Short answer: Israel covers about 21,937 square kilometers (8,467 to 8,470 square miles) of total area, roughly 21,497 sq km of land and 440 sq km of water. On a like-for-like land-area basis that makes it close in size to the U.S. state of New Jersey, roughly 13 percent larger. It stretches roughly 424 to 470 km (263 to 292 miles) from north to south, and its width ranges from about 15 km (9 miles) at the narrowest point to about 114 km (71 miles) at the widest, depending on exactly which borders are being measured. As of August 2026, this is a stable geographic fact rather than a breaking-news figure, so there is no single dramatic headline number, just a small set of reference figures that vary slightly by source.
The numbers, and why they differ
- Current CIA World Factbook edition (continuously updated, 2026): Israel's total area is listed as 21,937 sq km (21,497 sq km land, 440 sq km water). This figure covers Israel within its internationally recognized boundaries plus territory it has annexed, and it does not include the West Bank or Gaza, per the CIA World Factbook.
- Green Line figure (ongoing reference): A separate, frequently cited figure puts Israel within the pre-1967 Green Line, excluding the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, at about 20,770 sq km (8,019 sq mi), including roughly 445 sq km of inland water, according to Wikipedia's Geography of Israel entry, cross-checked against the CIA World Factbook.
- Size comparison to New Jersey (ongoing reference): Israel's total area of about 21,937 sq km (8,470 sq mi) is close to New Jersey's area, with Israel about 13 percent larger on land area, though marginally smaller if you compare total areas including water, per mylifeelsewhere.com's country size comparison tool, cross-checked against Factbook data.
- North-south length (ongoing reference): Length figures vary by source, about 424 km (263 mi) per Wikipedia's Geography of Israel entry, versus about 470 km (292 mi) cited by countrystudies.us. The gap comes down to whether the measurement follows the coastline, runs in a straight line, or includes the Eilat and Red Sea panhandle.
- East-west width (ongoing reference): Israel's width runs from about 15 km (9 mi) at its narrowest point, near Netanya, to a widest point cited as either about 114 km (71 mi) by Wikipedia and by countrystudies.us, which agree on the figure. The difference comes down to whether the disputed Negev/Eilat corridor or the West Bank frontier is used as the reference edge.
Why the numbers move around
"How big is Israel" is a plain factual question, not a breaking-news one, so there is no single event date to track and no number that changes week to week. What does shift is which boundaries a given source counts. The CIA World Factbook's 21,937 sq km figure is the most commonly cited current authoritative number and the one worth leading with, but it reflects Israel's recognized territory plus areas it has annexed, namely the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, while excluding the West Bank and Gaza, which Israel administers but has not annexed. A smaller figure, about 20,582 sq km, is what Wikipedia lists as the area sovereign to Israel since 1948, the pre-1967 Green Line measure. Length and width figures shift by a few dozen kilometers for the same reason: whether the measurement runs coast to coast, includes the Eilat panhandle, or is drawn against the West Bank frontier. None of this reflects a contested claim in the everyday sense. It is ordinary geographic-measurement variance, and an accurate explainer should disclose it rather than present one falsely precise number.
The bottom line
Israel is a small country by land area, roughly the size of New Jersey, at about 21,937 sq km according to the CIA World Factbook. Length and width figures vary by a few dozen kilometers depending on the source and which boundaries are measured, running from about 424 to 470 km long and 15 to 114 km wide. There is no single, universally agreed exact number, but the range above reflects what the most reputable sources currently report.
Wear the map, not just read about it
Israel's small footprint on a map has never matched its outsized place in Jewish history and daily life, and that is exactly the kind of everyday pride Shop Israel's Map of Israel necklace is made for, a wearable reminder of the country's shape and borders you can carry with you. Browse the full Jerusalem collection for more pieces that keep the land close.
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Last updated August 2026. We update these profiles as the record changes.
