Geography of Samarian Hill Country

Location

• Located between the Jezreel valley on the north and the Aijalon valley on the south
• Coastal plains are on the west and the Jordan river valley are on the east
• Ephraim denotes southern Samaria
• Manasseh denotes northern Samaria

City of Samaria in Samaria

• Names after Shemer, who first owned the land
• Built by King Omri in early 9th century, BC as the capital city to the northern kingdom of Israel
• Fell in 721 BC to expansion of Assyrian empire
• Destroyed by John Hyrcanus in 120 BC
• Bebuilt by Herod the Great ~30 BC

Climate

• Mediterranean with dry summers and wet winters (November - February)
• 24" of precipitation annually
• Average temperature of 63° F
• Hilly terrain leads to crops yielding olives, wine and nuts
• Fruit forests produce plums, peaches, apples and pears

Economy

• Mostly agricultural with some urban migration as people began working for the state of Israel in construction
• Now there is a refocusing on agriculture
• Some small-family businesses are in textiles, cement and soap

Population Demographics

• Difficult to obtain due to Samaria's integration with the rest of the West Bank region