Israeli coastal plain

It is a geographical region defined morphologically by the sea, in terms of topography and soil, and also in its climate, flora and fauna.

It is narrow in the north and broadens considerably towards the south, and is continuous, except the short section where Mount Carmel reaches almost all the way to the sea.

To the north it is separated from the coastal plain of Lebanon by the cliffs of Rosh HaNikra, which jut out into the sea from the Galilee mountains, but to the south it continues into the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula.

[1] About 57% of Israel's population lives in the coastal plain, much of them in the Tel Aviv (Gush Dan) and Haifa metropolitan areas.

[4] Recent research has concluded that 5,500 years ago, during the Bronze Age, the Coastal Plain was a populated commercial and settlement center, and it is thought that at this time climate change led to the flooding of the area and the creation of many swamps, forcing a shift in human settlement patterns.

The soil of the Hof HaCarmel plain is rich and apart from the main city of Haifa in the north, most settlement here is made up of farming communities.

This area is Israel's most densely populated,[dubious – discuss] containing a number of large towns and cities including Netanya and Herzliya as well as smaller communities inland.