text:
Geography of Israel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Geography of Israel
Continent
Asia
Region
Levant
Coordinates
31°N 35°E / 31°N 35°E / 31; 35Coordinates: 31°N 35°E / 31°N 35°E / 31; 35
Area
Ranked 147th
• Total
20,770[1][2] km2 (8,020 sq mi)
• Land
97.88%
• Water
2.12%
Coastline
273[1] km (170 mi)
Borders
Egypt: 208 km[1]
Jordan: 307 km[1]
Lebanon: 81 km[1]
Syria: 83 km[1]
West Bank: 330 km[1]
Gaza Strip: 59 km[1]
Coastlines: 273 km[1]
Highest point
Mount Meron
Lowest point
Dead Sea
Longest river
Jordan River
Largest lake
Sea of Galilee
Climate
Mediterranean
Natural Resources
Offshore gas fields, Dead Sea minerals (potash, magnesium)
The geography of Israel is very diverse, with desert conditions in the south, and snow-capped mountains in the north. Israel is located at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea in western Asia.[1] It is bounded to the north by Lebanon, the northeast by Syria, the east by Jordan and the West Bank, and to the southwest by Egypt.[1] To the west of Israel is the Mediterranean Sea, which makes up the majority of Israel's 273 km (170 mi) coastline[3] and the Gaza Strip. Israel has a small coastline on the Red Sea in the south.
Israel's area is approximately 20,770 km2 (8,019 sq mi), which includes 445 km2 (172 sq mi) of inland water.[1][2][3] Israel stretches 424 km (263 mi) from north to south, and its width ranges from 114 km (71 mi) to, at its narrowest point, 15 km (9.3 mi).[3]
The Israeli-occupied territories include the West Bank, 5,879 km2 (2,270 sq mi), East Jerusalem, 70 km2 (27 sq mi) and the Golan Heights, 1,150 km2 (444 sq mi).[2] Geographical features in these territories will be noted as such. Of these areas, Israel has annexed East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, an act not recognised by the international community.
Southern Israel is dominated by the Negev desert, covering some 16,000 square kilometres (6,178 sq mi), more than half of the country's total land area. The north of the Negev contains the Judean Desert, which, at its border with Jordan, contains the Dead Sea which, at −417 m (−1,368 ft) is the lowest point on Earth. The inland area of central Israel is dominated by the Judean Hills of the West Bank, whilst the central and northern coastline consists of the flat and fertile Israeli coastal plain. Inland, the northern region contains the Mount Carmel mountain range, which is followed inland by the fertile Jezreel Valley, and then the hilly Galilee region. The Sea of Galilee is located beyond this, and is bordered to the east by the Golan Heights, a plateau bordered to the north by the Israeli-occupied part of the Mount Hermon massif, which includes the highest point under Israel's control, a peak of 2,224 meters (7,297 ft). The highest point in territory internationally recognized as Israeli is Mount Meron at 1,208 meters (3,963 ft).[1]
Contents
[hide]
1 Location and boundaries
2 Physiographic regions
2.1 Coastal plain
2.2 Central hills
2.3 Jordan Rift Valley
2.4 Negev Desert
3 Geology
3.1 Seismic activity
4 Rivers and lakes
5 Selected elevations
6 Climate
6.1 Climate charts of different locations in Israel
7 Natural resources
8 Environmental concerns
9 Rural settlements
10 Islands
11 Human geography
12 Overshoot index
13 See also
14 References
15 External links
Location and boundaries
Main article: Borders of Israel
Israel on the world map
Israel lies to the north of the equator around 31°30' north latitude and 34°45' east longitude.[1] It measures 424 km (263 mi) from north to south[dubious – discuss] and, at its widest point 114 km (71 mi), from east to west.[1] At its narrowest point, however, this is reduced to just 15 km (9 mi). It has a land frontier of 1,017 km (632 mi) and a coastline of 273 km (170 mi).[1] It is ranked 153 on the List of countries and outlying territories by total area.[1]
Prior to the establishment of the British Mandate for Palestine, there was no clear-cut definition of the geographical and territorial limits of the area known as "Palestine." On the eve of World War I it was described by Encyclopædia Britannica as a "nebulous geographical concept."[4] The Sykes-Picot Treaty in 1916 divided the region that later became Palestine into four political units.[5] Under the British Mandate for Palestine, the first geo-political framework was created that distinguished the area from the larger countries that surrounded it. The boundary demarcation at this time did not introduce geographical changes near the frontiers and both sides of the border were controlled by the British administration.[6]
Modern Israel is bounded to the north by Lebanon, the northeast by Syria, the east by Jordan and the West Bank, and to the southwest by Egypt. To the west of Israel is the Mediterranean Sea, which makes up the majority of Israel's 273 km (170 mi) coastline and the Gaza Strip. Israel has a small coastline on the Red Sea in the south. The southernmost settlement in Israel is the city of Eilat whilst the northernmost is the town of Metula. The territorial waters of Israel extend into the sea to a distance of twelve nautical miles measured from the appropriate baseline.[1]
The statistics provided by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics include the annexed East Jerusalem and Golan Heights, but exclude the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The population of Israel includes Israeli settlers in the West Bank. The route of the Israeli West Bank barrier incorporates some parts of the West Bank.
Population (thousands)
Area (km2)
Name
Status Description
Israelis (incl. Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs in Israel proper, and incl. Israeli settlers in the Israeli-occupied territories)
Cumulative Total
Palestinians (incl. non-Israeli Palestinians residing legally in Israel)
Cumulative Total
Area
Cumulative Total
Israel (Green Line) Area sovereign to Israel since 1948 6,674[7] 6,674[7] 100–120 [8] 100–120 [8] 20,582[7] 20,582[7]
East Jerusalem Occupied and subject to Israeli law since 1967. Formal legislation on 1980 (see Jerusalem Law) 455[9] 7,129[7] 225 (double counted)[10] 225[7] 336[11] 20,918[7]
Golan Heights Occupied since 1967, subject to Israeli law since 1981 (see Golan Heights Law) 42[12] 7,172[12] n.a. n.a. (Syrians) 1,154[13] 22,072[13]
Seam Zone (West Bank) Area between the Green Line and the Israeli West Bank barrier. Occupied in 1967 188[14] 7,359[7] 35[14] 260[7] 200[11] 22,272[7]
Other Israeli settlements and IDF Military Areas (West Bank Area C) Other Israeli settlements (not in East Jerusalem or the Seam Zone) and areas in the West Bank directly controlled by the IDF. Occupied in 1967 57[7] 7,473[12] 115[15] 375[7] 2,961[16] 25,233[7]
Palestinian civil control (West Bank Areas A+B) Palestinian National Authority civil controlled area. Subject to "joint" military control with the IDF. Occupied in 1967 0 7,473[7] 2,311[17] 2,686[7] 2,143[15] 27,376[7]
Gaza Strip Palestinian governed area. Israel controls airspace, maritime border and its own border with Gaza. Occupied in 1967, unilaterally disengaged in 2005, declared a foreign entity in 2007. 0 7,473[7] 1,552[18] 4,238[7] 360[18] 27,736[7]
Physiographic regions
Geography of Israel
v
t
e
Galilee
Coastal
plain
Judaean
Mountains
Jordan
Valley
Negev
Levantine Sea
(Mediterranean)
Kinneret
Dead
Sea
Gulf
of Eilat
West
Bank
Gaza
Strip
Lebanon
Syria
Jordan
Egypt
Israel is divided into four physiographic regions: the Mediterranean coastal plain, the Central Hills, the Jordan Rift Valley and the Negev Desert.[1]
Coastal plain
Main article: Israeli coastal plain
The Israeli Coastal Plain stretches from the Lebanese border in the north to Gaza in the south, interrupted only by Cape Carmel at Haifa Bay.[19] It is about 40 kilometers (25 mi) wide at Gaza and narrows toward the north to about 5 kilometers (3.1 mi) at the Lebanese border.[19] The region is fertile and humid (historically malarial) and is known for its citrus orchards and viticulture.[19] The plain is traversed by several short streams. From north to south these are: Kishon, Hadera, Alexander, Poleg, and Yarkon. All of these streams were badly polluted, but in the last ten years much work has been done to clean them up.[dubious – discuss] Today the Kishon, Alexander and Yarkon again flow year round, and also have parks along their banks.[20]
Geographically, the region is divided into five sub-regions. The northernmost section lays between the Lebanese border, the Western Galilee to the east, and the sea. It stretches from Rosh HaNikra in the north and down to Haifa, Israel's third-largest city. It is a fertile region, and off the coast there are many small islands.[21] Along the Mount Carmel range is Hof HaCarmel, or the Carmel Coastal Plain. It stretches from the point where Mount Carmel almost touches the sea, at Haifa, and down to Nahal Taninim, a stream that marks the southern limit of the Carmel range. The Sharon Plain is the next section, running from Nahal Taninim (south of Zikhron Ya'akov) to Tel Aviv's Yarkon River. This area is Israel's most densely populated. South of this, running to Nahal Shikma, is the Central Coastal Plain, also known as the Western Negev. The last segment is the Southern Coastal Plain, which extends south around the Gaza Strip. It is divided into two – in the north, the Besor region, a savanna-type area with a relatively large number of communities, and south of it the Agur-Halutza region, which is very sparsely populated.[21]
Central hills
Judaean Mountains
Inland (east) of the coastal plain lies the central highland region.[19] In the north of this region lie the mountains and hills of Upper Galilee and Lower Galilee, which are generally 500 meters (1,640 ft) to 700 meters (2,297 ft) in height, although they reach a maximum height of 1,208 meters (3,963 ft) at Mount Meron.[19] South of the Galilee, in the West Bank, are the Samarian Hills with numerous small, fertile valleys rarely reaching the height of 800 meters (2,625 ft).[19] South of Jerusalem, also mainly within the West Bank, are the Judean Hills, including Mount Hebron.[19] The central highlands average 610 meters (2,001 ft) in height and reach their highest elevation at Har Meron, at 1,208 meters (3,963 ft), in Galilee near Safed.[19] Several valleys cut across the highlands roughly from east to west; the largest is the Jezreel Valley (also known as the Plain of Esdraelon), which stretches 48 kilometers (30 mi) from Haifa southeast to the valley of the Jordan River, and is 19 kilometers (12 mi) across at its widest point.[19]
Jordan Rift Valley
Main article: Jordan Rift Valley
Jordan Rift Valley
East of the central highlands lies the Jordan Rift Valley, which is a small part of the 6,500 kilometers (4,039 mi)-long Syrian-East African Rift.[19] In Israel the Rift Valley is dominated by the Jordan River, the Sea of Galilee (an important freshwater source also known as Lake Tiberias and Lake Kinneret), and the Dead Sea.[19] The Jordan, Israel's largest river (322 kilometers (200 mi)), originates in the Dan, Baniyas, and Hasbani rivers near Mount Hermon in the Anti-Lebanon Mountains and flows south through the drained Hula Basin into the freshwater Lake Tiberias. Lake Tiberias is 165 square kilometers (64 sq mi) in size and, depending on the season and rainfall, is at about 213 meters (699 ft) below sea level.[19] With a water capacity estimated at 3 cubic kilometers (0.72 cu mi), it serves as the principal reservoir of the National Water Carrier (also known as the Kinneret-Negev Conduit).[19] The Jordan River continues its course from the southern end of Lake Tiberias (forming the boundary between the West Bank and Jordan) to its terminus in the highly saline Dead Sea.[19] The Dead Sea is 1,020 square kilometers (394 sq mi) in size and, at 420 meters (1,378 ft) below sea level, is the lowest surface point on the earth.[19] South of the Dead Sea, the Rift Valley continues in the Arabah (Hebrew "Arava", Arabic "Wadi 'Arabah"), which has no permanent water flow, for 170 kilometers (106 mi) to the Gulf of Eilat.[19]
Negev Desert
Main article: Negev
Makhtesh Ramon
The Negev Desert comprises approximately 12,000 square kilometers (4,633 sq mi), more than half of Israel's total land area.[19] Geographically it is an extension of the Sinai Desert, forming a rough triangle with its base in the north near Beersheba, the Dead Sea, and the southern Judean Mountains, and it has its apex in the southern tip of the country at Eilat.[19] Topographically, it parallels the other regions of the country, with lowlands in the west, hills in the central portion, and the Arava valley as its eastern border.[19]
Unique to the Negev region are the craterlike makhteshim cirques; Makhtesh Ramon, Makhtesh Gadol and Makhtesh Katan.[22] The Negev is also sub-divided into five different ecological regions: northern, western and central Negev, the high plateau and the Arabah Valley.[23] The northern Negev receives 300 millimeters (11.8 in) of rain annually and has fairly fertile soils.[23] The western Negev receives 250 millimeters (9.8 in) of rain per year, with light and partially sandy soils.[23] The central Negev has an annual precipitation of 200 millimeters (7.9 in) and is characterized by impervious soil, allowing minimum penetration of water with greater soil erosion and water runoff.[23] This can result in rare flash floods during heavy rains as water runs across the surface of the impervious desert soil.[24] The high plateau area of Ramat HaNegev stands between 370 meters (1,214 ft) and 520 meters (1,706 ft) above sea level with extreme temperatures in summer and winter.[23] The area gets 100 millimeters (3.9 in) of rain each year, with inferior and partially salty soils.[23] The Arabah Valley along the Jordanian border stretches 180 kilometers (112 mi) from Eilat in the south to the tip of the Dead Sea in the north and is very arid with barely 50 millimeters (1.97 in) of rain annually.[23]
Geology
Rosh HaNikra chalk cliff
Israel is divided east-west by a mountain range running north to south along the coast. Jerusalem sits on the top of this ridge, east of which lies the Dead Sea graben which is a pull-apart basin on the Dead Sea Transform fault.[25]
