Page:Harry Charles Luke and Edward Keith-Roach - The Handbook of Palestine (1922).djvu/20



is bounded on the north by the French sphere of Syria, on the west by the Mediterranean, on the south by Egyptian and Hejaz territory, the boundary running from a point west of Rafa on the Mediterranean to east of Taba at the head of the Gulf of Akaba, and then north-east. On the east is the territory of Trans-jordania, which is included in the area of the Palestine Mandate.

The boundary on the north was determined by the Franco-British Convention of the 23rd December, 1920, and was delimited in 1922. It runs from the Mediterranean at Ras al-Nakura eastwards to Yarun, thence N.E. to the village of Kades, thence N.N.E. to Metullah and across the upper Jordan Valley to Banias, thence S.S.W. to Jisr Benat Yaqub, thence southwards along the Jordan to Lake Tiberias, thence along the eastern shore of the Lake of Tiberias to a point almost due east of the town of Tiberias, thence S.S.E. to al-Hamneh Station on the Semakh-Deraa railway. The Huleh basin and all the Lake of Tiberias are thus within the borders of Palestine.

The area of Palestine according to the Turkish administrative divisions was 13,724 square miles. The area of Palestine under British administration, excluding Trans-jordania, is something over 9,000 square miles, with an