Geography

    Israel

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Location:

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

Geographic coordinates:

31 30 N, 34 45 E

Map references:

Click here to view maps

Area:

Total: 20,770 sq km  - Land: 20,330 sq km - Water: 440 sq km  

Area - comparative:

Slightly smaller than New Jersey

Land boundaries:

Total: 1,017 km
Border countries: Egypt 266 km, Gaza Strip 51 km, Jordan 238 km, Lebanon 79 km, Syria 76 km, West Bank 307 km

Coastline:

273 km

Maritime claims:

Territorial sea: 12 nm
Continental shelf: to depth of exploitation

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

Elevation extremes:

Lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m highest point: Har Meron 1,208 m

Natural resources:

Timber, potash, copper ore, natural gas, phosphate rock, magnesium bromide, clays, sand

Land use:

Arable land: 16.39%  - Permanent crops: 4.17%
other: 79.44% (2001)

Irrigated land:

1,990 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards:

Sandstorms may occur during spring and summer; droughts; periodic earthquakes

Environment - International agreements:

Party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto 
Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
Signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation

People

    Israel

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Population:

6,276,883
note: includes about 187,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank, about 20,000 in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, more than 5,000 in the Gaza Strip, and fewer than 177,000 in East Jerusalem (July 2005 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 26.5% (male 851,415/female 812,095)
15-64 years: 63.7% (male 2,010,888/female 1,986,256)
65 years and over: 9.8% (male 264,708/female 351,521) (2005 est.)

Median age:

Total: 29.39 years
male: 28.58 years
female: 30.27 years (2005 est.)

Population growth rate:

1.2% (2005 est.)

Birth rate:

18.21 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Death rate:

6.18 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Net migration rate:

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female
total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 7.03 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 7.77 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 6.26 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 79.32 years
male: 77.21 years
female: 81.55 years (2005 est.)

Total fertility rate:

2.44 children born/woman (2005 est.)

Nationality:

noun: Israeli(s)
adjective: Israeli

Ethnic groups:

Jewish 80.1% (Europe/America-born 32.1%, Israel-born 20.8%, Africa-born 14.6%, Asia-born 12.6%), non-Jewish 19.9% (mostly Arab) (1996 est.)

Religions:

Jewish 76.5%, Muslim 15.9%, Arab Christians 1.7%, other Christian 0.4%, Druze 1.6%, unspecified 3.9% (2003)

Languages:

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

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 95.4%
male: 97.3%
female: 93.6% (2003 est.)

Government

    Israel

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Country name:

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

Government type:

parliamentary democracy

Capital:

Jerusalem; note - Israel proclaimed Jerusalem as its capital in 1950, but the US, like nearly all other countries, 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); note - 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

Executive branch:

chief of state: President Moshe KATZAV (since 31 July 2000)
head of government: Prime Minister Ariel SHARON (since 7 March 2001)
cabinet: Cabinet selected by prime minister and approved by the Knesset
elections: president is largely a ceremonial role and is elected by the Knesset for a seven-year term; election last held 31 July 2000 
(next to be held mid-2007); following legislative elections, the president assigns a Knesset member - traditionally the leader of the largest party - the task of forming a governing coalition; election last held 28 January 2003 (next scheduled to be held fall of 2006)
election results: Moshe KATZAV elected president by the 120-member Knesset with a total of 60 votes, other candidate, 
Shimon PERES, received 57 votes (there were three abstentions); Ariel SHARON continues as prime minister after Likud Party victory in January 2003 Knesset elections; Likud won 38 seats and then formed coalition government with Shinui, the National Religious Party, and the National Union

Legislative branch:

unicameral Knesset (120 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 28 January 2003 (next scheduled to be held fall of 2006)
election results: percent of vote by party - Likud Party 29.4%, Labor 14.5%, Shinui 12.3%, Shas 8.2%, National Union 5.5%, Meretz 5.2%, United Torah Judaism 4.3%, National Religious Party 4.2%, Democratic Front for Peace and Equality 3.0%, One Nation 2.8%, National Democratic Assembly 2.3%, Yisra'el Ba'Aliya (YBA) 2.2%, United Arab List 2.1%, Green Leaf Party 1.2%, Herut 1.2%, other 1.6%; seats by party - Likud 38, Labor 19, Shinui 15, Shas 11, National Union 7, Meretz 6, National Religious Party 6, United Torah Judaism 5, Democratic Front for Peace and Equality 3, One Nation 3, National Democratic Assembly 3, YBA 2, United Arab List 2

