Nitzana is an educational youth village

Youth village

A youth village is a boarding school model first developed in Mandate Palestine in the 1930s to care for groups of children and teenagers fleeing the Nazis...

 and communal settlement

Communal settlement (Israel)

A community settlement is a type of town in Israel. While in an ordinary town anyone may buy property, in a community settlement the town's residents, who are organized in a cooperative, can veto a sale of a house or a business to an undesirable buyer....

 in the western Negev

Negev

The Negev is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The Arabs, including the native Bedouin population of the region, refer to the desert as al-Naqab. The origin of the word Neghebh is from the Hebrew root denoting 'dry'...

 desert in Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, adjacent to the Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

ian border. It is named for the nearby Nabataean

Nabataeans

Thamudi3.jpgThe Nabataeans, also Nabateans , were ancient peoples of southern Canaan and the northern part of Arabia, whose oasis settlements in the time of Josephus , gave the name of Nabatene to the borderland between Syria and Arabia, from the Euphrates to the Red Sea...

 city of Nitzana and gives its name to the Nitzana Border Crossing

Nitzana Border Crossing

The Nitzana Border Crossing is an international border crossing between El Ouga, Egypt and Nitzana, Israel. Opened in 1982, the crossing used to handle pedestrians as well as private cars but most of the crossing was being done via the Taba Border Crossing in Eilat and the Rafah Border Crossing in...

, formerly Auja al-Hafir.

This settlement was founded in 1987 by Aryeh Eliav

Aryeh Eliav

Arie "Lova" Eliav, born Lev Lipschitz , , was an Israeli politician and former member of the Knesset.-Biography:...

, a former member of the Knesset

Knesset

The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...

 for several left-wing parties, and today has a population of around 50 families. It is part of Ramat HaNegev Regional Council

Ramat HaNegev Regional Council

Ramat Negev Regional Council is a regional council in the Negev desert in Israel. The largest regional council in the country, its headquarters are located on Highway 40 between Mashabei Sadeh and Tlalim.-Places:...

.

See also

• Nitzanei Sinai
  Nitzanei Sinai
  Nitzanei Sinai , also known as Kadesh Barne'a , is a communal settlement in the western Negev desert in Israel. Located near Nitzana, it is named for its proximity to Sinai, as well as after Kadesh Barne'a in the Bible, one of the stations on the Israelites' journey during the Exodus .The...
  
  , a nearby communal settlement.