|RNational holiday:|N Independence Day, May 14, but the Jewish calender is lunar and holiday varies from year to year. Most major Jewish religious holidays are also national holidays.
|RNature and climate:|N There are four topographical regions.
The coastal strip against the Mediterranean Sea and the Jisreel Valley in the north are fertile with a Mediterranean climate.
The mountainous highland plateau west of River Jordan.
The Jordan and Wadi el Araba valleys are also fertile. Lake Tiberias and the Dead Sea in these valleys are both situated below sea level.
And the Negev Desert in the south, with Har Ramon, reaching 1033 m.a.s.l. as the highest point in Israel. Kochniye in the Golan Heights, belonging to Syria but occupied by Israel, reaches 1204 m.a.s.l.
Most of Israel is dry and desertlike, but vast areas is cultivated by artificial irrigation.
Average temperature in January between 8 and 13°C and in July between 24 and 32°C.
Percipitation in the mountains between 600 and 800 mm, by the Mediterranean coast 500 mm and in the Negev Desert about 50 mm.
|RPeople:|N 83% Jewish and 17% Arabian, mostly Palestinian.
When Israel was founded in 1948 there was about one million Palestinians and 600 000 Jews. In the first years of independence more than 600 000 Palestinians moved to other Arab countries and between 1948 and 1968 1.3 million Jews have immigrated.
|REconomy:|N 30% of the labour force is occupied in public services, 23% in industry and manufacturing, 13% in commerce and 6% in agriculture.
Agriculture is highly developed and effective. During the first 25 years of the country Israel the cultivated area increased from 162 000 ha to 430 000. Close to 70% of this area is artificially irrigated.
Most important crops are citrusfruits for export and grain, maize, sugarbeets, potatoes, vegetables and fodder for domestic use.
Israel have few minerals, the most important are potash, copper, phosphate, manganese and sulphur.
Industry and manufacturing is well developed.
The most important industry for export is diamond cutting, but Israel also have an extensive chemical, electronical, plastics, machinery and pharmaceutical industry aimed at export.
A state owned company produces aeroplanes, both civilians and military, as well as missiles and other sophisticated weapons.
|RHistory:|N This area was one of the first on earth were people settled as peasants. These peasants at about 8000 BC founded the town Jerico which is supposed to be the oldest town in the world.
About 2000 BC the Canaan-people invaded and settled in the area and it became known as the "Land of Canaan". At this time the Philistines lived in the coastal Gaza Strip. These were seafarers and from them the name palestine is derived.
Between 1400 and 1200 BC the Hebrews arrived from Egypt and established a kingdom with Jerusalem as capital. The kingdom expanded under the kings Saul and David.
After the reign of king Solomon it was divided in two parts, Israel and Judah. Israel was conquered by the Assyrians in 722 BC, Judah by the Babylonians in 586 BC and in 538 a locally autonomous state was established under the Persian Empire.
About 400 BC the whole region was conquered by Alexander the Great and in 141 a new Jewish state was established after the revolt of the Maccabees. around 70 BC this new state fell to the Roman Empire and was ruled by puppet kings of the Herodian dynasty.
The new Christian religion was suppressed both by the kings and the Jewish priesthood but spread widely in the whole Mediterranean area.
A Jewish rebellion against Rome 66 to 70 AD led to the destroyal of Jerusalem 70 AD and made Rome expel large number of Jews, beginning the Jewish Dispora. Another Jewish rebellion was crushed in 132 AD.
In the 4th century Christianity became officially tolerated in the Roman Empire which made Palestine a center for pilgrimage.
In 627 Palestine was conquered by Islamic arabs and in the 10th century Arabic immigration increased, which led to persecution of Jews and Christians. European Crusaders conquered parts of Palestine and Jerusalem in 1099 and founded a Latin kingdom, but were driven away from Jerusalem in 1187 and from Akka, their last stronghold in 1291.
In 1258 the region was conquered by Mongols, but they were defeated in 1260 near Nazareth. After this Palestine became a part of the Mamluk Empire and was incorporated in the Ottoman Empire 1516.
In the mid 19th century many Jews immigrated to Palestine.
When the Turks were defeated in World War I Palestine became a British mandate from the League of Nations and the immigration of Jews increased. During the 1930:ies there were riots between Arabs and Jews and negotiations about deciding the area in two countries, one Arabic and one Jewish started.
After World War II the riots expanded and a guerilla war was fought between Arabs and Jews.
In 1947 UN decided to divide the area in one Arabic and one Jewish country and Jerusalem e neutral city under international administration.
The Arabs refused to accept this but the state of Isreal was established on May 14 1948 with it's capital in Tel Aviv. The day after, may 15, troops from the Arab League attacked Israel. The newborn nation lost control of the old city of Jerusalem, but kept the new city. It also consilidated it's territorial over vast areas but lost the Gaza Strip to Egypt.
During 1948 fighting and cease-fires followed each others and in 1949 separate armistices were concluded between Israel and the Arab countries. During this war thousands of Palestinian Arabs left Israel and after the war they were not allowed to come back. they settled in camps in the Gaza Strip, in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, while large number of Jews from the Arab countries resettled in Isreal. Immigration of Jews from Europe, America and Asia continued as well.
In 1956 Israel attacked Egypt and conquered the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip. But under pressure from the USA and the Sovjet Union Israel withdrew their forces from the Sinai, but kept control over the Gaza Strip.
In the 1950:ies many Palestinian liberation groups were formed in the Palestinian refugee camps. These groups performed raids on Israel territory.
In 1967 Egypt conquered Gaza and stopped Israeli shipping in the Gulf of Akaba but in the Six-Day-War, June 5 to 10, Israel recaptured Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, occupied the west bank of River Jordan and the old city of Jerusalem from Jordan and the Golan Heights from Syria.
In 1973 Egypt and Syria attacked Israel but in an counterattack Israel forced back the Syrian troops and conquered the whole Sinai Peninsula and crossed the Suez Canal. In 1974 an agreement of disengagement was signed and the Israeli forces withdrew.
In 1977 the Egyptian president unexpectedly announced that he was willing to begin peace-negotiations with Israel. The talks started immediately and continued during 1978 under mediation of the US president Jimmy Carter and a peace-treaty between Israel and Egypt, ending 30 years of war was signed in Washington 1979. In the treaty israel promised to withdraw from the Sinai Peninsula and to start negotiations about homerule in Gaza and on the West Bank.
These negotiations were held back by the fact that israel refused to negotiate with the PLO, the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
In 1981 Syria occupied a large part of Lebanon, and in 1982 Israeli troops surrounded the main forces of PLO in western Beirut. The Israeli forces withdrew from Lebanon in 1985.
In 1987 Palestinian residents in Gaza and on the West Bank started a series of demonstrations against the Israeli authorities, the Intifada.
In 1991 the negotiations for home rule in Gaza and the West Bank started in Washington and in September 1993 an agreement was reaches. On may 13 1994 Israeli police and military left the areas and Palestinian police took control.
Peace negotiations between Israel and Jordan began in July 1994 and the border between the two countries was opened for tourists in early August. In October 1994 a peacetreaty between the two countries was signed.