The numerous limestone and sandstone layers of the Israeli mountains serve as aquifers through which water flows from the west flank to the east. Several springs have formed along the Dead Sea, each an oasis, most notably the oases at Ein Gedi and Ein Bokek (Neve Zohar) where settlements have developed.[25] Israel also has a number of areas of karst topography. Caves in the region have been used for thousands of years as shelter, storage rooms, barns and as places of public gatherings.[25]
The far northern coastline of the country has some chalk landscapes best seen at Rosh HaNikra, a chalk cliff into which a series of grottoes have been eroded.[26]
Seismic activity
Main article: List of earthquakes in the Levant
The Jordan Rift Valley is the result of tectonic movements within the Dead Sea Transform (DSF) fault system. The DSF forms the transform boundary between the African Plate to the west and the Arabian Plate to the east. The Golan Heights and all of Jordan are part of the Arabian Plate, while the Galilee, West Bank, Coastal Plain, and Negev along with the Sinai Peninsula are on the African Plate. This tectonic disposition leads to a relatively high seismic activity in the region.
The entire Jordan Valley segment is thought to have ruptured repeatedly, for instance during the last two major earthquakes along this structure in 749 and 1033. The deficit in slip that has built up since the 1033 event is sufficient to cause an earthquake of Mw~7.4.[27]
The most catastrophic earthquakes occurred in 31 BCE, 363, 749, and 1033 CE, that is every ca. 400 years on average.[28] Destructive earthquakes leading to serious loss of life strike about every 80 years.[29] While stringent construction regulations are currently in place and recently built structures are earthquake-safe, as of 2007 the majority of the buildings in Israel were older than these regulations and many public buildings as well as 50,000 residential buildings did not meet the new standards and were "expected to collapse" if exposed to a strong quake.[29] Given the fragile political situation of the Middle East region and the presence there of major holy sites, a quake reaching magnitude 7 on the Richter scale could have dire consequences for world peace.[28]
Rivers and lakes
Main articles: List of rivers of Israel and List of lakes of Israel
Israel's longest and most famous river is the 320-kilometre (199 mi) long River Jordan, which rises on the southern slopes of Mount Hermon in the Anti-Lebanon mountains.[30] The river flows south through the freshwater Sea of Galilee, and from there forms the boundary with the Kingdom of Jordan for much of its route, eventually emptying into the Dead Sea.[30] The northern tributaries to the Jordan are the Dan, Banias, and Hasbani.[30] Only the Dan is within undisputed Israel; the Hasbani flows from Lebanon and the Banias from territory captured from Syria in the Six-Day War.[30]
Lake Kinneret
The Sea of Galilee (also called the Kinneret) is Israel's largest and most important freshwater lake, located in the northeast of the country. The pear-shaped lake is 23 kilometres (14 mi) long from north to south, with a maximum width of 13 kilometres (8 mi) in the north, covering 166 square kilometers (64 sq mi). The Kinneret lies 207 meters (679 ft) below sea level and reaches depths of 46 meters (151 ft). In a previous geological epoch the lake was part of a large inland sea which extended from the Hula marshes in northern Israel to 64 kilometers (40 mi) south of the Dead Sea. The bed of the lake forms part of the Jordan Rift Valley.[31]
South of the Kinneret lies the saltwater Dead Sea which forms the border between Israel and Jordan and is 418 meters (1,371 ft) below sea level, making it the lowest water surface on Earth.[32] The Dead Sea is 67 kilometers (42 mi) long with a maximum width of 16 kilometers (10 mi) and also makes up part of the Rift Valley.[32] A peninsula juts out into the lake from the eastern shore, south of which the lake is shallow, less than 6 meters (19.7 ft) deep. To the north is the lake's greatest depth.[32]
There are no navigable, artificial waterways in Israel, although the National Water Carrier, a conduit for drinking water, might be classified as such. The idea of a channel connecting the Mediterranean and Dead Seas or the Red and Dead Seas has been discussed.[33]
Selected elevations
Mount Tabor
The following are selected elevations of notable locations, from highest to lowest:[34]
Location
Region
Elevation (feet)
Elevation (meters)
Mount Hermon Golan Heights (Israeli-occupied) 7,336 ft. 2,236 m.
Mount Meron Upper Galilee 3,964 ft. 1,208 m.
Mount Ramon Negev 3,396 ft. 1,035 m.
Mount of Olives East Jerusalem (Israeli-occupied) 2,739 ft. 835 m.
Mount Tabor Lower Galilee 1,930 ft. 588 m.
Mount Carmel Haifa 1,792 ft. 546 m.
Dead Sea Judean Desert – 1,368 ft. – 417 m.
Climate
Israel map of Köppen climate classification.
Snow in Galilee
Flash flood at Ein Avdat
Israel has a Mediterranean climate with long, hot, rainless summers and relatively short, cool, rainy winters (Köppen climate classification Csa).[35] The climate is as such due to Israel's location between the subtropical aridity of the Sahara and the Arabian deserts, and the subtropical humidity of the Levant and Eastern Mediterranean.[35] The climate conditions are highly variable within the state and modified locally by altitude, latitude, and the proximity to the Mediterranean.[35]
On average, January is the coldest month with average temperatures ranging from 6 to 15 °C (42.8 to 59.0 °F), and July and August are the hottest months at 22 to 33 °C (71.6 to 91.4 °F), on average across the country.[35] Summers are very humid along the Mediterranean coast but dry in the central highlands, the Rift Valley, and the Negev Desert. In Eilat, a desert city, summer daytime-temperatures are often the highest in the state, at times reaching 44 to 46 °C (111.2 to 114.8 °F). More than 70% of the average rainfall in Israel falls between November and March; June through September are usually rainless.[35] Rainfall is unevenly distributed, significantly lower in the south of the country.[35] In the extreme south, rainfall averages near 30 millimeters (1.18 in) annually; in the north, average annual rainfall exceeds 900 millimeters (35.4 in).[35] Rainfall varies from season to season and from year to year, particularly in the Negev Desert. Precipitation is often concentrated in violent storms, causing erosion and flash floods.[35] In winter, precipitation often takes the form of snow at the higher elevations of the central highlands, including Jerusalem.[35] Mount Hermon has seasonal snow which covers all three of its peaks in winter and spring. In rare occasions, snow gets to the northern mountain peaks and only in extremely rare occasions even to the coast. The areas of the country most cultivated are those receiving more than 300 millimeters (11.8 in) of rainfall annually, making approximately one-third of the country cultivable.[35]
Thunderstorms and hail are common throughout the rainy season and waterspouts occasionally hit the Mediterranean coast, capable of causing only minor damage. However, supercell thunderstorms and a true F2 tornado hit the Western Galilee in April 2006, causing significant damage and 75 injuries.[36]
Heat waves are frequent. 2010 was the hottest year in the history of Israel with absolute record high in several places in August. The heat became stronger from August when temperatures were considerably above the average. October and November were also dry, and November was almost rainless when it was supposed to be rainy.
Climate charts of different locations in Israel
Tel Aviv
Beit Dagan
Jerusalem
Haifa
Safed
Beersheba
Tiberias
Eilat
Tel Aviv
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D
127
17
9
90
18
10
61
19
12
18
23
14
2.6
25
17
0
28
21
0
29
23
0
30
24
0.4
29
23
26
27
19
79
23
15
126
19
11
Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
Precipitation totals in mm
Source: Israel Meteorological Service
[show]Imperial conversion
J F M A M J J A S O N D
5
63
48
3.5
64
50
2.4
67
53
0.7
73
58
0.1
77
63
0
82
69
0
85
73
0
86
75
0
85
73
1
81
66
3.1
74
58
5
67
52
Average max. and min. temperatures in °F
Precipitation totals in inches
Beit Dagan
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D
141
18
7
97
18
7
66
20
9
18
25
12
2.2
27
15
0
29
18
0
31
21
0
31
21
0.4
30
19
20
28
16
76
24
12
130
20
9
Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
Precipitation totals in mm
Source: Israel Meteorological Service
[show]Imperial conversion
J F M A M J J A S O N D
5.5
64
45
3.8
65
45
2.6
68
48
0.7
76
53
0.1
81
58
0
85
64
0
87
69
0
88
70
0
87
67
0.8
83
61
3
75
53
5.1
67
47
Average max. and min. temperatures in °F
Precipitation totals in inches
Jerusalem
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D
133
12
6
118
13
6
93
15
8
25
22
13
3.2
25
16
0
28
18
0
29
19
0
29
20
0.3
28
19
15
25
17
61
19
12
106
14
8
Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
Precipitation totals in mm
Source: Israel Meteorological Service
[show]Imperial conversion
J F M A M J J A S O N D
5.2
53
44
4.7
55
44
3.6
60
47
1
71
55
0.1
78
60
0
82
64
0
84
67
0
85
67
0
83
65
0.6
76
62
2.4
66
54
4.2
57
47
Average max. and min. temperatures in °F
Precipitation totals in inches
Haifa
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D
125
17
9
92
18
9
53
20
11
24
24
14
2.7
26
17
0
29
21
0
31
23
0
31
24
1.2
30
22
28
28
19
77
24
14
136
19
10
Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
Precipitation totals in mm
Source: Israel Meteorological Service
[show]Imperial conversion
J F M A M J J A S O N D
4.9
63
48
3.6
64
48
2.1
67
51
0.9
75
56
0.1
79
63
0
85
69
0
88
73
0
89
74
0
86
71
1.1
82
65
3
75
57
5.3
67
50
Average max. and min. temperatures in °F
Precipitation totals in inches
Safed
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D
159
9
5
130
10
4
95
13
6
43
20
11
5.7
25
14
0
28
17
0
30
19
0
30
19
1.5
28
18
25
24
15
86
17
10
136
12
6
Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
Precipitation totals in mm
Source: Israel Meteorological Service
[show]Imperial conversion
J F M A M J J A S O N D
6.3
49
40
5.1
50
40
3.7
56
43
1.7
67
51
0.2
77
58
0
83
63
0
86
66
0
86
66
0.1
83
64
1
75
59
3.4
62
51
5.3
53
44
Average max. and min. temperatures in °F
Precipitation totals in inches
Beersheba
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D
50
17
8
40
18
8
31
20
9
13
26
13
2.7
29
15
0
31
18
0
33
21
0
33
21
0.4
31
20
5.8
29
17
20
24
13
42
19
9
Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
Precipitation totals in mm
Source: Israel Meteorological Service
[show]Imperial conversion
J F M A M J J A S O N D
2
62
46
1.6
64
46
1.2
68
49
0.5
78
55
0.1
84
60
0
88
65
0
91
69
0
91
70
0
88
67
0.2
83
62
0.8
74
55
1.6
66
48
Average max. and min. temperatures in °F
Precipitation totals in inches
Tiberias
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D
90
18
10
73
19
9
57
23
11
20
28
14
4
33
18
0
36
20
0
38
23
0
38
23
0.6
36
22
14
32
19
50
26
15
81
20
11
Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
Precipitation totals in mm
Source: Israel Meteorological Service
[show]Imperial conversion
J F M A M J J A S O N D
3.6
65
49
2.9
67
49
2.3
73
51
0.8
83
58
0.2
92
64
0
97
69
0
100
73
0
100
74
0
97
71
0.5
90
66
2
78
59
3.2
68
52
Average max. and min. temperatures in °F
Precipitation totals in inches
Eilat
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D
3.5
21
10
5.8
22
11
3.7
26
14
1.7
31
18
1
35
22
0
39
24
0
40
26
0
40
26
0
37
25
3.5
33
21
3.5
27
16
6
22
11
Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
Precipitation totals in mm
Source: Israel Meteorological Service
[show]Imperial conversion
J F M A M J J A S O N D
0.1
69
49
0.2
72
51
0.1
78
56
0.1
88
64
0
96
71
0
102
76
0
104
79
0
104
79
0
99
76
0.1
91
70
0.1
81
60
0.2
72
52
Average max. and min. temperatures in °F
Precipitation totals in inches
Natural resources
Unlike much of the Middle East which is rich in lucrative crude oil, Israel has limited natural resources. These include copper, phosphates, bromide, potash, clay, sand, sulfur, asphalt, and manganese.[1] Small amounts of natural gas and crude oil are present, often too little to merit commercial extraction.[1] In 2009, significant reserves of natural gas were discovered at the Tamar 1 offshore drilling site, 90 kilometers west of Haifa. It is the largest natural gas reserve ever discovered in Israel.[37]
Environmental concerns
Ashdod dunes
Formerly polluted Kishon River after clean-up, 2010
Israel has a large number of environmental concerns ranging from natural hazards to man-made issues both resulting from ancient times to modern development. Natural hazards facing the country include sandstorms which sometimes occur during spring in the desert south, droughts which are usually concentrated in summer months, flash floods which create great danger in the deserts due to their lack of notice, and regular earthquakes, most of which are small, although there is a constant risk due to Israel's location along the Jordan Rift Valley.[1] Current environmental concerns include the lack of arable land and natural fresh water resources. Whilst measures have been taken to irrigate and grow in the desert, the amount of water needed here poses issues. Desertification is also a risk possible on the desert fringe, whilst air pollution from industrial and vehicle emissions and groundwater pollution from industrial and domestic waste are also issues facing the country.[1] Furthermore, the effects of the use of chemical fertilizers, and pesticides are issues facing the country.[1] Israel has signed many international environmental agreements and is party to:[1]
Convention on Biological Diversity
UNFCCC – Climate Change
United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna
Hazardous Wastes
Nuclear Test Ban
Montreal Protocol – Ozone Layer Protection
MARPOL 73/78 – Ship Pollution
Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially As Waterfowl Habitat
Signed but not ratified:
Kyoto Protocol
Marine Life Conservation
Rural settlements
View of Kibbutz Lotan
Israel's rural space includes several unique kinds of settlements, notably the moshav and the kibbutz.[38] Originally these were collective and cooperative settlements respectively.[38] Over time, the degree of cooperation in these settlements has decreased and in several of them the cooperative structure has been dismantled altogether.[38] All rural settlements and many small towns (some of which are dubbed "rurban settlements") are incorporated in regional councils. Land use in Israel is 17% arable land, 4% permanent crops, and 79% other uses.[1] As of 2003 1,940 square kilometers (749 sq mi) were irrigated.[1]
