Israel, the Holy Land: a bird's eye view journey through a very beautiful and varied country

Established in 1948, the State of Israel is a relatively young country, but its people have ancient roots.

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There are many common misconceptions about Israel, but its reality defies all stereotypes. This small country has 9.7 million inhabitants, of whom 73.6% are Jews, 21.1% are Arabs, and 5.3% belong to other minorities. Among Israeli Arabs, 82.6% are Sunni Muslims, 9% are Druze, and 9% are Christians. There are also Shiites, Bedouins, Circassians, Arameans, Assyrians, and Copts. It should be noted that there are more Muslims in Israel than Jews in all Muslim-majority countries combined, which says a lot about the tolerance and religious freedom that exists in this country.

Otherwise, Israel is a land of contrasts, with cities as ancient as Jerusalem (its capital) and as modern as Tel Aviv, founded in 1909. The country has very varied coastlines. It is often said that Israel has four seas: the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, the Dead Sea, and the Sea of ​​Galilee, but the last two are actually lakes. In Israel, there are beautiful coastal areas with beaches that could be confused with the Spanish Mediterranean coast, deserts (such as the Negev and Judea), areas with extensive vegetation (such as the Jordan Valley), and mountainous areas, such as the Galilee, the Golan Heights, and Mount Meron.

If you want to get an idea of ​​what Israel is like, three years ago Polychronis Drone published a 2-hour video that flies over the country from a drone's perspective, showing its varied landscapes and major cities:

You can see some of the places featured in this spectacular video here. At the top of this post is an image of the Saar Falls in the Golan Heights. Below, we have a beautiful view of Tel Aviv, Israel's second-largest city, with around 485,000 inhabitants.

The city of Acre, one of the oldest settlements in Israel. Its name comes from the Third Crusade (1189-1192), when it was baptized as Saint John of Acre. It was the last Christian city of the former Latin States of the Holy Land to fall in 1291.

The Negev Desert covers an area of ​​12,500 square kilometers. It occupies almost all of southern Israel, from the Gaza Strip to the Red Sea coast.

The Dead Sea. With an area of ​​605 square kilometers, it is located in eastern Israel and is divided between Israel and neighboring Jordan. It is a popular destination for tourists, as the density of the salt water is so high that a person can easily float on its surface.