Judicial branch:

Supreme Court (justices appointed for life by the president)

Political parties and leaders:

Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (Hadash) [Muhammad BARAKA]; Green Leaf Party (no longer active) [Boaz WACHTEL 
and Shlomi SANDAK]; Herut (no longer active) [Michael KLEINER]; Labor Party [Shimon PERES]; Likud Party [Ariel SHARON]; Meretz (merged with YAHAD) [Zahava GALON]; National Democratic Assembly (Balad) [Azmi BISHARA]; National Religious Party [Ephraim "Efie" EITAM]; National Union (Haichud Haleumi) [Avigdor LIBERMAN] (includes Tekuma Moledet and Yisra'el Beiteinu); One Nation [David TAL]; Shas [Eliyahu YISHAI]; Shinui [Yosef "Tommy" LAPID]; United Arab List [Abd al-Malik DAHAMSHAH]; United Torah Judaism [Yaakov LITZMAN]; YAHAD [Yossi BEILIN]; Yisra'el Ba'Aliya or YBA (merged with Likud) [Natan SHARANSKY]

Political pressure groups and leaders:

Israeli nationalists advocating Jewish settlement on the West Bank and Gaza Strip; Peace Now supports territorial concessions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip; Yesha (settler) Council promotes settler interests and opposes territorial compromise; B'Tselem monitors human rights abuses

International organization participation:

BIS, BSEC (observer), CE (observer), CERN (observer), EBRD, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS (observer), ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MIGA, OAS (observer), OPCW (signatory), OSCE (partner), PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO

Diplomatic representation 
in the US :

chief of mission: Ambassador Daniel AYALON
chancery: 3514 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 364-5578
FAX: [1] (202) 364-5560
consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco

Diplomatic representation 
from the US :

chief of mission: Ambassador Daniel C. KURTZER
embassy: 71 Hayarkon Street, Tel Aviv 63903
mailing address: PSC 98, Box 29, APO AE 09830
telephone: [972] (3) 519-7369/7453/7454/7457/7458/7551/7575
FAX: [972] (3) 516-4390
consulate(s) general: Jerusalem; note - an independent US mission, established in 1928, whose members are not accredited to a foreign government

Flag description:

White with a blue hexagram (six-pointed linear star) known as the Magen David (Shield of David) centered between two equal horizontal blue bands near the top and bottom edges of the flag. See Image: Israeli  Flag

  Economy

          Israel

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Economy - overview:

Israel has a technologically advanced 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. Israel imports substantial quantities of grain, but is largely self-sufficient in other agricultural products. Cut diamonds, high-technology equipment, and agricultural products (fruits and vegetables) are the leading exports. Israel usually posts sizable 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 US , which is its major source of economic and military aid. The bitter Israeli-Palestinian conflict; difficulties in the high-technology, construction, and tourist sectors; and fiscal austerity in the face of growing inflation led to small declines in GDP in 2001 and 2002.  The economy grew at 1% in 2003, with improvements in tourism  and foreign direct investment. In 2004, rising business and consumer confidence - as well as higher demand for Israeli exports boosted GDP by 3.9%.

GDP:

purchasing power parity - $129 billion (2004 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

3.9% (2004 est.)

GDP - per capita:

purchasing power parity - $20,800 (2004 est.)

GDP - composition 
by sector:

agriculture: 2.8%
industry: 37.7%
services: 59.5% (2003 est.)

Investment 
(gross fixed):

17.6% of GDP (2004 est.)

Population below poverty line:

18% (2001 est.)

Household income 
or consumption by percentage share:

lowest 10%: 2.4%
highest 10%: 28.3% (1997)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:

35.5 (2001)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

0% (2004 est.)

Labor force:

2.68 million (2004 est.)

Labor force -
by occupation:

agriculture, forestry, and fishing 2.6%, manufacturing 20.2%, construction 7.5%, commerce 12.8%, transport, storage, and communications 6.2%, finance and business 13.1%, personal 
and other services 6.4%, public services 31.2% (1996)

Unemployment rate:

10.7% (2004 est.)

Budget:

revenues: $48.09 billion
expenditures: $52.11 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.)