There are 242 Israeli settlements and civilian land use sites in the West Bank, 42 in the Golan Heights, and 29 in East Jerusalem.[1]
Islands
Israel currently has no offshore islands within its territorial waters. However, the Israeli government plans to build artificial islands off the coast to house an airport, a seaport, a desalination plant, a power plant, and a military testing base, as an answer to Israel's lack of space.[39][40]
Human geography
Further information: List of cities in Israel and Districts of Israel
Satellite image of Israel at night
As of 2013, the population of Israel is 8 million, 6,015,000 of them Jewish.[41]
For statistical purposes, the country has three metropolitan areas; Gush Dan-Tel Aviv (population 3,150,000), Haifa (population 996,000), and Beersheba (population 531,600).[42] Some argue that Jerusalem, Israel's largest city with a population of 763,600,[43] and Nazareth,[44] should also be classified as metropolitan areas. In total, Israel has 74 cities, 14 of which have populations of over 100,000. Other forms of local government in Israel are local councils of which there are 144 governing small municipalities generally over 2,000 in population,[45][46] and regional councils of which there are 53, governing a group of small communities over a relatively large geographical area.[45][47]
Israel's population is diverse demographically; 76% Jewish, 20% Arab, and 4% unaffiliated.[48] In terms of religion, 76% are Jewish, 16% Muslim, 2% Christian, 2% Druze, and 4% are unclassified by choice.[49] 8% of Israeli Jews are haredi; 9% are "religious", 12% "religious-traditionalists", 27% are "non-religious traditionalists", and 43% are "secular".[50] Other small, but notable groups in Israel, include Circassians of whom there are approximately 3,000 living mostly in two northern villages, 2,500 Lebanese, and 5,000 Armenians predominantly in Jerusalem.[51][52]
Overshoot index
Israel is ranked 34th in the world in terms of population density with, as noted, a climate of long, hot, rainless summers and relatively short, cool, rainy winters.[35] The Population Matters 2011 overshoot index[53] ranked Israel as the third most dependent region in the World after Singapore and Kuwait.
See also
Geography portal
Israel portal
Archaeology of Israel
Kurkar
Land of Israel
List of endemic flora of Israel
Maps of Ancient Israel
National parks and nature reserves of Israel
Outline of Israel
Tourism in Israel
Wildlife of Israel
References
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab "Israel". CIA World Factbook. Retrieved 8 April 2008.
^ Jump up to: a b c Federal Research Division (2004). Israel A Country Study (Paperback ed.). Kessinger Publishing, LLC. p. 8. ISBN 1-4191-2689-X.
^ Jump up to: a b c "Israel – Geography". U.S. Library of Congress. Retrieved 8 April 2008.
Jump up ^ An Empire in the Holy Land: Historical Geography of the British Administration in Palestine, 1917–1929, Gideon Biger, St. Martin's Press and Magnes Press, 1994, pp.40–41.
Jump up ^ An Empire in the Holy Land: Historical Geography of the British Administration in Palestine, 1917–1929, Gideon Biger, St. Martin's Press and Magnes Press, 1994, pp.46–52.
Jump up ^ An Empire in the Holy Land: Historical Geography of the British Administration in Palestine, 1917–1929, Gideon Biger, St. Martin's Press and Magnes Press, 1994, pp.67–69.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Figure calculated from other sourced figures in table
^ Jump up to: a b http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=14464&CategoryId=4
Jump up ^ Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies. "Jerusalem Statistical Yearbook 2009/10" (PDF). Retrieved 5 October 2010.
Jump up ^ Middle East Forum. "The Politics of Palestinian Demography". Retrieved 5 October 2010.
^ Jump up to: a b Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. "Barrier Report July 2009. Calculation based on East Jerusalem area of 346km2 being 97% west of the barrier, and 9.5% of the West bank including East Jerusalem being in the Seam Zone" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 October 2009. Retrieved 5 October 2010.
^ Jump up to: a b c Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. "Israeli Census data" (PDF). Retrieved 5 October 2010.
^ Jump up to: a b Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. "Israeli statistical Area data" (PDF). Retrieved 5 October 2010.
^ Jump up to: a b B'Tselem. "Separation Barrier Statistics". Retrieved 5 October 2010.
^ Jump up to: a b Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. "Area C Humanitarian Response Plan Fact Sheet September 2010. Assumes 35,000 Palestinians estimated by B'Tselem to be living in the Seam Zone are included in the 150,000 OCHA estimate" (PDF). Retrieved 5 October 2010.
Jump up ^ CIA World Factbook. "West Bank population. Based on total area of 5,640km2 including East Jerusalem and excluding water. Figure shown calculated from other figures sourced on page". Retrieved 5 October 2010.
Jump up ^ CIA World Factbook. "West Bank population. Assumes CIA World Factbook number excludes Israeli settlers but includes estimated 225k Palestinians living in East Jerusalem". Retrieved 5 October 2010.
^ Jump up to: a b CIA World Factbook. "Gaza Strip population. Excludes Israeli settlers, but includes estimated 225k Non-Israeli Palestinians in East Jerusalem". Retrieved 5 October 2010.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "Israel Topography". U.S. Library of Congress. Retrieved 8 April 2008.
Jump up ^ "River Restoration". Israel Ministry of the Environment. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
^ Jump up to: a b "The coastal plain". Retrieved 26 January 2008.
Jump up ^ "Makhteshim Country". UNESCO. Retrieved 8 April 2008.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g "Israel's Negev Desert". Archived from the original on 22 February 2008. Retrieved 8 April 2008.
Jump up ^ "Israel Natural Environment". Geckogo.com. Archived from the original on 2009-09-01.
^ Jump up to: a b c "Geology of Israel". Retrieved 8 April 2008.
Jump up ^ "Rosh HaNikra". JAFI. Archived from the original on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 8 April 2008.
Jump up ^ Ferry M.; Meghraoui M.; Karaki A.A.; Al-Taj M.; Amoush H.; Al-Dhaisat S.; Barjous M. (2008). "A 48-kyr-long slip rate history for the Jordan Valley segment of the Dead Sea Fault". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 260 (3—4): 394–406. Bibcode:2007E&PSL.260..394F. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2007.05.049.
^ Jump up to: a b American Friends of the Tel Aviv University, Earthquake Experts at Tel Aviv University Turn to History for Guidance (October 4, 2007). Quote: The major ones were recorded along the Jordan Valley in the years 31 B.C.E., 363 C.E., 749 C.E., and 1033 C.E. "So roughly, we are talking about an interval of every 400 years. If we follow the patterns of nature, a major quake should be expected any time because almost a whole millennium has passed since the last strong earthquake of 1033." (Tel Aviv University Associate Professor Dr. Shmuel (Shmulik) Marco). [1]
^ Jump up to: a b Zafrir Renat, Israel Is Due, and Ill Prepared, for Major Earthquake, Haaretz, 15 January 2010. "On average, a destructive earthquake takes place in Israel once every 80 years, causing serious casualties and damage." [2]
^ Jump up to: a b c d "River Jordan". Encarta. Archived from the original on 1 November 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2010.
Jump up ^ "Lake Tiberias". Encarta. Archived from the original on 1 November 2009. Retrieved 8 April 2008.
^ Jump up to: a b c "Dead Sea". Archived from the original on 1 November 2009. Retrieved 8 April 2008.
Jump up ^ "Dead Sea Canal". Retrieved 8 April 2008.
Jump up ^ Statistical Abstract of Israel, No. 58, 2007
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k "Climate". U.S. Library of Congress. Retrieved 8 April 2008.
Jump up ^ "'Mini-tornado' sweeps through western Galilee". Ynetnews. Retrieved 8 April 2008.
Jump up ^ Bar, Avi (18 January 2009). "Israel`s largest-ever reserve of natural gas discovered off Haifa coast". Haaretz.
^ Jump up to: a b c "Rural Settlement Geography of Israel" (PDF). Indiana State University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 April 2008. Retrieved 7 April 2008.
Jump up ^ "Israel considers building artificial islands – Israel Environment". Ynetnews. 20 June 1995.
Jump up ^ Ben, Ilan (17 June 2012). "Short on space, Israel looks to artificial islands". The Times of Israel.
Jump up ^ "CBS: Israel home to 8 Million citizens". Ynetnews.
Jump up ^ "Localities, Population, and Density" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 February 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2007.
Jump up ^ "Jerusalem: From Town to Metropolis". University of Southern Maine. Archived from the original on 7 March 2008. Retrieved 8 April 2008.
Jump up ^ "Initiated Development in the Nazareth Region". Archived from the original on 12 November 2007. Retrieved 8 April 2008.
^ Jump up to: a b Mahler, Gregory S. Politics and Government in Israel: The Maturation of a Modern State. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 229.
Jump up ^ Troen, Selwyn Ilan; Noah Lucas. Israel: The First Decade of Independence. SUNY Press. p. 496.
Jump up ^ Herzog, Hanna. Gendering Politics: Women in Israel. University of Michigan Press. p. 22.
Jump up ^ "Population by population group" (PDF). Israel CBS. Retrieved 8 April 2008.
Jump up ^ "Population by religion" (PDF). Israel CBS. Retrieved 8 April 2008.
Jump up ^ "Social Survey" (in Hebrew). Israel CBS. 2006. Retrieved 8 April 2008.
Jump up ^ "Circassians in Israel". Archived from the original on 14 March 2008. Retrieved 8 April 2008.
Jump up ^ "The Armenian Quarter". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 8 April 2008.
Jump up ^ "Overshoot Index 2011" (PDF). Population Matters. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 July 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Geography of Israel.
Wikimedia Atlas of Israel
Geographic data related to Israel at OpenStreetMap
Geography and Climate at the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs website
Geography and Nature at the Israel Ministry of Tourism website
Geography of Israel at the Jewish Virtual Library
Israel: Maps and Views at Curlie (based on DMOZ)
[show]
v
t
e
Geography of Israel
Districts
List of districts
Jerusalem District
Northern District
Haifa District
Central District
Tel Aviv District
Southern District
Judea and Samaria Area
Bodies of water
Sea of Galilee
Jordan River
Mediterranean Sea
Gulf of Eilat / Red Sea
Dead Sea
Occupied territories
West Bank
Golan Heights
Cities
List of cities
Jerusalem
Tel Aviv-Yafo
Haifa
Beersheba
Regions
Arabah
Bet Shean Valley
Galilee
Judea
Judaean Mountains
Hula Valley
Jezreel Valley
Jordan Valley
Negev
Samaria
Shephelah
Brook of Sorek
Coastal plain
Mount Carmel
Bordering nations
Lebanon
Syria
Jordan
Palestine
Egypt
Archaeology
Archaeology of Israel
[show]
v
t
e
Geography of Asia
Sovereign states
Afghanistan
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Bhutan
Brunei
Cambodia
China
Cyprus
East Timor (Timor-Leste)
Egypt
Georgia
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Israel
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
North Korea
South Korea
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Lebanon
Malaysia
Maldives
Mongolia
Myanmar
Nepal
Oman
Pakistan
Philippines
Qatar
Russia
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
Sri Lanka
Syria
Tajikistan
Thailand
Turkey
Turkmenistan
United Arab Emirates
Uzbekistan
Vietnam
Yemen
States with
limited recognition
Abkhazia
Artsakh
Northern Cyprus
Palestine
South Ossetia
Taiwan
Dependencies and
other territories
British Indian Ocean Territory
Christmas Island
Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Hong Kong
Macau
[show]
v
t
e
Israel articles
History
Antiquity
Second Temple period
Old Yishuv
Zionism
Yishuv
Independence
Arab–Israeli conflict
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Peace process
Timeline
by year
Geography
Borders
Cities
Districts
Lakes
Dead Sea
Sea of Galilee
Land of Israel
National parks and nature reserves
Rivers
Jordan River
Wildlife
Politics
Cabinet
Prime Minister
Elections
Foreign relations
Knesset (parliament)
Parties
Law
Basic Laws
Judiciary
President
System of government
Security
Censorship
Civil defense
Intelligence Community
Aman
Mossad
Shin Bet
Israel Defense Forces
Conscription
Structure
Police
Wars
West Bank barrier
Economy
Agriculture
Banking
Companies
Diamond industry
Energy
Science and technology
Taxation
Tel Aviv Stock Exchange
Tourism
Transport
Water supply and sanitation
Society
Aliyah
Crime
Demographics
People
Education
Healthcare
Human rights
Kibbutz
Languages
Hebrew
Arabic
Religion
Standard of living
Women
Culture
Archaeology
Architecture
Cinema
Cuisine
Literature
Media
Museums
Music
National symbols
Public holidays
Sport
Visual arts
World Heritage Sites
Outline
Index
Book
Category
Portal
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Geography_of_Israel&oldid=842593589"
Categories:
Geography of Israel
Geography of Palestine (region)
Hidden categories:
CS1 Hebrew-language sources (he)
Wikipedia pages under 30-500 editing restriction
Use dmy dates from June 2013
Coordinates not on Wikidata
All accuracy disputes
Articles with disputed statements from March 2018
Articles with disputed statements from January 2017
M w
Articles with Curlie links
Navigation menu
Personal tools
Not logged in
Talk
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Namespaces
Article
Talk
Variants
Views
Read
View source
View history
More
Search
Navigation
Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store
Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page
Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page
Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version
In other projects
Wikimedia Commons
Languages
العربية
Asturianu
Azərbaycanca
Български
Cebuano
Čeština
Dansk
Deutsch
Español
فارسی
Français
Bahasa Indonesia
Italiano
עברית
ქართული
Lietuvių
Norsk
Norsk nynorsk
Polski
Português
Română
Русский
Українська
Tiếng Việt
中文
16 more
Edit links
This page was last edited on 23 May 2018, at 12:40.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Cookie statement
Mobile view
Enable previews

