Short facts about the geography of West Bank

Location:

Middle East, west of Jordan

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:  27% permanent crops:  0% permanent pastures:  32% forests and woodland:  1% other:  40%

Irrigated land:

NA sq km

Natural hazards:

droughts

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.)

Source: World Factbook