The
Southern District (,
Mehoz HaDarom; ) is one of
Israel's
six administrative districts, and is the largest in terms of land area as well as the most sparsely populated. It covers most of the
Negev desert, as well as the
Arava valley. The population of the Southern District is 1,086,240 and its area is 14,185 km
2. It is 79.66% Jewish and 12.72
rab (mostly Muslim) and 7.62% Others (mostly Russian Christians). The district capital is
Beersheba, while the largest city is
Ashdod. Beersheba's dormitory towns of
Omer,
Meitar, and
Lehavim are all relatively affluent, while the
development towns (including
Sderot,
Netivot, and
Ofakim) and the seven
Bedouin cities are lower on the socio-economic scale.