key: html

type: local

value: div

values: mw-page-base noprint

values: mw-head-base noprint

value: a

value: img

attrs: alt src width height srcset data-file-width data-file-height

attrs: href title

values: This article is extended-confirmed protected

attrs: id class lang

values: firstHeading firstHeading en

values: siteSub noprint

values: jump-to-nav mw-jump

value: caption

attrs: href class

value: tr

value: th

value: span

values: Maps, aerial photos, and other data for this location

values: List of countries and dependencies by area

values:
/wiki/Judean_Desert
mw-redirect
Judean Desert

values:
/wiki/Judean_Hills
mw-redirect
Judean Hills

attrs: alt src width height class srcset data-file-width data-file-height

values: The material near this tag is possibly inaccurate or nonfactual. (March 2018)

values:
/wiki/Sykes-Picot_Treaty
mw-redirect
Sykes-Picot Treaty

values:
/wiki/Israeli_settlers
mw-redirect
Israeli settlers

values:
/wiki/Israeli_Arabs
mw-redirect
Israeli Arabs

values:
/wiki/Palestinian_people
mw-redirect
Palestinian people

values: position:absolute; font-size:85%; left:115px; top:80px

values: position:absolute; font-size:85%; left:62.2px; top:124px

values: position:absolute; font-size:85%; left:90.8px; top:157px

values: position:absolute; font-size:85%; left:132.6px; top:97.6px

values: position:absolute; font-size:85%; left:82px; top:245px

values: position:absolute; font-size:85%; left:27px; top:73.4px

values: position:absolute; font-size:85%; left:137px; top:60.2px

values: position:absolute; font-size:85%; left:139.2px; top:183.4px

values:
/wiki/Gulf_of_Eilat
mw-redirect
Gulf of Eilat

values: position:absolute; font-size:85%; left:64.4px; top:372.6px

values: position:absolute; font-size:85%; left:117.2px; top:124px

values: position:absolute; font-size:85%; left:42.4px; top:185.6px

values: position:absolute; font-size:85%; left:134.8px; top:3px

values: position:absolute; font-size:85%; left:194.2px; top:5.2px

values: position:absolute; font-size:85%; left:181px; top:168px

values: position:absolute; font-size:85%; left:27px; top:278px

values: width: 220px; float: right; clear: right; line-height: 1; text-align: center; background-color: #ffffff; position: relative; max-width: 100%; overflow-x: auto;

values:
/wiki/Israeli_Coastal_Plain
mw-redirect
Israeli Coastal Plain

values:
/wiki/Fertility_(soil)
mw-redirect
Fertility (soil)

values: The material near this tag is possibly inaccurate or nonfactual. (January 2017)

values:
/wiki/Western_Galilee
mw-redirect
Western Galilee

values:
/wiki/Sharon_Plain
mw-redirect
Sharon Plain

values:
/wiki/Highland_(geography)
mw-redirect
Highland (geography)

values:
/wiki/Plain_of_Esdraelon
mw-redirect
Plain of Esdraelon

values:
/wiki/Syrian-East_African_Rift
mw-redirect
Syrian-East African Rift

values:
/wiki/Dan_River_(Israel)
mw-redirect
Dan River (Israel)

