
temperate, temperature and precipitation vary with altitude, warm to hot summers, cool to mild winters
Terrain:
mostly rugged dissected upland, some vegetation in west, but barren in east
Elevation extremes:
lowest point:
Dead Sea -408 m
highest point:
Tall Asur 1,022 m
Natural resources:
arable land
Land use:
arable land:
27%
permanent crops:
0%
permanent pastures:
32%
forests and woodland:
1%
other:
40%
Irrigated land:
NA kmē
Natural hazards:
NA
Environment - current issues:
adequacy of fresh water supply; sewage treatment
Geography - note:
landlocked; highlands are main recharge area for Israel's coastal aquifers; there are 231 Israeli settlements and civilian land use sites in the West Bank and 29 in East Jerusalem (August 1999 est.)
