Childrens Illustrated Encyclopedia

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Dead

Sea

Sea of Galilee

(Lake Tiberias)

West

Bank

Gaza

strip

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N e G Y P t

Israel

-392 m

Negev

Golan

Heights

s

Y

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I

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Be’er

Menuha

Sappir

Mizpe

Ramon

Elat

‘Arad

New Zohar

Bethlehem

Hebron

Jericho

Jenin

Nablus

Nazareth

Nahariya Tsefat

’Akko

Tverya

W

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Ar

ab

ah

Ashdod

Ashkelon

Netanya

Rehovot Ramla

Gaza

Telalim

Rafah

Be’er sheva

tel aviv-

Yafo Petah Tikva

Holon

Haifa

(Hefa)

JeRUsalem

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W E

Visitors to Dead

Sea resorts bathe

in mud because

they believe it is

good for their skin.

DeaD Sea

The world’s saltiest sea, the Dead Sea, is

also the lowest area of water on earth; it

is 1,312 ft (400 m) below the level of the

Mediterranean Sea. The River Jordan

flows into this hot, barren place. The water

evaporates in the heat of the sun, but the salt

in the water is left behind. Over the centuries

the salt has become very concentrated.

The MODeRn STaTe Of ISRael has existed

only since 1948. It was created on the sites where

there had been Jewish settlements in earlier times.

Jews from all over the world flocked to the new

state, especially the survivors of nazi anti-

semitism. They revived the ancient language of

hebrew as the national language of Israel. But

there have been many problems. The region had

previously been the land of Palestine, and many

arab Palestinians had to leave when the country

became Israel. however, others have remained,

and today they make up about 25 percent of

Israel’s 8 million population. Israel has also fought

wars with neighboring arab countries to secure its

borders. It still occupies some territory gained in

these wars, causing continual Palestinian

unrest. Israel is now a wealthy

country. The Israelis have

developed many

modern industries

and converted large

areas of desert

into farmland.

WaIlIng Wall

Israel occupies much of the “holy land” described in

the Bible. The land is sacred, not only to Jews but also to

Christians and Muslims. The Wailing Wall in Jerusalem

is the most sacred Jewish monument. It is all that

remains of a temple built by King herod 2,000 years

ago. Visitors gave the wall its name when they heard

the sad sound of devout Jews mourning the

destruction of the temple.

Israel lies at the eastern end of the

Mediterranean Sea. lebanon lies to

the north, Syria and Jordan to the

east, and egypt to the southwest.

isRAeL

Tel Aviv’s center

symbolizes the

modern, prosperous

face of Israel.

Tel aVIV-yafO

The main commercial and industrial

center of Israel is Tel aviv-yafo, the

country’s second-largest city. It was

once two separate towns, but Tel aviv

grew rapidly and absorbed its neighbor,

the ancient port of yafo.

statistics

area: 8,019 sq miles

(20,770 sq km)

Population: 8,049,000

capital: Jerusalem

Languages: hebrew,

arabic, yiddish,

german, Russian,

Polish, Romanian,

Persian

Religions: Jewish,

Muslim, Christian,

Druze

currency: new Israeli

shekel

Main occupations:

agriculture,

manufacturing, finance

Main exports: Potash,

bromine, salt, wine,

citrus fruits

Main imports: fuels

Find out more

Christianity

Crusades

Islam

Judaism

Middle east

Volcano Mountain Capital

city

Large

city/

town

Small

city/

town

Ancient

monument

0

50

50

0

25

25

scaLE BaR

km

miles

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