values:
/wiki/Hulah_Valley
mw-redirect
Hulah Valley

values:
/wiki/National_Water_Carrier
mw-redirect
National Water Carrier

values:
/wiki/Sinai_peninsula
mw-redirect
Sinai peninsula

values:
/wiki/Makhtesh_Gadol
mw-redirect
Makhtesh Gadol

values:
/wiki/Makhtesh_Katan
mw-redirect
Makhtesh Katan

values:
/wiki/Karst_topography
mw-redirect
Karst topography

values:
/wiki/Anti-Lebanon_mountains
mw-redirect
Anti-Lebanon mountains

values:
/wiki/Kingdom_of_Jordan
mw-redirect
Kingdom of Jordan

values:
/wiki/Banias_River
mw-redirect
Banias River

values:
/wiki/Hasbani_river
mw-redirect
Hasbani river

values:
/wiki/Dead_Sea_canal_(disambiguation)
mw-redirect mw-disambig
Dead Sea canal (disambiguation)

values:
/wiki/Supercell_thunderstorms
mw-redirect
Supercell thunderstorms

values: Geography of Israel is located in Israel

attrs: alt src title width height srcset data-file-width data-file-height

values: Template:Climate chart/How to read a climate chart

values: padding: 2px; text-align: left; line-height: 1.5em; color: red

values: padding: 2px; text-align: left; line-height: 1.5em; color: blue

values: padding: 2px; text-align: left; line-height: 1.5em

values: width: 100%; margin: 0; float: left; clear: none; margin-left:0em;margin-right:1em; text-align: center; border: none; font-size: 90%

values: width: 19.5em; float: left; clear: none; margin-left:0em;margin-right:1em; text-align: center; border: solid 1px silver

values: width: 100%; margin: 0; float: left; clear: right; margin-left:0em;margin-right:1em; text-align: center; border: none; font-size: 90%

values: width: 19.5em; float: left; clear: right; margin-left:0em;margin-right:1em; text-align: center; border: solid 1px silver

values: United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

values:
/wiki/Nuclear_Test_Ban
mw-redirect
Nuclear Test Ban

values:
/wiki/Marine_Life_Conservation
mw-redirect
Marine Life Conservation

values:
/wiki/Kibbutz_Lotan
mw-redirect
Kibbutz Lotan

values:
/wiki/Tel_Aviv_Metropolitan_Area
mw-redirect
Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area

values:
/wiki/Israeli_Arab
mw-redirect
Israeli Arab

values: List of sovereign states and dependent territories by population density

values: display:table-cell;padding:0.2em 0.2em 0.2em 0.3em;vertical-align:middle

values: margin:0.5em 0 0.5em 1em;border:solid #aaa 1px

values:
/wiki/Maps_of_Ancient_Israel
mw-redirect
Maps of Ancient Israel

values: National parks and nature reserves of Israel

values:
nofollow
external text
http://countrystudies.us/israel/34.htm

values:
nofollow
external text
http://jiis.org/.upload/web%20C1009.pdf

values: Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

values:
nofollow
external text
http://countrystudies.us/israel/35.htm

values:
nofollow
external text
//doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.epsl.2007.05.049

values:
nofollow
external text
http://american.edu/ted/deadsea.htm

values:
nofollow
external text
http://countrystudies.us/israel/36.htm

values: -moz-column-width: 30em; -webkit-column-width: 30em; column-width: 30em; list-style-type: decimal;

values:
navbox-image
7
width:1px;padding:0px 0px 0px 2px

values: nowraplinks collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner

values:
/wiki/Geography_of_Northern_Cyprus
mw-redirect
Geography of Northern Cyprus

values: Geography of the Palestinian territories

values:
/wiki/Geography_of_South_Ossetia
mw-redirect
Geography of South Ossetia

values: Geography of the British Indian Ocean Territory

values:
/wiki/Geography_of_Christmas_Island
mw-redirect
Geography of Christmas Island

values: Geography of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands

values: Military Intelligence Directorate (Israel)

values: Structure and internal organization of the Israel Army

values:
/wiki/National_symbols_of_Israel
mw-redirect
National symbols of Israel

values: nowraplinks hlist collapsible collapsed navbox-inner

values: Category:Geography of Palestine (region)

values: Category:CS1 Hebrew-language sources (he)

values: Category:Wikipedia pages under 30-500 editing restriction

values: Category:Articles with disputed statements from March 2018

values: Category:Articles with disputed statements from January 2017

values: Discussion about edits from this IP address [ctrl-alt-n]

values: A list of edits made from this IP address [ctrl-alt-y]

values: You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory

values: You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [ctrl-alt-o]

values:
/wiki/Geography_of_Israel
View the content page [ctrl-alt-c]
c

values: Discussion about the content page [ctrl-alt-t]

values: p-namespaces navigation vectorTabs p-namespaces-label

values:
p-variants
navigation
vectorMenu emptyPortlet
p-variants-label

values:
This page is protected.
You can view its source [ctrl-alt-e]

values: Past revisions of this page [ctrl-alt-h]

values: p-views navigation vectorTabs p-views-label

values:
p-cactions
navigation
vectorMenu emptyPortlet
p-cactions-label

values:
mw-wiki-logo
/wiki/Main_Page
Visit the main page

values:
/wiki/Main_Page
Visit the main page [ctrl-alt-z]
z

values: Featured content – the best of Wikipedia

values: Find background information on current events

values:
/wiki/Special:Random
Load a random article [ctrl-alt-x]
x

values: portal navigation p-navigation p-navigation-label

values: Guidance on how to use and edit Wikipedia

values: About the project, what you can do, where to find things

values: A list of recent changes in the wiki [ctrl-alt-r]

values: portal navigation p-interaction p-interaction-label

values: List of all English Wikipedia pages containing links to this page [ctrl-alt-j]

values: Recent changes in pages linked from this page [ctrl-alt-k]

values:
/wiki/Wikipedia:File_Upload_Wizard
Upload files [ctrl-alt-u]
u

values: A list of all special pages [ctrl-alt-q]

values: Permanent link to this revision of the page

values: Link to connected data repository item [ctrl-alt-g]

values: Printable version of this page [ctrl-alt-p]

values: portal navigation p-wikibase-otherprojects p-wikibase-otherprojects-label

values: جغرافيا إسرائيل – Arabic

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-ast
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-az
display: none;

values: География на Израел – Bulgarian

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-bg
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-ceb
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-cs
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-da
display: none;

values: جغرافیای اسرائیل – Persian

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-fa
display: none;

values: גאוגרפיה של ארץ ישראל – Hebrew

values: ისრაელის გეოგრაფია – Georgian

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-ka
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-lt
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-nn
display: none;

values: География Израиля – Russian

values: Географія Ізраїлю – Ukrainian

values: interlanguage-link interwiki-uk badge-Q17437798 badge-goodarticle

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-vi
display: none;

values: mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject page-Geography_of_Israel rootpage-Geography_of_Israel skin-vector action-view


