The former capital region of the northern kingdom, whose people were a mixed group despised by the Jews. Jesus' conversation with the Samaritan woman and the parable of the Good Samaritan cross this bitter divide.
Central Palestine
West Bank
After Assyria destroyed the northern kingdom, it repopulated the land with foreigners who intermarried with the remaining Israelites, producing the Samaritans, who had their own temple on Mount Gerizim. Jews and Samaritans had a deep, centuries-old hostility. Jesus deliberately reached across it.
Samaria lies between Galilee (north) and Judaea (south). Travelers often went around it through the Jordan Valley to avoid it, Jesus' choice to pass through (John 4) was pointed.