Southern and still largely uninhabited part of Israel, more than 4,000 square miles in area. It has a desert climate, hot and dry by day, cold and humid by night. The Negev is the largest compact territorial block in Israel, made up of uplands and plateaus with elevations of up to 3,000 feet, as well as canyons and wide, dry river beds. For many centuries the Negev was a forsaken wasteland, although evidence of past life is shown in the ruins of cities and villages such as Elat and Haluza, Avdat and Shivta. Relics of terraces, dams, and pools date back to Nabatean, Roman, and Byzantine times. These were stations of the ancient trade routes and the mining cities of Solomon. Today, the dry lands of the Negev are slowly coming to life. New settlements are growing with newly arrived immigrants; sheep ranches are being established and crops are being cultivated with the aid of water piped from the Yarkon River. Underground water sources are being tapped, and copper mining has been resumed at the ancient sites. Minerals such as phosphates and kaolin are being successfully exploited.