text:
History of sugar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
A sugarloaf was the traditional shape of sugar in the eighteenth century: a semi-hard sugar cone that required a sugar axe or hammer to break up and sugar nips to reduce to usable pieces
Sugar is a common part of human life. From the time of its invention, refined sugar has been a part of our day-to-day life. Sugar was first produced from sugarcane plants in northern India sometime after the first century.[1] The derivation of the word “sugar” is thought to have been from Sanskrit and Sanskrit literature from India, written between 1500 - 500 B.C., provides the first documentation of the cultivation of sugar cane and manufacture of sugar in the Bengal region of India. The Sanskrit name for a crudely made sugar substance was guda, meaning “to make into a ball or to conglomerate.”
The history of sugar has five main phases:
The extraction of sugar cane juice from the sugarcane plant; and, the subsequent domestication of the plant in tropical Southeast Asia sometime around 8,000 B.C.
The invention of manufacture of cane sugar granules from the sugarcane juice in India a little over two thousand years ago, followed by improvements in refining the crystal granules in India in the early centuries A.D.
The spread of cultivation and manufacture of cane sugar to the medieval Islamic world together with some improvements of production methods.
The spread of cultivation and manufacture of cane sugar to the West Indies and tropical parts of the Americas beginning in the 16th century, followed by more intensive improvements in production in the 17th through 19th centuries in that part of the world.
The development of beet sugar, high fructose corn syrup and other sweeteners in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Known worldwide through the end of the medieval period, sugar was very expensive[2] and was considered a "fine spice",[3] but from about the year 1500, technological improvements and New World sources began turning it into a much cheaper bulk commodity.[4]
Contents
[hide]
1 The spread of sugarcane cultivation
2 Early use of sugarcane in India
3 Cane sugar in the medieval era in the Muslim World and Europe
4 Sugar cultivation in the New World
5 The rise of beet sugar
6 Mechanization
7 Other sweeteners
8 See also
9 Notes
10 Bibliography
The spread of sugarcane cultivation[edit]
Saccharum officinarum - sugar cane
The people of New Guinea were probably the first to domesticate sugarcane, sometime around 8,000 BC.[5] After domestication, its cultivation spread rapidly to Southeast Asia and southern China. India, where the process of refining cane juice into granulated crystals was developed, was often visited by imperial convoys (such as those from China) to learn about cultivation and sugar refining. [6] By the sixth century AD, sugar cultivation and processing had reached Persia; and, from there that knowledge was brought into the Mediterranean by the Arab expansion.[7] "Wherever they went, the [medieval] Arabs brought with them sugar, the product and the technology of its production."[8]
Spanish and Portuguese exploration and conquest in the fifteenth century carried sugar south-west of Iberia. Henry the Navigator introduced cane to Madeira in 1425, while the Spanish, having eventually subdued the Canary Islands, introduced sugar cane to them.[7] In 1493, on his second voyage, Christopher Columbus carried sugarcane seedlings to the New World, in particular Hispaniola.[7]
Early use of sugarcane in India[edit]
Sugarcane originated in tropical South Asia and Southeast Asia.[9] Different species likely originated in different locations with S. barberi originating in India and S. edule and S. officinarum coming from New Guinea.[9]
Originally, people chewed sugarcane raw to extract its sweetness. Indians discovered how to crystallize sugar during the Gupta dynasty, around 350 AD.[10]
There are lot of mentions in Tamil sangam literatures like Purananuru, Ainkurunuru, Perumpaanaatruppadai, Paṭṭiṉappālai and Akananuru about cultivation of sugarcane, sugarcane juice extraction using machines and sugar extraction in Tamil land of South India. It is mentioned in puranaanooru (392), the sugar cane is brought to Tamil land in Sanga era from an unknown place. In Purananuru and Ainkurunuru, sugarcane juice extraction with use of huge machineries was compared with the sound made by elephants and the smoke produced during the process of making of sugar spread over a heap of unwinnowed paddy was like clouds over mountains.
Indian sailors, consumers of clarified butter and sugar, carried sugar by various trade routes.[11] Traveling Buddhist monks brought sugar crystallization methods to China.[12] During the reign of Harsha (r. 606–647) in North India, Indian envoys in Tang China taught sugarcane cultivation methods after Emperor Taizong of Tang (r. 626–649) made his interest in sugar known, and China soon established its first sugarcane cultivation in the seventh century.[13] Chinese documents confirm at least two missions to India, initiated in 647 AD, for obtaining technology for sugar-refining.[14] In South Asia, the Middle East and China, sugar became a staple of cooking and desserts. In the year 1792, sugar rose by degrees to an enormous price in Great Britain. The East India Company was then called upon to lend their assistance to help in the lowering of the price of sugar. On 15 March 1792, his Majesty's Ministers to the British Parliament, presented a report related to the production of refined sugar in British India. Lieutenant J. Paterson, of the Bengal establishment, reported that refined sugar could be produced in India[15] with many superior advantages, and a lot more cheaply than in the West Indies.
Early refining methods involved grinding or pounding the cane in order to extract the juice, and then boiling down the juice or drying it in the sun to yield sugary solids that looked like gravel. The Sanskrit word for "sugar" (sharkara) also means "gravel" or "sand". Similarly, the Chinese use the term "gravel sugar" (Traditional Chinese: 砂糖) for what the West knows as "table sugar".
Cane sugar in the medieval era in the Muslim World and Europe[edit]
The westward diffusion of sugarcane in pre-Islamic times (shown in red), in the medieval Muslim world (green) and by Europeans in the 15th century (islands circled by violet lines)[16]
There are records of knowledge of sugar among the ancient Greeks and Romans, but only as an imported medicine, and not as a food. For example, the Greek physician Dioscorides in the 1st century (AD) wrote: "There is a kind of coalesced honey called sakcharon [i.e. sugar] found in reeds in India and Eudaimon Arabia [i.e. Yemen[17]] similar in consistency to salt and brittle enough to be broken between the teeth like salt. It is good dissolved in water for the intestines and stomach, and [can be] taken as a drink to help [relieve] a painful bladder and kidneys."[18] Pliny the Elder, a 1st-century (AD) Roman, also described sugar as medicinal: "Sugar is made in Arabia as well, but Indian sugar is better. It is a kind of honey found in cane, white as gum, and it crunches between the teeth. It comes in lumps the size of a hazelnut. Sugar is used only for medical purposes."[19]
During the medieval era, Arab entrepreneurs adopted sugar production techniques from India and expanded the industry. Medieval Arabs in some cases set up large plantations equipped with on-site sugar mills or refineries. The cane sugar plant, which is native to a tropical climate, requires both a lot of water and a lot of heat to thrive. The cultivation of the plant spread throughout the medieval Arab world using artificial irrigation. Sugar cane was first grown extensively in medieval Southern Europe during the period of Arab rule in Sicily beginning around the 9th century known as the Emirate of Sicily .[20][21] In addition to Sicily, Spain which at the time was known as Al-Andalus was an important center of sugar production [22] beginning in the 9th century.[23] Sugar was exported throughout Europe. The volume of imports increased in the later medieval centuries as indicated by the increasing references to sugar consumption in late medieval Western writings. But cane sugar remained an expensive import. Its price per pound in 14th and 15th century England was about equally as high as imported spices from tropical Asia such as mace (nutmeg), ginger, cloves, and pepper, which had to be transported across the Indian Ocean in that era.[2]
Ponting traces the spread of the cultivation of sugarcane from its introduction into Mesopotamia, then the Levant and the islands of the eastern Mediterranean, especially Cyprus, by the 10th century.[24] He also notes that it spread along the coast of East Africa to reach Zanzibar.[24]
Crusaders brought sugar home with them to Europe after their campaigns in the Holy Land, where they encountered caravans carrying "sweet salt". Early in the 12th century, Venice acquired some villages near Tyre and set up estates to produce sugar for export to Europe, where it supplemented honey as the only other available sweetener.[25] Crusade chronicler William of Tyre, writing in the late 12th century, described sugar as "a most precious product, very necessary for the use and health of mankind".[26] The first record of sugar in English is in the late 13th century.[27]
Ponting recounts the reliance on slavery of the early European sugar entrepreneurs:
The crucial problem with sugar production was that it was highly labour-intensive in both growing and processing. Because of the huge weight and bulk of the raw cane it was very costly to transport, especially by land, and therefore each estate had to have its own factory. There the cane had to be crushed to extract the juices, which were boiled to concentrate them, in a series of backbreaking and intensive operations lasting many hours. However, once it had been processed and concentrated, the sugar had a very high value for its bulk and could be traded over long distances by ship at a considerable profit. The [European sugar] industry only began on a major scale after the loss of the Levant to a resurgent Islam and the shift of production to Cyprus under a mixture of Crusader aristocrats and Venetian merchants. The local population on Cyprus spent most of their time growing their own food and few would work on the sugar estates. The owners therefore brought in slaves from the Black Sea area (and a few from Africa) to do most of the work. The level of demand and production was low and therefore so was the trade in slaves — no more than about a thousand people a year. It was not much larger when sugar production began in Sicily.
In the Atlantic ocean [the Canaries, Madeira, and the Cape Verde Islands], once the initial exploitation of the timber and raw materials was over, it rapidly became clear that sugar production would be the most profitable way of getting money from the new territories. The problem was the heavy labour involved because the Europeans refused to work except as supervisors. The solution was to bring in slaves from Africa. The crucial developments in this trade began in the 1440's...[25]
During the 1390s, a better press was developed, which doubled the amount of juice that was obtained from the sugarcane and helped to cause the economic expansion of sugar plantations to Andalusia and to the Algarve. It started in Madeira in 1455, using advisers from Sicily and (largely) Genoese capital for the mills. The accessibility of Madeira attracted Genoese and Flemish traders keen to bypass Venetian monopolies. "By 1480 Antwerp had some seventy ships engaged in the Madeira sugar trade, with the refining and distribution concentrated in Antwerp. The 1480's saw sugar production extended to the Canary Islands. By the 1490's Madeira had overtaken Cyprus as a producer of sugar."[28] African slaves also worked in the sugar plantations of the Kingdom of Castile around Valencia.[28]
In the 16th century Rabbi Yosef Karo, the author of the Shulchan Aruch, the code of Jewish law, mentions the use of sugar mixed with the juice of lemons and water by Jews in Cairo, Egypt to make lemonade on Sabbath. (Orech Chayim, Hilchot Shabbat)
Sugar cultivation in the New World[edit]
The Triangular trade - slaves were imported into the Caribbean Islands to plant and harvest sugar cane.
See also: Slavery in the British and French Caribbean
The Portuguese took sugar to Brazil. By 1540, there were 800 cane sugar mills in Santa Catarina Island and there were another 2,000 on the north coast of Brazil, Demarara, and Surinam. The first sugar harvest happened in Hispaniola in 1501; and many sugar mills had been constructed in Cuba and Jamaica by the 1520s.[29]
The approximately 3,000 small sugar mills that were built before 1550 in the New World created an unprecedented demand for cast iron gears, levers, axles and other implements. Specialist trades in mold-making and iron casting developed in Europe due to the expansion of sugar production. Sugar mill construction sparked development of the technological skills needed for a nascent industrial revolution in the early 17th century.[29]
After 1625, the Dutch carried sugarcane from South America to the Caribbean islands, where it was grown from Barbados to the Virgin Islands.
Contemporaries often compared the worth of sugar with valuable commodities including musk, pearls, and spices. Sugar prices declined slowly as its production became multi-sourced, especially through British colonial policy. Formerly an indulgence of only the rich, the consumption of sugar also became increasingly common among the poor as well. Sugar production increased in mainland North American colonies, in Cuba, and in Brazil. The labour force at first included European indentured servants and local Native American slaves. However, European diseases such as smallpox and African ones such as malaria and yellow fever soon reduced the numbers of local Native Americans.[29] Europeans were also very susceptible to malaria and yellow fever, and the supply of indentured servants was limited. African slaves became the dominant source of plantation workers because they were more resistant to malaria and yellow fever, and because the supply of slaves was abundant on the African coast.[30][31]
During the 18th century, sugar became enormously popular. Britain, for example, consumed five times as much sugar in 1770 as in 1710.[32] By 1750 sugar surpassed grain as "the most valuable commodity in European trade — it made up a fifth of all European imports and in the last decades of the century four-fifths of the sugar came from the British and French colonies in the West Indies."[32] The sugar market went through a series of booms. The heightened demand and production of sugar came about to a large extent due to a great change in the eating habits of many Europeans. For example, they began consuming jams, candy, tea, coffee, cocoa, processed foods, and other sweet victuals in much greater amount. Reacting to this increasing craze, the islands took advantage of the situation and set about producing still more sugar. In fact, they produced up to ninety percent of the sugar that the western Europeans consumed. Some islands proved more successful than others when it came to producing the product. In Barbados and the British Leeward Islands sugar provided 93% and 97% respectively of exports.
Planters later began developing ways to boost production even more. For example, they began using more farming methods when growing their crops. They also developed more advanced mills and began using better types of sugarcane. In the eighteenth century "the French colonies were the most successful, especially Saint-Domingue, where better irrigation, water-power and machinery, together with concentration on newer types of sugar, increased profits."[32] Despite these and other improvements, the price of sugar reached soaring heights, especially during events such as the revolt against the Dutch[33] and the Napoleonic Wars. Sugar remained in high demand, and the islands' planters knew exactly how to take advantage of the situation.
A 19th-century lithograph by Theodore Bray showing a sugarcane plantation. On right is "white officer", the European overseer. Slave workers toil during the harvest. To the left is a flat-bottomed vessel for cane transportation.
As Europeans established sugar plantations on the larger Caribbean islands, prices fell, especially in Britain. By the 18th century all levels of society had become common consumers of the former luxury product. At first most sugar in Britain went into tea, but later confectionery and chocolates became extremely popular. Many Britons (especially children) also ate jams.[34] Suppliers commonly sold sugar in the form of a sugarloaf and consumers required sugar nips, a pliers-like tool, to break off pieces.
Sugarcane quickly exhausts the soil in which it grows, and planters pressed larger islands with fresher soil into production in the nineteenth century as demand for sugar in Europe continued to increase: "average consumption in Britain rose from four pounds per head in 1700 to eighteen pounds in 1800, thirty-six pounds by 1850 and over one hundred pounds by the twentieth century."[35] In the 19th century Cuba rose to become the richest land in the Caribbean (with sugar as its dominant crop) because it formed the only major island landmass free of mountainous terrain. Instead, nearly three-quarters of its land formed a rolling plain — ideal for planting crops. Cuba also prospered above other islands because Cubans used better methods when harvesting the sugar crops: they adopted modern milling methods such as watermills, enclosed furnaces, steam engines, and vacuum pans. All these technologies increased productivity. Cuba also retained slavery longer than the most of the rest of the Caribbean islands.[36]
