Geography of Palestine

Geography of the State of Palestine refers to the geographic, climatic and other properties of the State of Palestine.

The terrain of the Gaza Strip is flat or rolling, with dunes near the coast. The highest point is Abu 'Awdah (Joz Abu 'Auda), at 105 meters (344 ft) above sea level.

The terrain of the West Bank is mostly rugged dissected upland, with some vegetation in the west, but somewhat barren in the east. The elevation span reaches from a low on the northern shore of the Dead Sea at 429 m below sea level, to the highest point at Mount Nabi Yunis at 1,030 m (3,379 ft) above sea level. The area of West Bank is landlocked; highlands are main recharge area for Israel's coastal aquifers.

The coastal plain of Gaza is composed of sand dunes and fertile sandy sediments. Except for a porous calcareous sandstone called kurkar in Arabic, there are no other rocks in this region. In contrast, the West Bank is dominated by low mountains: Mount Gerizim (881m), Nabi Samwil (890m), and Mount Scopus (826m). The rocks are principally composed of marine sediments (limestone and dolomite). The porosity of these rocks permits water to filter down to the non-porous strata, which supply water to the numerous aquifers in the region.

The Jordan Valley is a segment of the Dead Sea Transform, a continuation of the Great Rift Valley which separates the African Plate from the Arabian Plate. The entire segment is thought to have ruptured repeatedly, for instance during the earthquake of 749 and again in 1033, the most recent major earthquake along this structure. The deficit in slip that has built up since the 1033 event is sufficient to cause an earthquake of Mw~7.4.

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