Israel

[Country map of Israel]

Map ©1996 NGS Cartographic Division. Developed in association with GeoSystems Global Corp. World Map

(also see separate Gaza Strip and West Bank entries) Note: The territories occupied by Israel since the 1967 war are not included in the data below. In keeping with the framework established at the Madrid Conference in October 1991, bilateral negotiations are being conducted between Israel and Palestinian representatives, Syria, and Jordan to determine the final status of the occupied territories. On 25 April 1982, Israel withdrew from the Sinai pursuant to the 1979 Israel-Egypt Peace treaty. Outstanding territorial and other disputes with Jordan were resolved in the 26 October 1994 Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace.

Geography

Location: Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Lebanon

Map references: Middle East

Area:
total area: 20,770 sq km
land area: 20,330 sq km
comparative area: slightly larger than New Jersey

Land boundaries: total 1,006 km, Egypt 255 km, Gaza Strip 51 km, Jordan 238 km, Lebanon 79 km, Syria 76 km, West Bank 307 km

Coastline: 273 km

Climate: temperate; hot and dry in southern and eastern desert areas

Terrain: Negev desert in the south; low coastal plain; central mountains; Jordan Rift Valley

Natural resources: copper, phosphates, bromide, potash, clay, sand, sulfur, asphalt, manganese, small amounts of natural gas and crude oil

Land use:
arable land: 17%
permanent crops: 5%
meadows and pastures: 40%
forest and woodland: 6%
other: 32%

Irrigated land: 2,140 sq km (1989)


People

Population: 5,433,134 (July 1995 est.)
note: includes 122,000 Jewish settlers in the West Bank, 14,500 in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, 4,800 in the Gaza Strip, and 149,000 in East Jerusalem (August 1994 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 29%
15-64 years: 61%
65 years and over: 10%

Population growth rate: 1.4% (1995 est.)

Birth rate: 20.39 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Death rate: 6.38 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 8.4 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 78.14 years
male: 76 years
female: 80.39 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.81 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Israeli(s)
adjective: Israeli

Ethnic divisions: Jewish 82% (Israel born 50%, Europe/Americas/Oceania born 20%, Africa born 7%, Asia born 5%), non-Jewish 18% (mostly Arab) (1993 est.)

Religions: Judaism 82%, Islam 14% (mostly Sunni Muslim), Christian 2%, Druze and other 2%

Languages: Hebrew (official), Arabic used officially for Arab minority, English most commonly used foreign language

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1992)
total population: 95%
male: 97%
female: 93%

Labor force: 1.9 million (1992)
by occupation: public services 29.3%, industry 22.1%, commerce 13.9%, finance and business 10.4%, personal and other services 7.4%, construction 6.5%, transport, storage, and communications 6.3%, agriculture, forestry, and fishing 3.5%, other 0.6% (1992)


Government

Names:
conventional long form: State of Israel
conventional short form: Israel
local long form: Medinat Yisra'el
local short form: Yisra'el

Digraph: IS

Type: republic

Capital: Jerusalem
note: Israel proclaimed Jerusalem its capital in 1950, but the US, like nearly all other countries, does not recognize this status, and maintains its Embassy in Tel Aviv

Administrative divisions: 6 districts (mehozot, singular - mehoz); Central, Haifa, Jerusalem, Northern, Southern, Tel Aviv

Independence: 14 May 1948 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration)

National holiday: Independence Day, 14 May 1948 (Israel declared independence on 14 May 1948, but the Jewish calendar is lunar and the holiday may occur in April or May)

Constitution: no formal constitution;some of the functions of a constitution are filled by the Declaration of Establishment (1948), the basic laws of the parliament (Knesset), and the Israeli citizenship law

Legal system: mixture of English common law, British Mandate regulations, and, in personal matters, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim legal systems; in December 1985, Israel informed the UN Secretariat that it would no longer accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal


Economy

Overview: Israel has a market economy with substantial government participation. It depends on imports of crude oil,grains, raw materials, and military equipment. Despite limited natural resources, Israel has intensively developed its agricultural and industrial sectors over the past 20 years. Industry employs about 22% of Israeli workers, construction 6.5%, agriculture, forestry, and fishing 3.5%, and services most of the rest. Israel is largely self-sufficient in food production except for grains. Diamonds, high-technology equipment, and agricultural products (fruits and vegetables) are leading exports. Israel usually posts current account deficits, which are covered by large transfer payments from abroad and by foreign loans. Roughly half of the government's external debt is owed to the United States, which is its major source of economic and military aid. To earn needed foreign exchange, Israel has been targeting high-technology niches in international markets, such as medical scanning equipment. The influx of Jewish immigrants from the former USSR, which topped 450,000 during the period 1990-94, increased unemployment, intensified housing problems, and strained the government budget. At the same time, the immigrants bring to the economy valuable scientific and professional expertise.

National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $70.1 billion (1994 est.)

National product real growth rate: 6.8% (1994 est.)

National product per capita: $13,880 (1994 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 14.5% (1994)

Unemployment rate: 7.5% (1994 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $42.3 billion
expenditures: $45.4 billion, including capital expenditures of $11.1 billion (FY92/93)

Exports: $16.2 billion (f.o.b., 1994 est.)
commodities: machinery and equipment, cut diamonds, chemicals, textiles and apparel, agricultural products, metals
partners: US, EU, Japan

Imports: $22.5 billion (c.i.f., 1994 est.)
commodities: military equipment, investment goods, rough diamonds, oil, other productive inputs, consumer goods
partners: EU, US, Japan

External debt: $25.9 billion (November 1994 est.)

Industrial production: growth rate 8% (1994 est.); accounts for about 30% of GDP

Electricity:
capacity: 4,140,000 kW
production: 23 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 4,290 kWh (1993)

Industries: food processing, diamond cutting and polishing, textiles and apparel, chemicals, metal products, military equipment, transport equipment, electrical equipment, miscellaneous machinery, potash mining, high-technology electronics, tourism

Agriculture: citrus and other fruits, vegetables, cotton; beef, poultry, dairy products

Currency: 1 new Israeli shekel (NIS) = 100 new agorot

Fiscal year: calendar year (since 1 January 1992)


Transportation

Railroads:
total: 520 km (diesel operated; single track)
standard gauge: 520 km 1.435-m gauge

Highways:
total: 13,461 km
paved: 13,461 km

Pipelines: crude oil 708 km; petroleum products 290 km; natural gas 89 km

Ports: Ashdod, Ashqelon, Elat, Hadera, Haifa, Tel Aviv-Yafo

Merchant marine:
total: 32 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 624,861 GRT/720,765 DWT
ships by type: cargo 7, container 22, refrigerated cargo 2, roll-on/roll-off cargo 1

Airports:
total: 57
with pavedrunways over 3,047 m: 2
with paved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 6
with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m: 8
with paved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 7
with paved runways under 914 m: 31
with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 3


Flag by Dream Maker Software, Inc.
Information obtained from CIA, The World Factbook 1995