The area of the Golan Heights held by Israel is
around 1,200 sq. km. (500 sq. mi.). There are over 40,000 people living
there, less than half of them Jewish and the rest Druze and a small
Alawite minority.
The region's strategic importance derives from its location,
overlooking the Israeli Galilee region, and from the fact that it
supplies Lake Kinneret (the Sea of Galilee) - a major source of water for Israel - with one third of its water.
As an outcome of the Syrian attack on Israel in the 1967 Six-Day
War, Israel gained control of the Golan Heights. The Israeli-Syrian
Agreement on Disengagement of 1974 established a buffer zone between
them and a United Nations Observer Force to supervise its
implementation. Israeli law was applied by the Knesset to the Golan
Heights on 14 December 1981.
Click to enlarge
© IDF Mapping Unit
This map is for illustrative purposes only and should not be considered authoritative.