NEGEV

desert region in southern half of israel; northeastern extension of the sinai desert.

The Negev is a triangular area with a maximum elevation of 3,300 feet and includes more than half of Israel's land area. The Negev Hills are a series of ranges with gentle northwesterly and steep south-easterly slopes. Some craters were formed by the erosion of upward-folded strata; they are 6 to 19 miles long, up to 3 miles wide, and surrounded on all sides by precipitous slopes. On their eastern side is an opening through which they drain into the Aravah Valley. August temperatures average 79°F, but they reach 90°F in the southern area and in Aravah. January temperatures average 52°F, reaching 59°F in the south and in Elat. The gateway from the north is the Negev's largest city, Beersheba, with a population estimated at 181,500 in 2002. To the south, the Negev opens onto the Gulf of Aqaba at Elat. The Negev has been irrigated in the northwest for agriculture; it contains some mineral resources, such as copper, phosphates, bromine, and potash, as well as natural gas and petroleum.

Under the British Mandate (1922–1948), the Negev was inhabited mainly by Bedouin. A few Jewish settlements were established by 1946. Control of the desert was contested by Arabs and Jews in the various partition plans. In 1947, the United Nations General Assembly's partition recommendation assigned parts of the Negev to the proposed Jewish state. In May 1948, Egyptian forces entered Gaza and the Negev in the opening days of the Arab-Israel War. With the conclusion of that war by armistice agreement in 1949, the Negev remained part of Israel. The late 1940s and early 1950s brought hundreds of thousands of immigrants to Israel. With an aggressive settlement program, by 2000 the Negev reached a population of more than 300,000.

see also arab–israel war (1948).

Bibliography

Gradus, Yehuda, et al. Atlas of the Negev. Jerusalem: Ben Gurion University of the Negev, 1986.

Levinson, Ester, and Yehuda, Gradus. Statistical Yearbook of the Negev. Beersheba: Negev Center for Regional Development and Negev Development Authority, 2000.

elizabeth thompson
updated by yehuda gradus