Where is Samaria?

The region of Samaria is mentioned repeatedly in the New Testament, but exactly where is Samaria?  The answer is that ancient Samaria corresponds approximately to the northern half of the modern West Bank.  The Hebrew name is Somron or Shomron.

32.1431 N, 35.2606 E

http://www.longitude-latitude-maps.com/city/102_47,Eli,Judea+and+Samaria,Israel

The name of Samaria is derived from Shemer.  Shemer was either an individual, a family, or a tribe from whom King Omri purchased the area about 884 BC.   Omri, the King of Israel, built his capital city here in this wine and oil production area.

The Samaritans are still an identifiable Abrahamic people who claim to practice the original Abrahamic religion.  They insist that Judaism is a later innovation.

The Samaritans built their temple on Mount Gerizim in the Fifth Century BC/BCE.  The Maccabean leader John Hyrcanus destroyed the Samaritan temple in 110 BC/BCE.