|
|
Background: |
Following World War II, the
British withdrew from their mandate of Palestine, and the UN partitioned
the area into Arab and Jewish states, an arrangement rejected by the
Arabs. Subsequently, the Israelis defeated the Arabs in a series of wars
without ending the deep tensions between the two sides. The territories
Israel occupied since the 1967 war are not included in the Israel country
profile, unless otherwise noted. On 25 April 1982, Israel withdrew from
the Sinai pursuant to the 1979 Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty. In keeping with
the framework established at the Madrid Conference in October 1991,
bilateral negotiations were conducted between Israel and Palestinian
representatives and Syria to achieve a permanent settlement. Israel and
Palestinian officials signed on 13 September 1993 a Declaration of
Principles (also known as the 'Oslo Accords') guiding an interim period of
Palestinian self-rule. Outstanding territorial and other disputes with
Jordan were resolved in the 26 October 1994 Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace.
In addition, on 25 May 2000, Israel withdrew unilaterally from southern
Lebanon, which it had occupied since 1982. In April 2003, US President
BUSH, working in conjunction with the EU, UN, and Russia - the 'Quartet' -
took the lead in laying out a roadmap to a final settlement of the
conflict by 2005, based on reciprocal steps by the two parties leading to
two states, Israel and a democratic Palestine. However, progress toward a
permanent status agreement was undermined by Israeli-Palestinian violence
between September 2003 and February 2005. An Israeli-Palestinian agreement
reached at Sharm al-Sheikh in February 2005, along with an
internally-brokered Palestinian ceasefire, significantly reduced the
violence. In the summer of 2005, Israel unilaterally disengaged from the
Gaza Strip, evacuating settlers and its military while retaining control
over most points of entry into the Gaza Strip. The election of HAMAS in
January 2006 to head the Palestinian Legislative Council froze relations
between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA). Ehud OLMERT became
prime minister in March 2006; following an Israeli military operation in
Gaza in June-July 2006 and a 34-day conflict with Hizballah in Lebanon in
June-August 2006, he shelved plans to unilaterally evacuate from most of
the West Bank. OLMERT in June 2007 resumed talks with the PA after HAMAS
seized control of the Gaza Strip and PA President Mahmoud ABBAS formed a
new government without HAMAS. |
|
Location: |
Middle East, bordering the
Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Lebanon |
|
Geographic coordinates: |
31 30 N, 34 45 E |
|
Map references: |
Middle East |
|
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: 15.45%
permanent crops: 3.88%
other: 80.67% (2005) |
|
Irrigated land: |
1,940 sq km (2003) |
|
Total renewable water resources: |
1.7 cu km (2001) |
|
Freshwater withdrawal
(domestic/industrial/agricultural): |
total: 2.05 cu km/yr
(31%/7%/62%)
per capita: 305 cu m/yr (2000) |
|
Natural hazards: |
sandstorms may occur during
spring and summer; droughts; periodic earthquakes |
|
Environment - current issues: |
limited arable land and natural
fresh water resources pose serious constraints; desertification; air
pollution from industrial and vehicle emissions; groundwater pollution
from industrial and domestic waste, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides
|
|
Environment - international agreements: |
party to: Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution,
Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Marine Life
Conservation |
|
Geography - note: |
there are 242 Israeli
settlements and civilian land use sites in the West Bank, 42 in the
Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, 0 in the Gaza Strip, and 29 in East
Jerusalem (August 2005 est.); Lake Tiberias (Sea of Galilee) is an
important freshwater source |
|
Population: |
7,112,359
note:
includes about 187,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank, about 20,000 in
the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, and fewer than 177,000 in East
Jerusalem (July 2008 est.) |
|
Age structure: |
0-14 years: 28% (male
1,018,229/female 971,083)
15-64 years: 62.2% (male
2,242,928/female 2,183,688)
65 years and over: 9.8% (male
303,289/female 393,142) (2008 est.) |
|
Median age: |
total: 28.9 years
male: 28.2 years
female: 29.7 years (2008 est.)
