What were the physical characteristics of the biblical Promised Land?

Answer 1

In numerous biblical references, the land of Canaan is seen as the 'Promised Land' in which the Israelites were to settle, and against whose population (the Canaanites) the Israelites would have to prevail.

Canaan was a real place and is treated as such in The Bible. It was the ancient name for Palestine. It is repeatedly referred to as a land 'flowing with milk and honey'. It covers all of Palestine west of the Jordan River. The view of the Promised Land can still be seen today from Mt Nebo, much as Moses would have seen it.

Answer 2

The biblical 'Promised Land' was first of all a literary fiction designed to justify the claim on the land of the Canaanites. This can be demonstrated by the differences in its description in different parts of the Bible, depending on the author and the circumstances. According to Deuteronomy 34, Moses went onto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, across the river from Jericho, and the Lord showed him all the land that he had promised to Abraham. Given the curvature of the Earth, this would not have been very extensive, but seems to have included all the lands of the Israelite tribes. At other times, the 'Promised Land' included much of Palestine, or even the entire area from the Mediterranean Sea to the Euphrates River.
But the biblical authors were not just interested in justifying ancient history. They were also interested in justifying the reoccupation of Samaria - the ancient kingdom of Israel, which arose briefly then fell to the Assyrians and became the land of the Samarians in the late centuries of the first millennium BCE, when the Hebrew Bible was being composed. The Promised Land was whatever the people could justify laying claim to for the hoped-for future expansion of Judah.