Israel: Basic Facts

Country Statistics compared: (BBC.CO.UK Country Profiles)

	Israel	European Union	United States	India
Population	6.7 Million		298 million	1.1 billion
Area	22,072 sq km*		9.8 million sq km**	3.1 million sq km
Monetary Unit and equivalence	1 New Israeli Shekel (NIS) = 0.228 UD		1 US Dollar ($)	1 Indian Rupee = 0.215 USD
GNI per capita	$18,620**		$43,740**	$720**

*According to Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics
** According to World Bank Figures, 2006

Basic Facts about Israel

Population: 7,026,000
On the eve of Independence Day 2006, the Central Bureau of Statistics announced that the population of Israel has reached 7,026,000, 118,000 more than last year and an 8.7-fold increase since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, when the population numbered 806,000.

Israel’s Population in Millions, Compared to its neighbors

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Source: Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il/MFA/Facts+About+Israel/Israel+in+Maps/Population+in+Millions.htm
Population Breakdown (from Israeli MFA site, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA
/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2006 /Israels%2058th%20Independence%20Day%20-%202006 )

Jews - 5,333,000 (76%)
(Europe/America-born 32.1%, Israel-born 20.8%, Africa-born 14.6%, Asia-born 12.6%)
Arabs - 1,387,000 (20%)
Others - 306,000 (4%)

Population Distribution
Jerusalem is the largest city in Israel, with a population of some 718,900 as opposed to just 84,000 in 1948. Tel Aviv-Yafo, the second largest city, has a population of 378,800.
Cities and Towns: 91.6%

Jerusalem: 10.3%
Tel Aviv: 5.5 %
Haifa: 4.2 %

Villages and community settlements: 3.2%
Moshavim: 3.3%
Kibbutzim: 1.8%

A Map of Population Density

Religious Breakdown
Jewish 76.4%
Muslim 16.0%
Arab Christians 1.7%
Other Christian 0.4%
Druze 1.6%
Unspecified 3.8% (2003)

Geographic Area:
total: 20,770 sq km
land: 20,330 sq km
water: 440 sq km

Compared to the United States: Israel is slightly smaller than New Jersey.

See the size of Israel in comparison to other countries around the world

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

Government: Parliamentary democracy

Capital: Jerusalem

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

Economy: ($US billion) (MFA)
GDP: 111.7

Per capita: $17,343

Exports, goods, and services: 38.7
Imports, goods, and services: 43.5

Gross National Product comparison in billions of dollars (year 2000)

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il/MFA/Facts+About+Israel/Israel+in+Maps/Gross+National+Product+
comparison+in+billions+of+d.htm

For More information:
Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, A Statistical Abstract

SOURCES:
BBC Country Profile, Israel

CIA World Factbook Israel Information, Israel

From the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs Website:
Looking at Israel: Facts and Figures

(http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Facts%20About%20Israel/Looking%20at%20Israel
/Looking%20at%20Israel-%20Facts%20in%20Figures )

http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2006/Israels%2058th%20
Independence%20Day%20-%202006
Israel at a Glance, Statistics from 2004