Gan Yavne is a town in the Central District of Israel, situated adjacent to the city of Ashdod. It lies in the country's central coastal plain, near the Mediterranean coast south of Tel Aviv.
The town was founded in 1931, during the period of Jewish settlement in Mandatory Palestine, and it achieved local council status in 1950, two years after the establishment of the State of Israel.
Its position next to Ashdod, one of Israel's larger cities and a major port, is among its most notable geographic characteristics, linking the smaller town to the surrounding urban and industrial area of the southern coastal region.