Israel Districts Map

Israel has 6 administrative districts: Northern, Haifa, Central, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Southern. In Hebrew they are called mehozot, and they form the country's first-level division, the equivalent of provinces elsewhere. Below them sit 15 subdistricts, known as nafot, and below those are cities, local councils and regional councils. All 6 districts are drawn on the map on this page. Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics also publishes figures for the Judea and Samaria Area, which is administered separately and is not counted among the six, so a total of seven units sometimes appears in CBS-derived tables.

The Southern District is Israel's largest district by area at 14,185 km² (5,477 sq mi, CBS), covering the Negev and running down to the Gulf of Aqaba at Eilat. It is administered from Beersheba and also contains Ashdod and Ashkelon. The Northern District comes second at roughly 4,473 km² (1,727 sq mi), less than a third of that total, followed by the Central District at 1,294 km² (500 sq mi) and the Haifa District at 866 km² (334 sq mi), all per the CBS. Size does not track population here: the Southern District recorded 1,386,000 residents at the CBS end-2021 estimate, well behind the Central District, because much of its territory is desert.

The Central District is Israel's most populated district, with 2,304,300 residents at the Central Bureau of Statistics end-2021 estimate. It is run from Ramla and takes in Netanya and Petah Tikva on the coastal plain. The Northern District followed with 1,513,600 and the Tel Aviv District with 1,481,400, although Tel Aviv fits those residents into only 172 km² (66 sq mi, CBS), making it the most densely settled of the six by a wide margin. The Southern District recorded 1,386,000, the Jerusalem District 1,209,700, and the Haifa District 1,092,700, the lowest figure among the districts (all end-2021 CBS estimates).

The Tel Aviv District is Israel's smallest district, covering 172 km² (66 sq mi) in the CBS tables, though some atlases round it up to 176 km². It still held 1,481,400 residents at the CBS end-2021 estimate, which makes it the most densely populated unit in the country, and it forms the core of the Gush Dan metropolitan area with Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan and Holon inside it. For comparison, the Southern District is about 82 times larger at 14,185 km² (5,477 sq mi). The Jerusalem District ranks second smallest at roughly 652 km² (252 sq mi), ahead of the Haifa District at 866 km² (334 sq mi).

Jerusalem lies in the Jerusalem District and serves as both Israel's national capital and that district's administrative seat. The district covers about 652 km² (252 sq mi), recorded 1,209,700 residents at the CBS end-2021 estimate, and includes Beit Shemesh along with East Jerusalem, which Israel administers as part of the district and which is not internationally recognized as Israeli territory. Tel Aviv sits in the Tel Aviv District, one of three districts named after their central city, the others being Haifa and Jerusalem. The remaining three carry directional names, with seats at Nof HaGalil for the north, Ramla for the center and Beersheba for the south.

The map draws Israel's 6 districts as Israeli administration defines them, so the Golan Heights are part of the Northern District and East Jerusalem is part of the Jerusalem District. Israel has held both since 1967, and neither annexation is recognized internationally. The West Bank and the Gaza Strip are not districts: they appear as surrounding territory, outside the six colored units. Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics reports the Judea and Samaria Area, its administrative term for the West Bank, alongside the district tables rather than inside them, which is why a total of seven units sometimes appears in CBS-derived data.

Israel has no states, provinces or counties. Its first-level units are the 6 districts, called mehozot, and the second level consists of 15 subdistricts, called nafot. Local government runs through cities, local councils and regional councils, while the districts serve as a framework for state administration and statistics, with no elected assemblies of their own. Names like the Galilee, the Sharon plain and the Negev describe geographic regions, not administrative ones, and they cross district lines: the Negev lies almost entirely in the Southern District, while the Galilee is mostly in the Northern District. If you are looking for a map of Israel's states or provinces, the district map is the correct match.

Israel's six district capitals are Nof HaGalil (called Nazareth Illit until 2019) for the Northern District, Haifa for the Haifa District, Ramla for the Central District, Tel Aviv for the Tel Aviv District, Jerusalem for the Jerusalem District and Beersheba for the Southern District. Jerusalem carries two roles, since it is also the national capital. Three of the six districts take their name directly from their seat, while Northern, Central and Southern are named by direction. Nazareth, the Northern District's largest city, sits beside its smaller administrative seat. Ramla is the least prominent of the seats and is considerably smaller than Netanya and Petah Tikva, the biggest cities in the Central District it administers.

A custom Israel map starts right on this page, in a browser-based editor that is free to use without an account. You can color the districts from data, pasting one value for each of the 6 districts to get a scale with a legend, or pick colors district by district, giving the Negev one tone and the coastal districts another. Fonts, outline weight and the background are adjustable, labels can be rewritten, and pins from Eilat up to Nahariya can carry short captions. A free export is a standard PNG with a small Ultimaps credit, and high-resolution PNG, SVG and PDF exports come with a Pro plan.