|
|
Population growth rate: |
1.713% (2008 est.) |
|
Birth rate: |
20.02 births/1,000 population
(2008 est.) |
|
Death rate: |
5.41 deaths/1,000 population
(2008 est.) |
|
Net migration rate: |
2.52 migrant(s)/1,000
population (2008 est.) |
|
Sex ratio: |
at birth: 1.05
male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64
years: 1.03 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.77
male(s)/female
total population: 1 male(s)/female (2008 est.)
|
|
Infant mortality rate: |
total: 4.28 deaths/1,000
live births
male: 4.43 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 4.12 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.) |
|
Life expectancy at birth: |
total population: 80.61
years
male: 78.54 years
female: 82.79 years (2008
est.) |
|
Total fertility rate: |
2.77 children born/woman (2008
est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: |
0.1% (2001 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: |
3,000 (1999 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - deaths: |
100 (2001 est.) |
|
Nationality: |
noun: Israeli(s)
adjective: Israeli |
|
Ethnic groups: |
Jewish 76.4% (of which
Israel-born 67.1%, Europe/America-born 22.6%, Africa-born 5.9%, Asia-born
4.2%), non-Jewish 23.6% (mostly Arab) (2004) |
|
Religions: |
Jewish 76.4%, Muslim 16%, Arab
Christians 1.7%, other Christian 0.4%, Druze 1.6%, unspecified 3.9% (2004)
|
|
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: 97.1%
male: 98.5%
female: 95.9% (2004 est.)
|
|
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: |
name: Jerusalem
geographic coordinates: 31 46 N, 35 14 E
time
difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard
Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Friday in March;
ends the Sunday between the holidays of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur
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; note - since May 2003 the Constitution, Law, and
Justice Committee of the Knesset has been working on a draft constitution
|
|
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 Shimon PERES (since 15 July 2007)
head of government:
Prime Minister Ehud OLMERT (since May 2006); Deputy Prime Minister Tzipora
'Tzipi' LIVNI (since May 2006); Ehud OLMERT won the right to lead the
government when his Kadima Party won 29 seats in elections held on 28
March 2006
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
(one-term limit); election last held 13 June 2007 (next to be held in 2014
but can be called earlier); following legislative elections, the president
assigns a Knesset member - traditionally the leader of the largest party -
the task of forming a governing coalition
note: government
coalition - Kadima, Labor Party, GIL (Pensioners), SHAS,and Yisrael
Beiteinu
election results: Shimon PERES elected president;
number of votes in first round - Shimon PERES 58, Reuven RIVLIN 37,
Colette AVITAL 21; PERES elected president in second round with 86 votes
(unopposed) |
|
Legislative branch: |
unicameral Knesset (120 seats;
members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 28 March 2006 (next scheduled to be held
in 2010 but can be called earlier)
election results: percent of
vote by party - Kadima 22%, Labor 15.1%, SHAS 9.5%, Likud 9%, Yisrael
Beiteinu 9%, NU/NRP 7.1%, GIL 5.9%, Torah and Shabbat Judaism 4.7%,
Meretz-YAHAD 3.8%, United Arab List 3%, Balad 2.3%, HADASH 2.7%, other
5.9%; seats by party - Kadima 29, Labor 19, Likud 12, SHAS 12, Yisrael
Beiteinu 11, NU/NRP 9, GIL 7, Torah and Shabbat Judaism 6, Meretz-YAHAD 5,
United Arab List 4, Balad 3, HADASH 3 |
|
Judicial branch: |
Supreme Court (justices
appointed by Judicial Selection Committee - made up of all three branches
of the government; mandatory retirement age is 70) |
|
Political parties and leaders: |
Democratic Front for Peace and
Equality (HADASH) [Muhammad BARAKA]; GIL (Pensioners) [Rafael 'Rafi'
EITAN]; Kadima [Ehud OLMERT]; Labor Party [Ehud BARAK]; Likud [Binyamin
NETANYAHU]; Meretz-YAHAD [Yossi BEILIN]; National Democratic Assembly
