Small Area; Short Distances

With Lebanon to the North, Syria to the northeast, Jordan to the East, Egypt to the southwest and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Israel's area within its boundaries and cease-fire lines is 27,800 square kilometers. Long and narrow in shape, it is some 450 kilometers in length and about 135 kilometers across at the widest point.

Mountains and plains, fertile fields and desert are often minutes apart. The country's width, from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Dead Sea in the east, can be crossed by car in about 90 minutes; Jerusalem, in the Judean Hills, is less than an hour's drive from Tel Aviv on the coast; and the trip from Metulla, in the far north, to Eilat at the country's southern tip takes about nine hours. The distance between Jerusalem, at an altitude of 835 meters above sea level, and the Dead Sea, which lies about 400 meters below sea level, can be driven in less than an hour.

The Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth at about 400 m. below sea level. It lies at the southern end of the Jordan Valley. Its water, which has the highest level of salinity and density in the world, is rich in potash, magnesium and bromine, as well as in table and industrial salts.
 

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