Public debt:

104.5% of GDP (2004 est.)

Agriculture - products:

citrus, vegetables, cotton; beef, poultry, dairy products

Industries:

high-technology projects (including aviation, communications, computer-aided design and manufactures, medical electronics, fiber optics), wood and paper products, potash and phosphates, food, beverages, and tobacco, caustic soda, cement, construction, metals products, chemical products, plastics, diamond cutting, textiles and footwear

Industrial production growth rate:

4.5% (2004 est.)

Electricity - production:

42.67 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - consumption:

38.3 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - exports:

1.387 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - imports:

0 kWh (2002)

Oil - production:

80 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption:

260,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:

NA

Oil - imports:

NA

Oil - proved reserves:

1.92 million bbl (1 January 2002)

Natural gas - production:

10 million cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:

10 million cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - exports:

0 cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - imports:

0 cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves:

20.81 billion cu m (1 January 2002)

Current account balance:

$211.9 million (2004 est.)

Exports:

$34.41 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Exports - commodities:

machinery and equipment, software, cut diamonds, agricultural products, chemicals, textiles and apparel

Exports - partners:

US 36.8%, Belgium 7.5%, Hong Kong 4.9% (2004)

Imports:

$36.84 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Imports - commodities:

raw materials, military equipment, investment goods, rough diamonds, fuels, grain, consumer goods

Imports - partners:

US 15%, Belgium 10.1%, Germany 7.5%, Switzerland 6.5%,  
UK 6.1% (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

$28.48 billion (2004 est.)

Debt - external:

$74.46 billion (2004 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:

$662 million from US (2003 est.)

Currency:

new Israeli shekel (ILS); note - NIS is the currency abbreviation; ILS is the International Organization for Standarization (ISO) code for the NIS

Currency code:

ILS

Exchange rates:

new Israeli shekels per US dollar - 4.482 (2004), 4.5541 (2003), 4.7378 (2002), 4.2057 (2001), 4.0773 (2000)

Fiscal year:

calendar year

Communications

    Israel

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Telephones - main lines in use:

3.006 million (2002)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

6.334 million (2002)

Telephone system:

general assessment: most highly developed system in the Middle East although not the largest domestic: good system of coaxial cable and microwave radio relay;  all systems are digital
international: country code - 972; 3 submarine cables; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (2 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean)

Radio broadcast stations:

AM 23, FM 15, shortwave 2 (1998)

Television broadcast stations:

17 (plus 36 low-power repeaters) (1995)

Internet country code:

.il

Internet hosts:

437,516 (2004)

Internet users:

2 million (2002)

Transportation

         Israel

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Railways:

total: 640 km
standard gauge: 640 km 1.435-m gauge (2004)

Highways:

total: 16,903 km
paved: 16,903 km (including 56 km of expressways)
unpaved: 0 km (2002)

Pipelines:

gas 140 km; oil 1,509 km (2004)

Ports and harbors:

Ashdod , Ashqelon , Elat (Eilat), Hadera, Haifa , Tel Aviv-Yafo

Merchant marine:

total: 17 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 752,873 GRT/881,711 DWT
by type: cargo 1, container 16
registered in other countries: 48 (2005)

Airports:

51 (2004 est.)

Airports - with paved runways:

total: 28
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 4
1,524 to 2,437 m: 8
914 to 1,523 m: 10
under 914 m: 4 (2004 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

total: 23
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 2
under 914 m: 20 (2004 est.)

Heliports:

3 (2004 est.)

Military

         Israel

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Military branches:

Israel Defense Forces (IDF): Ground Corps, Navy, Air and Space Force (includes Air Defense Forces); historically there have been no separate Israeli military services

Military manpower - military age and obligation:

17 years of age for compulsory (Jews, Druzes) and voluntary (Christians, Muslims, Circassians) military service; both sexes 
are eligible for military service; conscript service obligation - 
36 months for men, 21 months for women (2004)

Military manpower - availability:

males age 17-49: 1,492,125
females age 17-49: 1,443,916 (2005 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service:

males age 17-49: 1,255,902
females age 17-49: 1,212,394 (2005 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually:

males: 53,760
females: 51,293 (2005 est.)

Military expenditures dollar figure:

$9.11 billion (FY03)

Military expenditures percent of GDP:

8.7% (FY02)