Geographical Location: Palestine is located north of the equator between the latitudes N30` 30 N15` 32, and longitudes E15` 34 and E40` 35. Geographically it is located on the western boundaries of the Asian continent directly on the southeastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, as well as on the eastern boundaries of Africa. This geographical location places Palestine at the juncture of the European, Asian, and African continents, and at the center of the Arab world, which extends from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Gulf, providing the link between the Asian part and the African part of the Arab world.
The area of the West Bank is 5800 square kilometers and Gaza, occupying the northern parts of the Negev desert and the southeastern corner of Mediterranean Sea, is 365 square kilometers. Palestine’s position on the Mediterranean Sea results in alleviated temperatures in the summer and fairly low temperatures in the winter, except the parts in the south of the West Bank that are under the effect of desert or semi desert climates.
The elaborate topography of Palestine provides diverse climate systems. The length of the daylight is 14 hours in the summer and 10 hours in the winter, this explains the high temperature at the summer time, and the low temperature at the wintertime. Mountains of median height help decrease the high temperature in the summer and to increase the amounts of the fallen rain in the winter. The Jordan Valley helps by increasing the temperature; this explains the existence of large amounts of vegetables year-round as the mountainous regions are planted in the summer and the valley regions are planted in the winter. This diversity in habitat results in the unusually high Biodiversity of Palestine.
The importance of Palestine:
Palestine is of great importance, especially for birds, in the Middle East for several reasons:
Geographical location: The location of Palestine in the juncture of the three continents (Asia, Africa, and Europe) provides a continuous pathway between Eurasia and Africa, as well as many distinct climatic regions.
Rift Valley: The position of Palestine on part of the Rift Valley, and the existence of various aquatic systems, such as the Jordan River, Lake Tiberius and the seasonal and year-round valley springs create habitat diversity and wetland ecosystems
The existence of mountains and natural forests.
The location of Palestine on the Mediterranean Sea coast.
Landscape of Palestine:
The surface of Palestine is composed of four basic sections:
Coastal Line / Gaza shore:
Gaza represents the south marginal Coastline with altitudes not exceeding 200 meters above sea level. The length of the shore in Gaza is about 40km and it extends till the Egyptian borders, with the width of the shore about 6-12 km. There are some sandy hills in this plane with heights between 50 and 100 meters, the sand of the hills transfer inside the planes to cover some of its regions as it is in Khan Yunis and Rafah. One of the planes is Wadi Gaza; starting from southwest Hebron city (From Wadi Khalil near the south of Al Samou’ village/Hebron district) it pours in the Mediterranean Sea south of the Gaza Strip and north of Dier Al Balah, The same applies to Wadi Al Hasa which starts near the town of Doura in the heights of Hebron ending in the Mediterranean Sea north of the Gaza Strip and Wadi Al Salqa.
Semi Coastal Region / Tulkarem Coast:
The western part near Tulkarem consists of the Palestinian eastern Coast and the northern part near Jenin consists of extension of Marj Ben Amir Coast, the length of this area is about 60km and its width is between 3- 12km and its area is about 400 thousand dunum, it reaches about 400m above sea level and the amount of the rainfall is between 400 – 700 millimeter annually.
This coast consists of groves followed by sand; most of this coast is characterized by the richness of its soil and heavy agriculture. Alexandria River (currently polluted) irrigates this coast, the water of this river comes from the heights of Nablus and it forms a valley from the south till the west then diverts north to the Mediterranean Sea.
The Middle Heights and mountain series: (Nablus mountain, Jerusalem, Hebron):
These heights are located in the middle of Palestine south of Marj Ben Amir; they extend from Jenin till Al-Thahria in the south forming the majority of the area in the West Bank. The maximum altitude is about 120km and the maximum width is 50km, the extension is 3,5 million dunum. This area is divided into two divisions: mountains of Nablus, and mountains of Jerusalem and Hebron. The highest points are Mount Ebal (940m above the sea level) and Mount Jerzeem (it is also known as Al Tour, elevation 881m). The city of Nablus lies between these two mountains. These heights consist of mountainous blocks and calcium rocks (from Nablus mountains in the north till Jerusalem mountains in the south, the Hebron mountains extend to the south from Jerusalem heights to compose the longest mountain series in Palestine).
The Jordan Valley slopes:
The area of Jordan Valley in the West Bank is about 400 thousand dunums, its length is 70km, extending from the Green line (1948 political boundaries) in the north till the Dead Sea, its width is between 1 – 12km while its decline is from 200m above to 390m below sea level. The climate of the slope resembles the climate of the hot regions with high temperatures and very little rainfall (average annual rainfall: 150 mm) which falls only in a few days out of the year. However, the density of human population in this area is low.
The Jordan River:
Rainwater gathers on mount Harmon where there are a lot of the Jordan River’s springs. For the most part, the Lower Jordan River valley lies in the West Bank with elevations ranging between 212m near Tiberius in the north and 396m at the tip of the Dead Sea in the south. The length of the River from Lake Tiberius till the Dead Sea is 194km. The Jordan River is characterized by its ferocity and instability, and gathers between high velocity and strong bends.
