Geography
Bayt Jibrin was situated on a plain 275 meters (902 ft) above sea level west of the Hebron Hills, 21 kilometers (13 mi) northwest of Hebron. Nearby localities included the depopulated villages of Kudna to the north, al-Qubayba to the southwest, al-Dawayima to the south and the existing Palestinian towns of Beit Ula to the east and Idhna to the southeast. Historically, it was located on the main road between Cairo to Hebron, via Gaza.
In 1945, Bayt Jibrin's total land area was 56.1 km2 (21.7 sq mi), 98% of which was Arab-owned. The town's urban area consisted of 287 m2 (0.071 acre), with 33.2 km2 (8,200 acres) of cultivable land and 21.6 km2 (5,300 acres) of non-cultivable land. 54.8% of the town's land was planted with cereal crops, 6.2% with olives and 4.4% with irrigated crops.
The Bayt Jibrin region contains a large number of underground caverns, both natural formations and caves dug in the soft chalk by inhabitants of the region over the centuries. There are said to be 800 such caverns, 80 of them, known as the Bell Caves, on the grounds of the Beit Guvrin National Park.
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