Refer to the Gemara in Gittin 57a
אֲמַרלֵיהּ: ״אֶרֶץצְבִי״כְּתִיבבַּהּ, מָהצְבִיזֶה–אֵיןעוֹרוֹמַחֲזִיקאֶתבְּשָׂרוֹ, אַףאֶרֶץיִשְׂרָאֵל–בִּזְמַןשֶׁיּוֹשְׁבִיןעָלֶיהָרָוְוחָא, וּבִזְמַןשֶׁאֵיןיוֹשְׁבִיןעָלֶיהָגָּמְדָא.
Rabbi Chanina said to him: With regard to Eretz Yisrael it is written: Land of the deer (see Jeremiah 3:19). Just as the skin of a deer cannot hold its flesh, for after the animal is skinned, its hide shrinks, so too, with regard to Eretz Yisrael, when it is settled, it expands, but when it is not settled, it contracts. This explains how a place that is so small today could have been so highly populated prior to the Temple’s destruction.(William Davidson translation & notation)