After the Haitian Revolution established the independent state of Haiti, sugar production in that country declined and Cuba replaced Saint-Domingue as the world's largest producer.
Hacienda La Fortuna. A sugar mill complex in Puerto Rico, painted by Francisco Oller in 1885. Brooklyn Museum
Long established in Brazil, sugar production spread to other parts of South America, as well as to newer European colonies in Africa and in the Pacific, where it became especially important in Fiji. Mauritius, Natal and Queensland in Australia started growing sugar. The older and newer sugar production areas now tended to use indentured labour rather than slaves, with workers "shipped across the world ... [and] ... held in conditions of near slavery for up to ten years... In the second half of the nineteenth century over 450,000 indentured labourers went from India to the British West Indies, others went to Natal, Mauritius and Fiji (where they became a majority of the population). In Queensland workers from the Pacific islands were moved in. On Hawaii, they came from China and Japan. The Dutch transferred large numbers of people from Java to Surinam."[37] It is said that the sugar plantations would not have thrived without the aid of the African slaves. In Colombia, the planting of sugar started very early on, and entrepreneurs imported many African slaves to cultivate the fields. The industrialization of the Colombian industry started in 1901 with the establishment of Manuelita, the first steam-powered sugar mill in South America, by Latvian Jewish immigrant James Martin Eder.
The rise of beet sugar[edit]
Sugar refinery in Šurany (Slovakia) founded in 1854 (a picture is from 1900).
More information in the History section at Sugar beet
In 1747 the German chemist Andreas Marggraf identified sucrose in beet root.[38] This discovery remained a mere curiosity for some time, but eventually Marggraf's student Franz Achard built a sugar beet processing factory at Cunern in Silesia (in present-day Konary in Poland), under the patronage of King Frederick William III of Prussia (reigned 1797–1840). While never profitable, this plant operated from 1801 until it suffered destruction during the Napoleonic Wars (ca. 1802–1815).
Napoleon, cut off from Caribbean imports by a British blockade, and at any rate not wanting to fund British merchants, banned imports of sugar in 1813. A beet sugar industry emerged, especially after Jean-Baptiste Quéruel industrialized the operation of Benjamin Delessert.
In the developed countries, the sugar industry relies on machinery with a low requirement for manpower. A large beet refinery producing around 1,500 tonnes of sugar a day needs a permanent workforce of about 150 for 24-hour production.
Sugar beets provide approximately 30% of world sugar production.
Mechanization[edit]
Beginning in the late 18th century, the production of sugar became increasingly mechanized. The steam engine first powered a sugar mill in Jamaica in 1768, and soon after, steam replaced direct firing as the source of process heat.
In 1813 the British chemist Edward Charles Howard invented a method of refining sugar that involved boiling the cane juice not in an open kettle, but in a closed vessel heated by steam and held under partial vacuum. At reduced pressure, water boils at a lower temperature, and this development both saved fuel and reduced the amount of sugar lost through caramelization. Further gains in fuel-efficiency came from the multiple-effect evaporator, designed by the United States engineer Norbert Rillieux (perhaps as early as the 1820s, although the first working model dates from 1845). This system consisted of a series of vacuum pans, each held at a lower pressure than the previous one. The vapors from each pan served to heat the next, with minimal heat wasted. Modern industries use multiple-effect evaporators for evaporating water.
The process of separating sugar from molasses also received mechanical attention: David Weston first applied the centrifuge to this task in Hawaii in 1852.
Other sweeteners[edit]
See also: Sugar substitute
Cyclamate-based sugar substitute sold in Canada.
In the United States and Japan, high-fructose corn syrup has replaced sugar in some uses, particularly in soft drinks and processed foods.
The process by which high-fructose corn syrup is produced was first developed by Richard O. Marshall and Earl R. Kooi in 1957.[39] The industrial production process was refined by Dr. Y. Takasaki at Agency of Industrial Science and Technology of Ministry of International Trade and Industry of Japan in 1965–1970. High-fructose corn syrup was rapidly introduced to many processed foods and soft drinks in the United States from around 1975 to 1985.
A system of sugar tariffs and sugar quotas imposed in 1977 in the United States significantly increased the cost of imported sugar and U.S. producers sought cheaper sources. High-fructose corn syrup, derived from corn, is more economical because the domestic U.S. and Canadian prices of sugar are twice the global price[40] and the price of corn is kept low through government subsidies paid to growers.[41][42] High-fructose corn syrup became an attractive substitute, and is preferred over cane sugar among the vast majority of American food and beverage manufacturers. Soft drink makers such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi use sugar in other nations, but switched to high-fructose corn syrup in the United States in 1984.[43]
The average American consumed approximately 37.8 lb (17.1 kg) of high-fructose corn syrup in 2008, versus 46.7 lb (21.2 kg) of sucrose.[44]
In recent years it has been hypothesized that the increase of high-fructose corn syrup usage in processed foods may be linked to various health conditions, including metabolic syndrome, hypertension, dyslipidemia, hepatic steatosis, insulin resistance, and obesity. However, there is to date little evidence that high-fructose corn syrup is any unhealthier, calorie for calorie, than sucrose or other simple sugars. The fructose content and fructose:glucose ratio of high-fructose corn syrup do not differ markedly from clarified apple juice.[45] Some researchers hypothesize that fructose may trigger the process by which fats are formed, to a greater extent than other simple sugars.[46] However, most commonly used blends of high-fructose corn syrup contain a nearly one-to-one ratio of fructose and glucose, just like common sucrose, and should therefore be metabolically identical after the first steps of sucrose metabolism, in which the sucrose is split into fructose and glucose components. At the very least, the increasing prevalence of high-fructose corn syrup has certainly led to an increase in added sugar calories in food, which may reasonably increase the incidence of these and other diseases.[47]
See also[edit]
Food portal
History portal
Castillo Serrallés
Hacienda Mercedita
Food history
Sugar Museum (Berlin)
Notes[edit]
Jump up ^ * Sato, Tsugitaka (2014). Sugar in the Social Life of Medieval Islam. BRILL. p. 01. ISBN 9789004277526.
^ Jump up to: a b One source for the price of cane sugar in late medieval England is the annual account books of a large abbey at Durham, which recorded the purchases of many different goods for use in the abbey, including sugar and various spices, giving the quantity bought and the price paid, with records existing for many years in the 14th and 15th centuries. Selections from these account books are online in two volumes at Archive.org: Extracts from the Account Rolls of the Abbey of Durham. In the Durham Abbey account books the word for sugar is spelled Zuker (year 1299), succre (1309), sucore (1311), Zucar (1316), suker (1323), Zuccoris (1326), Succoris (1329), sugre (1363), suggir (1440).
Jump up ^ Bernstein 2009, p. 205.
Jump up ^ Bernstein 2009, p. 207.
Jump up ^ "Sugar". ngm.nationalgeographic.com. Retrieved 2017-11-17.
Jump up ^ SKIL 2014, p. [1].
^ Jump up to: a b c Parker 2011, p. 10.
Jump up ^ Mintz 1986, p. 25.
^ Jump up to: a b Sharpe 1998.
Jump up ^ Adas 2001, p. 2341.
Jump up ^ Adas 2001, p. 311.
Jump up ^ Kieschnick 2003.
Jump up ^ Sen 2003, pp. 38–40.
Jump up ^ Kieschnick 2003, p. 258.
Jump up ^ bihargatha.in
Jump up ^ Watson, Andrew. Agricultural innovation in the early Islamic world. Cambridge University Press. p. 26–7.
Jump up ^ There is no evidence from Yemen itself that sugarcane was cultivated in Yemen before the start of the Islamic era. There is plentiful evidence that Yemen imported goods from India in the pre-Islamic era (see e.g. Periplus of the Erythrean Sea). Hence historians today tend to believe that when Dioscorides was writing in the 1st century AD, Yemen imported sugar from India; and, that it did not produce it locally, and that the sugar that Dioscorides obtained in Greece was an import from Yemen but ultimately became an import from India. The Sugar Cane Industry: An Historical Geography from its Origins to 1914, by J.H. Galloway, year 1989, page 24.
Jump up ^ Quoted from Book Two of Dioscorides' Materia Medica. The book is downloadable from links at the Wikipedia Dioscorides page.
Jump up ^ Patrick Faas (2003). Around the Roman Table: Food and Feasting in Ancient Rome. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 149.
Jump up ^ Sato 2014, p. 30.
Jump up ^ "Sugar Cane in Sicily — Best of Sicily Magazine". www.bestofsicily.com. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
Jump up ^ Sato 2014, p. 31.
Jump up ^ "Page not found". Canal UGR. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
^ Jump up to: a b Ponting 2000, p. 353.
^ Jump up to: a b Ponting 2000, p. 481.
Jump up ^ Barber, Malcolm (2004). The two cities: medieval Europe, 1050–1320 (2nd ed.). Routledge. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-415-17415-2.
Jump up ^ UMich Middle English Dictionary.
^ Jump up to: a b Ponting 2000, p. 482.
^ Jump up to: a b c Benitez-Rojo 1996, p. 93.
Jump up ^ Watts 2001.
Jump up ^ Wood 1996, p. 89.
^ Jump up to: a b c Ponting 2000, p. 510.
Jump up ^ On the Caribbean island of Curaçao, there were slave rebellions in 1716, 1750, 1774, and 1795, the latter led by the slave Tula.
Jump up ^ Wilson 2011.
Jump up ^ Ponting 2000, p. 698.
Jump up ^ Ponting 2000, pp. 698–9.
Jump up ^ Ponting 2000, p. 739.
Jump up ^ Marggraf (1747) "Experiences chimiques faites dans le dessein de tirer un veritable sucre de diverses plantes, qui croissent dans nos contrées" [Chemical experiments made with the intention of extracting real sugar from diverse plants that grow in our lands], Histoire de l'académie royale des sciences et belles-lettres de Berlin, pages 79-90.
Jump up ^ Marshall & Kooi 1957.
Jump up ^ Tom Philpott (10 May 2006). "ADM, high-fructose corn syrup, and ethanol". Grist. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
Jump up ^ Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine.
Jump up ^ "Corn--Acreage, Production, and Value, by Leading States statistics - USA Census numbers". www.allcountries.org. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
Jump up ^ James Bovard (April 1998). "The Great Sugar Shaft". Freedom Daily. The Future of Freedom Foundation. Archived from the original on 29 August 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
Jump up ^ "U.S. per capita food availability – Sugar and sweeteners (individual)". Economic Research Service. 2010-02-16. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
Jump up ^ Wosiacki, Gilvan; Nogueira, Alessandro; Denardi, Frederico; Vieira, Renato (1 January 2009). "Sugar composition of depectinized apple juices Composição de açúcares em sucos de maçãs despectinizados". Retrieved 26 January 2018 – via ResearchGate.
Jump up ^ Samuel 2011.
Jump up ^ Collino 2011.
Bibliography[edit]
Sato, Tsugitaka (2014). Sugar in the Social Life of Medieval Islam. BRILL. p. 30. ISBN 9789004277526.
Abbott, Elizabeth (2009) [2008]. Sugar: A Bittersweet History. London and New York: Duckworth Overlook. ISBN 978-0-7156-3878-1.
Adas, Michael, ed. (2001). Agricultural and Pastoral Societies in Ancient and Classical History. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. ISBN 978-1-56639-832-9.
Abulafia, David (2011). The Great Sea: A Human History of the Mediterranean. London: Allen Lane. ISBN 978-0-7139-9934-1.
Benitez-Rojo, Antonio (1996) [1992]. The Repeating Island. Durham: Duke University Press. ISBN 0-8223-1865-2.
Bernstein, William (2009) [2008]. A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World. London: Atlantic Books. ISBN 9781843548034.
Collino, M (June 2011). High dietary fructose intake: Sweet or bitter life?. World J Diabetes. 2. pp. 77–81. PMID 21860690.
Kieschnick, John (2003). The Impact of Buddhism on Chinese Material Culture. Princeton: University Press. ISBN 0-691-09676-7.
Marshall, RO; Kooi, ER (April 1957). "Enzymatic conversion of D-glucose to D-fructose". Science. 125 (3249): 648–9. doi:10.1126/science.125.3249.648. PMID 13421660.
Mintz, Sidney Wilfred (1986) [1985]. Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History. London: Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-009233-2.
Parker, Matthew (2011). The Sugar Barons: Family, Corruption, Empire and War. London: Hutchinson. ISBN 978-0-09-192583-3.
Ponting, Clive (2000). World History: A New Perspective. London: Chatto & Windus. ISBN 0-7011-6834-X.
Samuel, VT (February 2011). "Fructose induced lipogenesis: from sugar to fat to insulin resistance". Trends Endocrinol Metab. 22 (2): 60–65. doi:10.1016/j.tem.2010.10.003. PMID 21067942.
Sen, Tansen (2003). Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade: The Realignment of Sino-Indian Relations, 600–1400. Manoa: Asian Interactions and Comparisons, a joint publication of the University of Hawaii Press and the Association for Asian Studies. ISBN 0-8248-2593-4.
Sharpe, Peter (1998). Sugar Cane: Past and Present. Illinois: Southern Illinois University. Archived from the original on 2008-05-18.
Watts, Sheldon J (April 2001). "Yellow Fever Immunities in West Africa and the Americas in the Age of Slavery and Beyond: A Reappraisal". Journal of Social History. 34 (4): 955–967. doi:10.1353/jsh.2001.0071.
Wilson, C Anne (2011) [1985]. The Book of Marmalade. Oakville, CT: David Brown Book Company. ISBN 978-1-903018-77-4.
Wood, Peter H (1996) [1974]. Black Majority: Negroes in Colonial South Carolina from 1670 through the Stono Rebellion. New York: Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-31482-3.
[hide]
v
t
e
Sugar (as food commodity)
List of sugars and sugar products
Chemistry
Fructose
Galactose
Glucose
Lactose
Maltose
Sucrose
Trehalose
Xylose
Monosaccharide
Disaccharide
Free sugar
Reducing sugar
Sources
Sugar beet
Sugarcane
Agave nectar
Birch
Coconut
Date
Honeydew
Maple
Palm
Products
Syrups
Candi sugar
Cheong
Maesil-cheong
Mogwa-cheong
Yuja-cheong
Corn syrup
Glucose syrup
Golden syrup
High-fructose corn syrup
High-maltose corn syrup
Honey
Inverted sugar syrup
Kuromitsu
Maple syrup
Molasses
Pine honey
Steen's cane syrup
Treacle
Solid forms
Brown
Peen tong
Chancaca
Crystalline fructose
Gelling
Gula melaka
Jaggery
Misri
Mizuame
Molasses sugar
Muscovado
Nib
Non-centrifugal cane sugar
Panela
Plantation Reserve
Powdered
Preserving
Rock candy
Sucanat
Sugar candy
Barley sugar
Butterscotch
Candy
Hard
Toffee
Sugar glass
Sugarloaf
Wasanbon
Other forms
Caramel
Cotton candy floss
Maple sugar foods
Rum
Sugar alcohol
Sugar confectionery
Sugarcane juice
Tuzemák
Unrefined sweeteners
Industry
Production
Boilery
Plantation
Casa grande
Refinery
Sugar bush
Sugar cane mill
Engenho
Batey
Zafra
By region (current)
Cuba
Caribbean
Philippines
Sri Lanka
U.S. Sugar Program
By region (historical)
Danish West Indies
Fiji
Hawaii
History
Amelioration Act 1798
Blackbirding
Colonial molasses trade
Demerara rebellion of 1823
Holing cane
Molasses Act
Reciprocity Treaty of 1875
Slavery in the British and French Caribbean
Sugar Act
Sugar Duties Act 1846
Sugar Intervention
Taiwan Sugar Railways
Triangular trade
Culture
Crop over
Sugar house
Sugaring
Sugar nips
Sugar packet
Sucrology
Sugar people
Sugar tit
Sugar sculpture
Treacle mine
Related
Added sugar
Australian Aboriginal sweet foods
Bagasse
Barley malt syrup
Brown rice syrup
Cane knife
Flavored syrup
Fruit syrup
Date honey
Grape
Jallab
Health effects
Nectar
Sugar addiction
Sugars in wine
Residual sugar
Sugar substitute
Sweetened beverage
Sweetener
Sweetness
Vinasse
Yacón syrup
Category
Production
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_sugar&oldid=841452223"
Categories:
History of food and drink
History of sugar
Hidden categories:
Webarchive template wayback links
Navigation menu
Personal tools
Not logged in
Talk
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Namespaces
Article
Talk
Variants
Views
Read
Edit
View history
More
Search
Navigation
Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store
Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page
Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page
Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version
Languages
Français
हिन्दी
Edit links
This page was last edited on 15 May 2018, at 23:00.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Cookie statement
Mobile view
Enable previews

