1. Upper Galilee,
2. Lower Galilee and
3. Western Galilee.

The Western Galilee, also called the "Northern Coastal Plain" strays from north of Haifa up to Rosh Hanikra in the border between Israel and Lebanon.

The Lower Galilee strays from Mount Carmel and Mount Gilboa ridge in the south to the Beit HaKerem Valley in the north. Its eastern border is the Jordan River.

The Upper Galilee strays from Beit HaKerem Valley in the south to the Lebanese border in the north. Its eastern border is the Sea of Galilee and the mountains of the Golan Heights. The "Finger of the Galilee" (Etzba ha-Galil) is a region of the upper Galilee and contains the towns Metula and Qiriyat Shemona and the rivers of Dan and Banias.

Most of the Galilee consists of mountainous terrain, at heights of about 500-700 meters. There are several high mountain such as Mount Tabor. The relatively low tempartures and the large amounts of rain pouring every year made the Galilee a center of blossom and wildlife. The streams and waterfalls (mainly in the upper Galilee), along with vast fields of green and colorful flowers made it a popular tourist attraction in Israel.

At and before the time of Jesus, the region of the Galilee had been populated by Gentiles, people who were of neither Jewish nor Samaritan ancestry. Galilee was not part of Judea proper but at times was under Judean control. Galilee was separated from it by a sliver of the Gentile Decapolis and by the ethnically mixed transitional region Samaria. The cultural and fundamentalist, religious Jews (Judeans), considered the region to be lower than the half-breeds of Samaria and therefore, morally, spiritually and physically "unclean".

History

The Lord speaks to Joshua

¹ Then the LORD said to Joshua: ² "Tell the Israelites to designate the cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses, ³ so that anyone who kills a person accidentally and unintentionally may flee there and find protection from the avenger of blood.

⁴ "When he flees to one of these cities, he is to stand in the entrance of the city gate and state his case before the elders of that city. Then they are to admit him into their city and give him a place to live with them. ⁵ If the avenger of blood pursues him, they must not surrender the one accused, because he killed his neighbor unintentionally and without malice aforethought. ⁶ He is to stay in that city until he has stood trial before the assembly and until the death of the high priest who is serving at that time. Then he may go back to his own home in the town from which he fled."

⁷ So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah. ⁸ On the east side of the Jordan of Jericho they designated Bezer in the desert on the plateau in the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead in the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan in the tribe of Manasseh. ⁹ Any of the Israelites or any alien living among them who killed someone accidentally could flee to these designated cities and not be killed by the avenger of blood prior to standing trial before the assembly. (Joshua 20:1-9)

¹ Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan-

² The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.

³ You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder. (Isaiah 9:1-3)

The Baptism of Jesus

¹³ Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. ¹⁴ But John tried to deter him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" (Matthew 3:13-14)

During the Hasmonaean period, with the revolt of the Maccabees and the decline of the Seleucid Empire, the Galilee was conquered by the newly independent state of Judea, and the region was resettled by Jews.

In Roman times, the country was divided into Judea, Samaria, and the Galilee, which comprised the whole northern section of the country, and was the largest of the three regions. Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, ruled Galilee as tetrarch.

The Galilee region was the home of Jesus during at least thirty years of his life. The first three Gospels (Matthew, Mark and ) of the New Testament are mainly an account of Jesus' public ministry in this province, particularly in the villages of Nazareth and Capernaum. Galilee is also cited as the place where Jesus cured a blind man (see also miracles of Jesus).

After the Arab caliphate took control of the region in 638, it became part of the jund (military district) of Urdunn (Jordan). The Shia Fatimids conquered the region in the 900s; a breakaway sect, venerating the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim, formed the Druze religion, centered in and to north of, the Galilee. The Eastern Galilee, however, retained a Jewish majority for most of its history. During the Crusades, Galilee was organized into the Principality of Galilee, one of the most important Crusader seigneuries.

The Jewish population of the Galilee increased significantly following their expulsion from Spain and welcome from the Ottoman Empire. The community for a time made Tzfat an an international center of cloth weaving and manufacturing, as well as a key site for Jewish learning. Today it remains one of Judaism's four holy cities and a center for kabbalah.

In the mid 18th century, the Galilee was caught up in a struggle between the Bedouin leader Dhaher al-Omar and the Ottoman authorities who were centered in Damascus.

In the early 20th century, the Galilee was inhabited by Arabs, Druzes and minorities such as Circassians and Jews. The Jewish population was increased significantly by Zionist immigration.

After the 1948 Arab-Israeli war the entire Galilee came under Israel's control. A large portion of the population fled, leaving entire villages empty; however, more Palestinians remained than in most areas, due especially to a successful rapprochement with the Druze. The kibbutzim around the Sea of Galilee were sometimes shelled by the Syrian army's artillery. The shelling stopped after Israel conquered the Golan Heights in 1967.

During the 1970's and the early 1980's, the PLO sometimes launched attacks on towns of the Upper Galilee from Lebanon. Israel initiated Operation Litani (1979) and Operation Peace For Galilee (1982) with the stated objectives of destroying the PLO infrastructure in Lebanon and protects the citizens of the Upper Galilee. Israel remained in occupation of most of Southern Lebanon until 1985; in 1985 Israel withdrew to a narrow security "buffer zone" called "Retzuat ha-Bitachon". Until the year 2000, Hezbollah (and earlier Amal) continued to fight the Israeli Defence Forces, sometimes shelling Upper Galilee communities and towns with Katyusha rockets). In 2000 Israeli prime-minister Ehud Barak unilaterally withdrew from south Lebanon and deployed Israel on the international border, recognized by the UN. However, clashes between Hezbollah and Israel continued along the border, and UN observers condemned both for their attacks. Hezbollah claims that a place on the border of the Golan Heights and Lebanon called the Shebaa Farms is Israeli-occupied Lebanon. Israel and the UN claim that the Shebaa Farms are part of the Syrian Golan Heights.

Until the year, 2000, Hezbollah, and earlier Amal, continued to fight the Israeli Defence Forces, sometimes shelling Upper Galilee communities with Katyusha rockets. In May 2000, Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak unilaterally withdrew IDF troops from southern Lebanon, maintaining a security force on the Israeli side of the international border recognized by the UN. However, clashes between Hezbollah and Israel continued along the border, and UN observers condemned both for their attacks.

The 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict was characterized by round-the-clock Katyusha rocket attacks (with a greatly extended range) by Hezbollah on the entire Galilee, with long-range ground-launched missiles, hitting as far south as the Sharon plain, Jezreel Valley, and Jordan Valley below the Sea of Galilee.

See also:
History of ancient Israel,
Geography of Israel