Geography Gaza City

1 geography

1.1 old city
1.2 districts
1.3 climate

geography

beach in gaza city

central gaza situated on low-lying , round hill elevation of 14 metres (46 ft) above sea level. of modern city built along plain below hill, north , east, forming gaza s suburbs. beach , port of gaza located 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) west of city s nucleus , space in between entirely built on low-lying hills.

the municipal jurisdiction of city today constitutes 45 square kilometres (17 sq mi). gaza 78 kilometres (48 mi) southwest of jerusalem, 71 kilometres (44 mi) south of tel aviv, , 30 kilometres (19 mi) north of rafah. surrounding localities include beit lahiya, beit hanoun, , jabalia north, , village of abu middein, refugee camp of bureij, , city of deir al-balah south.

the population of gaza depends on groundwater source drinking, agricultural use, , domestic supply. nearest stream wadi ghazza south, sourced abu middein along coastline. bears small amount of water during winter , virtually no water during summer. of water supply diverted israel. gaza aquifer along coast main aquifer in gaza strip , consists of pleistocene sandstones. of gaza strip, gaza covered quaternary soil; clay minerals in soil absorb many organic , inorganic chemicals has partially alleviated extent of groundwater contamination.

a prominent hill southeast of gaza, known tell al-muntar, has elevation of 270 feet (82 m) above sea level. centuries has been claimed place samson brought city gates of philistines. hill crowned muslim shrine (maqam) dedicated ali al-muntar ( ali of watchtower ). there old muslim graves around surrounding trees, , lintel of doorway of maqam has 2 medieval arabic scriptures.

old city

a mosque on campus of islamic university of gaza

the old city forms main part of gaza s nucleus. divided 2 quarters; northern daraj quarter (also known muslim quarter) , southern zaytun quarter (which contained jewish , christian quarters.) structures date mamluk , ottoman eras, , built on top of earlier structures. ancient part of old city 1.6 square kilometres (0.62 sq mi).

there 7 historic gates old city: bab asqalan (gate of ashkelon), bab al-darum (gate of deir al-balah), bab al-bahr (gate of sea), bab marnas (gate of marnas), bab al-baladiyah (gate of town), bab al-khalil (gate of hebron), , bab al-muntar (gate of tell al-muntar). of older buildings use ablaq style of decoration features alternating layers of red , white masonry, prevalent in mamluk era. daraj contains gold (qissariya) market great mosque of gaza (oldest mosque in gaza) , sayed al-hashim mosque. in zaytun lies saint porphryrius church, katib al-wilaya mosque, , hamam as-sammara ( samaritan s bathhouse. )

districts

gaza composed of thirteen districts (hayy) outside of old city. first extension of gaza beyond city center district of shuja iyya, built on hill east , southeast of old city during ayyubid period. in northeast mamluk-era district of tuffah, divided eastern , western halves , located within old city s walls.

during 1930s , 1940s, new residential district, rimal (currently divided districts of northern rimal , southern rimal), constructed on sand dunes west of city center, , district of zeitoun built along gaza s southern , southwestern borders, while judeide ( new ) , turukman neighborhoods of shuja iyya expanded separate districts in northeast , southeast, respectively. judeide (also known shuja iyyat al-akrad) named after kurdish military units settled there during mamluk era, while turukman named after turkmen military units settled there.

the areas between rimal , old city became districts of sabra , daraj. in northwest district of nasser, built in 1950s , named in honor of egyptian president gamal abdel nasser. district of sheikh radwan, developed in 1970s, 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) north of old city , named after sheikh radwan—the tomb of whom located within district. gaza has absorbed village of al-qubbah near border israel, palestinian refugee camp of al-shati along coast, although latter not under city s municipal jurisdiction. in late 1990s, pna built more affluent neighborhood of tel al-hawa along southern edge of rimal. along southern coast of city neighborhood of sheikh ijlin.

climate

gaza has hot semi-arid climate (köppen: bsh), mediterranean characteristics, featuring mild rainy winters , dry hot summers. spring arrives around march–april , hottest months july , august, average high being 33 °c (91 °f). coldest month january temperatures @ 18 °c (64 °f). rain scarce , falls between november , march, annual precipitation rates approximately @ 390 millimetres (15 in).