Haifa Bay

The Bay of Haifa (Hebrew מפרץ חיפה Mifráts Chejfá ) is a bay on the Mediterranean Sea in Israel. It is named after the city of Haifa, located on its southern edge.

The Bay of Haifa is the only major interruption of the coastline of Israel, which runs very smoothly otherwise. It is caused by the fact that at the south end projecting the Carmel Mountains in Karmelkap to the northwest. In the north of the bay, is also protected by a small peninsula on which is located the city of Acre. In a north-south direction, the open west bay measures about 12 km, the most important tributary is the Kishon.

For shipping to the bay was especially so significantly in the past because there except at the Carmel coast of Dor and further north at Akhziv were no natural harbors in the area. The most important port was about 3000 years Akko, until the 19th century, Haifa ( eg by specific extensions ) is more important.

The areas around the bay were only sparsely populated due to extensive swamps long time. Today, Haifa Bay is surrounded by industrial plants and settlements. The cities of Acre and Haifa ribbon connecting now with no major gaps.

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