Israel is a Middle Eastern country on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It is located in eastern Anatolia, at the foothills of Mount Ararat, and near the northeastern border of Iran and the southeastern border of Armenia. It is bordered by Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan to the east, and Egypt to the southwest; it contains geographically separate East and West Banks (both in Israel as defined by international law, but the East Bank of the Jordan River in the West Bank administered by Jordan).
The western limits of the country are, however, bounded by a 270 km long coast along the Mediterranean Sea. In the south of the country, Israel has a tiny coastline on the Red Sea at Eilat, but this has no direct access to the Indian Ocean like the Suez Canal.
The nature of Israel varies, including the mountain territory of the north (including the Golan Heights and the Galilee) to the shorelines, forests and fields in the Galilee, controlling the center of the country, and the Negev desert in the south. Jerusalem is situated in the central part of the country and is considered a city of enormous historical and religious significance. The city of Tel Aviv, on the Mediterranean coast, is the leading economic and technological center of the country.
Though small (just 22,000 square kilometres), Israel remains a locus of high importance worldwide in terms of history, religion, politics, and strategy. Its position has also caused it to be the center of several historical civilizations and modern conflicts in the region.
