18 Facts About Negev

Negev or Negeb is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel.

Origin of the word Negev is from the Hebrew root denoting 'dry'; in the Hebrew Bible, the word Negev is used for the direction 'south'.

Negev contains the oldest discovered surface on Earth, with an approximate age of 1.

The Negev has a number of interesting cultural and geological features.

Vegetation in the Negev is sparse, but certain trees and plants thrive there, among them Acacia, Pistacia, Retama, Urginea maritima and Thymelaea.

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Negev shrew is a species of mammal of the family Soricidae that is found only in Israel.

The Negev is the only place where reintroduced Arabian oryxes flourish because nowhere else in the Middle East is poaching under control.

Negev region is arid, receiving very little rain due to its location to the east of the Sahara, and extreme temperatures due to its location 31 degrees north.

Later the northern part of biblical Negev was inhabited by the Tribe of Judah and the southern part of biblical Negev by the Tribe of Simeon.

The Negev was later part of the Kingdom of Solomon, and then, with varied extension to the south, part of the Kingdom of Judah.

Nabatean control of the Negev ended when the Roman empire annexed their lands in 106 CE.

Southern Negev saw a flourishing of economic activity during the 8th to 10th or 11th centuries.

The Bedouins of the Negev historically survived chiefly on sheep and goat husbandry.

The Negev was taken from the Ottoman army by British forces during 1917 and became part of Mandatory Palestine.

Since then, the Negev has become home to many of the Israel Defense Forces' major bases – a process accelerating in the past two decades.

Blueprint Negev is a Jewish National Fund project introduced in 2005.

In modern times, vineyards have been established in the northern Negev hills using innovative computerized watering methods for irrigation.

Negev is home to hazardous infrastructures that include Negev Nuclear Research Center nuclear reactor, 22 agrochemical and petrochemical factories, an oil terminal, closed military zones, quarries, a toxic waste incinerator at Ne'ot Hovav, a power plant, several airports, and 2 rivers of open sewage.