Editing Netanya (section)

==Geography==
[[File:PikiWiki Israel 29410 Plants of Israel.JPG|thumb|Iris nature reserve]]
Netanya is located on the [[Israeli Coastal Plain|Israeli Mediterranean Coastal Plain]], the [[Via Maris|historic land bridge]] between Europe, Africa, and Asia. The city is the capital of the [[Sharon plain]], a geographic region stretching from the [[Mediterranean]] in the west to the Samarian hills in the east, and the modern-day [[Gush Dan|Gush Dan metropolitan area]] in the south northwards to [[Mount Carmel]]. Although the capital of a densely populated region, Netanya itself is relatively separate from settlements to the north, south, and east, although, over time, growth has incorporated some into what makes up modern-day Netanya.

Apart from some small [[moshav]]im and [[kibbutz]]im, south of Netanya is relatively clear of settlement until [[Herzliya]] and the start of the Gush Dan metropolitan area. Likewise, to the north is clear of large settlement until [[Hadera]], and to the east until [[Tulkarm]] in the [[West Bank]]. The area to the east of Netanya does, however, have a large concentration of kibbutzim and moshavim in the [[Hefer Valley Regional Council]] and [[Local council (Israel)|local councils]] of [[Kfar Yona]], [[Kadima-Tzoran]] and [[Even Yehuda]].

Netanya itself is divided into a large number of neighborhoods (see [[Neighborhoods of Netanya]]), recently growing southwards out of the city to create several high-end coastal neighborhoods with industrial areas inland. Netanya is home to the Poleg nature reserve and the Irises Dora Rainpool nature park containing the world's largest population of [[iris atropurpurea]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Saving Israel's Coastal Iris |first=Christi |last=Yoder |date=10 June 2015 |url=http://blog.enketo.org/coastal-iris/ |publisher=blog.enketo.org |access-date=26 April 2016 |archive-date=May 10, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160510101355/http://blog.enketo.org/coastal-iris/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Irises Dora Rainpool nature park |url=http://www.flowersinisrael.com/fieldtrip2012_1_26_DoraRainPool.htm |publisher=flowersinisrael.com |access-date=1 May 2016 |archive-date=April 13, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413163310/http://flowersinisrael.com/fieldtrip2012_1_26_DoraRainPool.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> At the center of the park is a rainpool which fills up with water in the winter months, and dries up over the summer months. Signs along the rain pool include information on the types of flora and fauna that populate the ecosystem.