Hevel Eilot Regional Council
Hevel Eilot Regional Council (Hebrew: מועצה אזורית חבל אילות, Mo'atza Azorit Hevel Eilot) is a regional council in the Southern District of Israel, near the city of Eilat. It is the southernmost regional council in Israel.
Hevel Eilot
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District | Southern |
Government | |
• Type | Regional council (from 1964) |
• Head of Municipality | Dr. Hanan Ginat |
Area | |
• Total | 2,649,390 dunams (2,649.39 km2 or 1,022.94 sq mi) |
Population (2014) | |
• Total | 3,700 |
• Density | 1.4/km2 (3.6/sq mi) |
Website | Official website |
Only about 3,300 people live in the council in twelve communities. Its area is about 2.2 million dunams. The major city of the region, Eilat, governs itself as a city council and is not included in the regional council.
Geography
The jurisdiction of Hevel Eilot Regional Council is covered by the following borders:
- North: Central Arava Regional Council
- East: Jordan
- South: Eilat
- West: Egypt and the central Negev
Hevel Eilot is a region of arid desert. There is little precipitation in the winter, and summer temperatures rise above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit). The flora and fauna are typical for the desert.
Timna Park is a nature reserve that covers a large area in the region.
The region is home to the first commercial solar field in Israel, built by Arava Power Company, located at Kibbutz Ketura.
The region, which is far away from central Israel, is not connected to the national water supply system. Instead, the drinking and irrigation water is derived from desalination of water from the Red Sea.
Communities in the council
There are 12 communities in the council: 10 kibbutzim and two community settlements.
Kibbutzim
- Eilot (אילות)
- Elifaz (אליפז)
- Grofit (גרופית)
- Ketura (קטורה)
- Lotan (לוטן)
- Neot Smadar (נאות סמדר)
- Neve Harif (נווה חריף)
- Samar (סמר)
- Yotvata (יטבתה)
- Yahel (יהל)