The western hills of the Jordan River:
Al Fara’a Valley: it flows from Nablus Mountain and pours in the north of Al Zarqa River.
Al Maleh Valley and Abu Sidra Valley: they flow from Tubas region / Jenin and pour in
Jordan River.
Seasonal Rivers (Al-ahmar, Al-mallahah, Fasayel) / Al Oja and Al Noue’meh: they are
located in Al Oja and Jericho region.
The valley and springs of Al Qilt, Al Fawar and Farra Wadi’s: they flow from the center of the West Bank from the Sowaneet valley (south east of Al Tibah village) to the east of Mikhmas village and from Anata region / in east Jerusalem and they all meet, pass near Jericho, then pour in the Jordan River.
The Dead Sea basin:
The Dead Sea basin is the lowest point in the Jordan declines (410m below sea level). The length (north-south) of this basin is 93km with the water of the Dead Sea covering some of it, with the remainder comprising the marsh of Qa’a El Safi and Sadoom in the south. The width of the basin from east to west is 18km. The percentage of mineral salt content in the basin is 30 –33%, it is considerably higher than the level of mineral salts of all other seas and oceans, where the percentage remains mostly between 4 - 6%.
Tributes to the Dead Sea:
The Jordan River pours year round into the Dead Sea from the north
Al Mashash Valley: the water of this valley comes from rainfall water of the Bethlehem region and north of Halhoul. The water of this valley runs from northwest to the southeast ending in the Dead Sea.
Abu Mradeef Valley: the water in this valley comes from rainfall water of Yatah and Al Samoa’ regions. Together, they pour in the Dead Sea opposite to the northern part of Al-Lesan peninsula.
River of southern Jerusalem (Al-Mard, Qumran, Al-Daraja) flow from the south of Jerusalem district and pour in the Dead Sea.
Palestine Soil:
Palestine’s soil is highly diverse. This is due to the difference in the original materials that compose the soil, and the diversity of the geographic and climatic systems. The most important factors that form the soil are: the density of plant cover, the topography of the region, and erosion.
It is possible to categorize the soil of Palestine into two categories according to climate:
Mediterranean Sea area soil.
Desert soil.
These two groups form three kinds of soil and they are: the mountain soil, flat plane soil, and valley soil.
The Climate of Palestine:
The West Bank is under the influence of two climate regions (The Mediterranean Sea climate and the Semi-Desert climate). The Mediterranean Sea climate influences all of the West Bank except for the Jordan Valley region that follows, mainly, the Semi-Desert climate, and partially, the Dry Tropical climate. The Gaza strip is affected by the climate of the Mediterranean Sea and the semi desert climate of the Sinai desert.
It is also possible to divide Palestine into four different climate regions:
The Mediterranean Sea climate: Comprised of the coastal planes and the series of mountains and middle hills that are characterized by rainy winters that continues about six months, and hot and dry summers. The average of rainfall is 250-1000mm annually.
The Semi-desert climate.
The desert climate.
The Dry Tropical climate in the Jordan Valley (warm winter and hot, dry summer).
Temperature:
The average temperature in the region of the Mediterranean Sea is between 17-19 degrees Celsius. The average temperature in the Jordan Valley is between 21-25 degrees Celsius. In the Gaza Strip the average temperature is between 13 degrees Celsius in the winter and 25 degrees Celsius in the summer.
Humidity:
The annual average relative humidity in the West Bank is 60-65%. In the winter relative humidity ranges from 70-75% in the mountains, 80% in the semi coastal regions, and 50-60% in the Jordan Valley. In the Gaza Strip the humidity is between 65% in the daylight and 85% at night in the summer and between 60% in the daylight to 80% at night in the winter.
Rainfall:
The average rainfall, annually, in the West Bank is 300-700mm, at which it concentrate in the winter season (60-70% of the annual average) and it distributes in the remaining months of the year except in the summer where there is no rain completely. The rainfall is often between December and April.
The average of rainfall in Gaza Strip is between 200-900mm, it occurs between the middle of January and the end of March, and the dry period is between June and September and the amount of the rainfall decreases from north to south (450mm in Beit Hanoun – 200mm in Rafah).
The wind:
The high-pressure controls the wind and its center is latitude 30 in the north and it is characterized by thermals that leads to a pure sky, but the seasonal changes in the distribution of the pressure, wind and the coming affects from the neighboring regions that contribute to create important adjustments on the climate conditions and give the chance to the air masses to reach from different sites and cause the rainfall in the winter.
Evaporation:
The semi coastal region has less evaporation than the mountain heights regions and the amount of the evaporated water annually is about 57.4 mm in Tulkarem, 82.6 mm in Jerusalem, and 104.5 mm in Jericho. The highest amount of evaporation occurs during the summer time and the average of daily evaporation in the Mediterranean shore is between 2.1 mm in January and 6.3 mm in July.
