Galilee (/ˈɡælɪliː/; Hebrew: הַגָּלִיל, romanized: hag-Gālīl; Latin: Galilaea; Arabic: الجليل, romanized: al-Jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon consisting of two parts: the Upper Galilee (הגליל העליון, hag-Galil ha-ʿElyon; الجليل الأعلى, al-Jalīl al-Aʿlā) and the Lower Galilee (הגליל התחתון, hag-Galil hat-Taḥton; الجليل الأسفل, al-Jalīl al-Asfal).

Galilee encompasses the area north of the Mount Carmel-Mount Gilboa ridge and south of the east-west section of the Litani River. It extends from the Israeli coastal plain and the shores of the Mediterranean Sea with Acre in the west, to the Jordan Valley to the east; and from the Litani in the north plus a piece bordering on the Golan Heights to Dan at the base of Mount Hermon in the northeast, to Mount Carmel and Mount Gilboa in the south.

It includes the plains of the Jezreel Valley north of Jenin and the Beit She'an Valley, the Sea of Galilee, and the Hula Valley.^{[dubious – discuss][citation needed]}

The region's Hebrew name is Biblical Hebrew: גָּלִיל, romanized: gālíl, meaning 'district' or 'circle'. The Hebrew form used in Isaiah 8:23 (Isaiah 9:1 in the Christian Old Testament) is in the construct state, leading to Hebrew: גְּלִיל הַגּוֹיִם, romanized: gəlil haggóyim "Galilee of the nations", which refers to gentiles who settled there at the time the book was written, either by their own volition or as a result of the resettlement policy of the Neo-Assyrian Empire.

The borders of Galilee, split into Upper Galilee and Lower Galilee, were described by Josephus in his The Jewish War:

Now Phoenicia and Syria encompass about the Galilees, which are two, and called the Upper Galilee and the Lower. They are bounded toward the sun-setting, with the borders of the territory belonging to Ptolemais, and by Carmel; which mountain had formerly belonged to the Galileans, but now belonged to the Tyrians; to which mountain adjoins Gaba, which is called the City of Horsemen, because those horsemen that were dismissed by Herod the king dwelt therein; they are bounded on the south with Samaria and Scythopolis, as far as the river Jordan; on the east with Hippeae and Gadaris, and also with Ganlonitis, and the borders of the kingdom of Agrippa; its northern parts are bounded by Tyre, and the country of the Tyrians. As for that Galilee which is called the Lower, it extends in length from Tiberias to Zabulon, and of the maritime places Ptolemais is its neighbor; its breadth is from the village called Xaloth, which lies in the great plain, as far as Bersabe, from which beginning also is taken the breadth of the Upper Galilee, as far as the village Baca, which divides the land of the Tyrians from it; its length is also from Meloth to Thella, a village near to Jordan.

Most of Galilee consists of rocky terrain, at heights of 500–700 m (1,600–2,300 ft). Several high mountains are in the region, including Mount Tabor and Mount Meron, which have relatively low temperatures and high rainfall. As a result of this climate, flora and fauna thrive in the region. At the same time, many birds annually migrate from colder climates to Africa and back through the Hula–Jordan corridor. The streams and waterfalls, the latter mainly in Upper Galilee, along with vast fields of greenery and colourful wildflowers, as well as numerous towns of biblical importance, make the region a popular tourist destination.

Due to its high rainfall 900–1,200 millimetres (35–47 in), mild temperatures and high mountains (Mount Meron's elevation is 1,000–1,208 m (3,281–3,963 ft)), the upper Galilee region contains some distinctive flora and fauna: prickly juniper (Juniperus oxycedrus), Lebanese cedar (Cedrus libani), which grows in a small grove on Mount Meron, cyclamens, paeonias, and Rhododendron ponticum which sometimes appears on Meron.