Negev

The Negev Desert in Israel. Although superficially barren, arid regions such as the Negev Desert support a remarkable diversity of plants and animals, all of which have developed highly specialized ways of coping with the harsh conditions.

Triangular desert region in southern Israel that tapers to the port of Elat, 120 km/75 mi wide at Beersheba, 13 km/8 mi at Elat; area 12,215 sq km/4,716 sq mi. It is fertile under irrigation, and minerals include oil and copper.

History The area was formerly deemed unproductive, except for the minerals obtained from the Dead Sea. Sparse natural vegetation was exploited by nomadic Bedouin. Since the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 the population has increased due to Jewish immigration and the setting up of collective settlements known as kibbutzim (see kibbutz) which has been made possible by bringing water through pipelines and conduits from northern and central Israel, notably from the Lake of Tiberias.

Economy Agricultural production includes cereals, fodder crops, tomatoes and potatoes, cotton, fruit, beet, groundnuts, flowers and bulbs, cattle, and eggs. Irrigation, the abundant sunshine, and the rich soils often enable the production of two crops per year. As agriculture has prospered the nomadic Bedouin peoples have been increasingly displaced. The mineral resources include copper mined at Timna, natural gas at Rosh Zohar, and potash, bromine, and magnesium at Sedom, as well as ball clay and sand, which form the raw materials for pottery and glass manufacture. There is an Institute of Arid Zone Research at Beersheba, where such problems as desalination of sea water, the purification of brackish underground supplies, and the trapping of the heavy desert dews are investigated.