Southern District (Israel)

The Southern District (Hebrew: מחוז הדרום, Meḥoz HaDarom; Arabic: لواء الجنوب) is one of Israel's six administrative districts, the largest in terms of land area but the most sparsely populated. It covers most of the Negev desert, as well as the Arava valley. The population of the Southern District is 1,086,240 and its area is 14,185 km². Its population is 79.66% Jewish and 12.72% Arab (mostly Muslim), with 7.62% of other origins.^[4]

Geographical distribution of the main ethno-cultural communities in the Southern District in 2008.^[5]

South District
District of Israel
- transcription(s)
• Hebrew	מחוז הדרום‎
• Arabic	لواء الجنوب
Cities	12
Local councils	11
Regional councils	15
Capital	Beersheba
Largest city	Ashdod
Government
• District Commissioner[1]	Lily Feintoch[2]
Area
• Total	14,185 km2 (5,477 sq mi)
Population  (2023)[3]
• Total	1,362,500
• Density	96/km2 (250/sq mi)
ISO 3166 code	IL-D

The route from Jerusalem to Ashdod

The district capital is Beersheba, while the largest city is Ashdod. Beersheba's dormitory towns of Omer, Meitar, and Lehavim are affluent on an Israel scale, while the development towns of Dimona, Sderot, Netivot, Ofakim, and Yeruham and the seven Bedouin cities are lower on the socio-economic scale.^[6]

Administrative local authorities

Subdistricts
Ashkelon Beersheba
Cities	Local Councils	Regional Councils
Arad Ashdod Ashkelon Beersheba Dimona Eilat Kiryat Gat Kiryat Malakhi Netivot Ofakim Rahat Sderot	Ar'arat an-Naqab Hura Kuseife Lakiya Lehavim Meitar Mitzpe Ramon Omer Shaqib al-Salam Tel as-Sabi Yeruham	Al-Kasom Be'er Tuvia Bnei Shimon Central Arava Eshkol Hevel Eilot Hof Ashkelon Lakhish Merhavim Neve Midbar Ramat HaNegev Sdot Negev (Azata) Sha'ar HaNegev Shafir Tamar Yoav

Some villages do not fall under the jurisdiction of a regional council. These include:

• Mahane Yatir
• Umm al-Hiran (unrecognised Bedouin village)

See also

• List of cities in Israel
• Arab localities in Israel
• Gaza Strip