West Bank Geography Profile 2013

Location

Middle East, west of Jordan, east of Israel

Geographic coordinates

32 00 N, 35 15 E

Map references

Middle East

Area

total: 5,860 sq km
land: 5,640 sq km
water: 220 sq km
note: includes West Bank, Latrun Salient, and the northwest quarter of the Dead Sea, but excludes Mt. 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: 16.9%
permanent crops: 18.97%
other: 64.13% (2001)

Irrigated land

180 sq km; note - includes Gaza Strip (2003)

Natural hazards

droughts

Environment - current issues

adequacy of freshwater supply; sewage treatment

Geography - note

landlocked; highlands are main recharge area for Israel's coastal aquifers; there are about 355 Israeli civilian sites including about 145 small outpost communities in the West Bank and 32 sites in East Jerusalem (2010 est.)