attrs: id class

values: mw-page-base noprint

values: mw-head-base noprint

values: firstHeading firstHeading en

values: siteSub noprint

values: jump-to-nav mw-jump

attrs: href class title

attrs: class style

value: sup

value: p

value: li

values: Edit section: The spread of sugarcane cultivation

values:
/wiki/Southern_China
mw-redirect
Southern China

values:
/wiki/Henry_the_Navigator
mw-redirect
Henry the Navigator

values: Edit section: Early use of sugarcane in India

values:
/wiki/Gupta_dynasty
mw-redirect
Gupta dynasty

values:
/wiki/Trade_routes
mw-redirect
Trade routes

values:
/wiki/Tang_Dynasty
mw-redirect
Tang Dynasty

values:
/wiki/Traditional_Chinese
mw-redirect
Traditional Chinese

values: Edit section: Cane sugar in the medieval era in the Muslim World and Europe

values: Map showing sugar cane India as the first sugar cane country, followed by small areas in Africa, and smaller areas in Europe

values:
/wiki/Cape_Verde_Islands
mw-redirect
Cape Verde Islands

values: Edit section: Sugar cultivation in the New World

values: Slavery in the British and French Caribbean

values:
/wiki/Cane_sugar_mill
mw-redirect
Cane sugar mill

values:
/wiki/Santa_Catarina_(island)
mw-redirect
Santa Catarina (island)

values:
/wiki/Industrial_revolution
mw-redirect
Industrial revolution

values:
/wiki/Indentured_servant
mw-redirect
Indentured servant

values:
/wiki/Native_American_(Americas)
mw-redirect
Native American (Americas)

values:
/wiki/Economic_boom
mw-redirect
Economic boom

values:
/wiki/Latvian_Jews
mw-redirect
Latvian Jews

values:
/wiki/Franz_Carl_Achard
mw-redirect
Franz Carl Achard

values:
/wiki/Napoleonic_War
mw-redirect
Napoleonic War

values:
/wiki/Napoleon_I_of_France
mw-redirect
Napoleon I of France

values:
/wiki/Benjamin_Delessert
mw-redirect
Benjamin Delessert

values:
/wiki/Hepatic_steatosis
mw-redirect
Hepatic steatosis

values: display:table-cell;padding:0.2em 0.2em 0.2em 0.3em;vertical-align:middle

values: margin:0.5em 0 0.5em 1em;border:solid #aaa 1px

values:
nofollow
external autonumber
http://www.sucrose.com/lhist.html

values:
/wiki/Periplus_of_the_Erythrean_Sea
mw-redirect
Periplus of the Erythrean Sea

values:
nofollow
external text
http://www.fff.org/freedom/0498d.asp

values: -moz-column-width: 30em; -webkit-column-width: 30em; column-width: 30em; list-style-type: decimal;

values:
/wiki/Antonio_Benitez-Rojo
mw-redirect
Antonio Benitez-Rojo

values:
/wiki/PubMed_Identifier
mw-redirect
PubMed Identifier

values:
nofollow
external text
//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21860690

values:
nofollow
external text
//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/13421660

values:
nofollow
external text
//doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.tem.2010.10.003

values:
nofollow
external text
//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21067942

values:
nofollow
external text
//doi.org/10.1353%2Fjsh.2001.0071

values: Close-up view of sugar cane & refined sugar

values:
navbox-image
7
width:1px;padding:0px 0px 0px 2px

values:
/wiki/Crystalline_fructose
mw-redirect
Crystalline fructose

values:
/wiki/Gula_melaka
mw-redirect
Gula melaka

values:
/wiki/Casa_grande_(sugar_plantation)
mw-redirect
Casa grande (sugar plantation)

values:
/wiki/Sugar_cane_mill
mw-redirect
Sugar cane mill

values: Sugar production in the Danish West Indies

values:
/wiki/Sugar_house
mw-redirect
Sugar house

values:
/wiki/Treacle_mine
mw-redirect
Treacle mine

values:
/wiki/Health_effects_of_sugar
mw-redirect
Health effects of sugar

values:
/wiki/Sugar_addiction
mw-redirect
Sugar addiction

values:
/wiki/Residual_sugar
mw-redirect
Residual sugar

values:
/wiki/Sweetener_(disambiguation)
mw-disambig
Sweetener (disambiguation)

values: nowraplinks hlist collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner

values: Category:Webarchive template wayback links

values: Discussion about edits from this IP address [ctrl-alt-n]

values: A list of edits made from this IP address [ctrl-alt-y]

values: You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory

values: You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [ctrl-alt-o]

values:
/wiki/History_of_sugar
View the content page [ctrl-alt-c]
c

values: Discussion about the content page [ctrl-alt-t]

values: p-namespaces navigation vectorTabs p-namespaces-label

values:
p-variants
navigation
vectorMenu emptyPortlet
p-variants-label

values: Past revisions of this page [ctrl-alt-h]

values: p-views navigation vectorTabs p-views-label

values:
p-cactions
navigation
vectorMenu emptyPortlet
p-cactions-label

values:
mw-wiki-logo
/wiki/Main_Page
Visit the main page

values:
/wiki/Main_Page
Visit the main page [ctrl-alt-z]
z

values: Featured content – the best of Wikipedia

values: Find background information on current events

values:
/wiki/Special:Random
Load a random article [ctrl-alt-x]
x

values: portal navigation p-navigation p-navigation-label

values: Guidance on how to use and edit Wikipedia

values: About the project, what you can do, where to find things

values: A list of recent changes in the wiki [ctrl-alt-r]

values: portal navigation p-interaction p-interaction-label

values: List of all English Wikipedia pages containing links to this page [ctrl-alt-j]

values: Recent changes in pages linked from this page [ctrl-alt-k]

values:
/wiki/Wikipedia:File_Upload_Wizard
Upload files [ctrl-alt-u]
u

values: A list of all special pages [ctrl-alt-q]

values: Permanent link to this revision of the page

values: Histoire de la culture des plantes sucrières – French

values: शक्कर का इतिहास – Hindi

values: /static/images/wikimedia-button-1.5x.png 1.5x, /static/images/wikimedia-button-2x.png 2x

values: /static/images/poweredby_mediawiki_132x47.png 1.5x, /static/images/poweredby_mediawiki_176x62.png 2x

values:
suggestions
display: none; font-size: 13px;

values: mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject page-History_of_sugar rootpage-History_of_sugar skin-vector action-view