A part of the Negev Desert, it is a narrow and arid plain about 100 miles long and some 10 miles wide stretching north to south from the Dead Sea to Eilat. The frontier between Israel and Jordan runs through the Arava from north to south. Portions of the Arava were ceded to Jordan in the 1994 Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty and then leased back to Jewish farmers.
Historical Dictionary of Israel. Bernard Reich David H. Goldberg. Edited by Jon Woronoff..