Editing Southern Levant (section)

== Geography ==
[[File:Southern Levant topographic map.svg|thumb|upright=1.75|Topographic map of the Southern Levant]]
{{See also|Geography of Israel|Geography of Palestine|Geography of Jordan}}
The Southern Levant lies on the [[Eastern Mediterranean|eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea]], in the world region known variously as the [[Near East]], the [[Middle East]] or [[Western Asia|Western or Southwestern Asia]]. It is bordered to the east, southeast and southwest by the [[Syrian Desert|Syrian]], [[Arabian Desert|Arabian]] and [[Sinai Peninsula|Sinai]] deserts, respectively.<ref name="Routledge 2004"/><ref name="Steiner & Killebrew 2014"/> Some definitions include parts of these deserts in the region.<ref name="Yaker 1998"/> The [[Litani River]] in southern Lebanon is commonly considered the dividing line between the Southern Levant and the Northern Levant (i.e. [[Syria (region)|Syria]]),<ref name="Yaker 1998"/><ref name="Peregrine & Ember 2003"/><ref name="Steiner & Killebrew 2014"/> or sometimes the [[Orontes River]], also in Lebanon.<ref name="Routledge 2004"/>

For the most part, the climate of the Southern Levant is [[arid]] or [[Semi-arid climate|semi-arid]], however a narrow strip along the coast experiences a [[Temperate climate|temperate]], [[Mediterranean climate]] due to its proximity to the sea.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last1=Ziv|first1=Baruch|last2=Dayan|first2=Uri|last3=Kushnir|first3=Yohanan|last4=Roth|first4=Chaggi|last5=Enzel|first5=Yehouda|date=2006-01-01|title=Regional and global atmospheric patterns governing rainfall in the southern Levant|journal=International Journal of Climatology|language=en|volume=26|issue=1|pages=55–73|doi=10.1002/joc.1238|issn=1097-0088|bibcode=2006IJCli..26...55Z}}</ref> Average annual rainfall decreases sharply away from the coast, from over {{convert|1000|mm|abbr=off}} per year in [[Galilee]], to {{convert|200|-|400|mm|abbr=off}} in the [[Jordan Rift Valley|Rift Valley]], and less than {{convert|50|mm|abbr=off}} in the eastern deserts and the [[Negev]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ziv|first1=Baruch|last2=Saaroni|first2=Hadas|last3=Pargament|first3=Roee|last4=Harpaz|first4=Tzvi|last5=Alpert|first5=Pinhas|date=2013-02-22|title=Trends in rainfall regime over Israel, 1975–2010, and their relationship to large-scale variability|journal=Regional Environmental Change|language=en|volume=14|issue=5|pages=1751–1764|doi=10.1007/s10113-013-0414-x|s2cid=154422674|issn=1436-3798}}</ref> Across the region, precipitation is both highly seasonal―most rain falls between October and May, and hardly any in the summer—and subject to large, unpredictable inter-annual variation.<ref name=":2"/> Temperature is also highly variable, with cool winters and hot summers.

The [[Jordan River]] bisects much of the region into the [[Cisjordan]] and [[Transjordan (region)|Transjordan]]. The [[Hula Valley|Huleh basin]] feeds into the upper Jordan, which moves southward through a natural basalt barrier into the [[Sea of Galilee]] before dropping several hundred metres as it flows through the [[Jordan Valley (Middle East)|Jordan Valley]]. The Jordan River terminates at the [[Dead Sea]], whose banks, at {{convert|400|m|abbr=off}} below sea level, are the world's lowest point on dry land.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Geography of Israel|last1=Orni|first1=Efraim|last2=Efrat|first2=Elisha|publisher=American Heritage Press|year=1971|isbn=978-0070477018|edition=3rd}}</ref>