(Balad) [Jamal ZAHALKA]; National Union (NU)/National Religious Party
(NRP) [Binyamin ELON]; SHAS [Eliyahu YISHAI]; Torah and Shabbat Judaism
[Yaakov LITZMAN]; United Arab List [Ibrahim SARSOUR]; Yisrael Beiteinu
[Avigdor LIEBERMAN] |
|
Political pressure groups and leaders: |
Peace Now [Yariv OPPENHEIMER,
Secretary General] supports territorial concessions in the West Bank and
Gaza Strip; YESHA Council of Settlements [Danny DAYAN, Chairman] promotes
settler interests and opposes territorial compromise; B'Tselem [Jessica
MONTELL, Executive Director] monitors human rights abuses |
|
International organization participation: |
BIS, BSEC (observer), CERN
(observer), EBRD, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory),
ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU,
ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, OAS (observer), OPCW (signatory), OSCE
(partner), PCA, SECI (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNWTO,
UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO |
|
Diplomatic representation in the US: |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Salai MERIDOR
chancery: 3514 International Drive NW,
Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 364-5500
FAX: [1] (202) 364-5607
consulate(s) general:
Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York,
Philadelphia, San Francisco |
|
Diplomatic representation from the US: |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Richard H. JONES
embassy: 71 Hayarkon Street, Tel
Aviv 63903
mailing address: PSC 98, Box 29, APO AE 09830
telephone: [972] (3) 519-7575
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 |
|
Economy - overview: |
Israel has a technologically
advanced market economy with substantial, though diminishing, 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 trade
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, its major source of economic and military aid. Israel's GDP, after
contracting slightly in 2001 and 2002 due to the Palestinian conflict and
troubles in the high-technology sector, has grown by about 5% per year
since 2003. The economy grew an estimated 5.4% in 2007, the fastest pace
since 2000. The government's prudent fiscal policy and structural reforms
over the past few years have helped to induce strong foreign investment,
tax revenues, and private consumption, setting the economy on a solid
growth path. |
|
GDP (purchasing power parity): |
$184.9 billion (2007 est.)
|
|
GDP (official exchange rate): |
$132.5 billion (2007 est.)
|
|
GDP - real growth rate: |
5.1% (2007 est.) |
|
GDP - per capita (PPP): |
$28,800 (2007 est.) |
|
GDP - composition by sector: |
agriculture: 2.4%
industry: 30%
services: 67.6% (2007 est.) |
|
Labor force: |
2.88 million (2007 est.) |
|
Labor force - by occupation: |
agriculture 18.5%, industry
23.7%, services 50%, other 7.8% (2002) |
|
Unemployment rate: |
7.6% (2007 est.) |
|
Population below poverty line: |
21.6%
note: Israel's
poverty line is $7.30 per person per day (2005) |
|
Household income or consumption by percentage
share: |
lowest 10%: 2.4%
highest 10%: 28.3% (2005) |
|
Distribution of family income - Gini index: |
38.6 (2005) |
|
Inflation rate (consumer prices): |
0.4% (2007 est.) |
|
Investment (gross fixed): |
17.9% of GDP (2007 est.) |
|
Budget: |
revenues: $57.08 billion
expenditures: $57.81 billion (2007 est.) |
|
Public debt: |
82.7% of GDP (2007 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, footwear |
|
Industrial production growth rate: |
4.1% (2007 est.) |
|
Electricity - production: |
46.85 billion kWh (2005) |
|
Electricity - production by source: |
fossil fuel: 99.9%
hydro: 0.1%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (2001)
|
|
Electricity - consumption: |
43.28 billion kWh (2005) |
|
Electricity - exports: |
1.663 billion kWh (2005) |
|
Electricity - imports: |
0 kWh (2005) |
|
Oil - production: |
100 bbl/day (2006 est.) |
|
Oil - consumption: |
249,500 bbl/day (2006 est.)
|
|
Oil - exports: |
75,980 bbl/day (2004) |
|
Oil - imports: |
315,200 bbl/day (2004) |
|
Oil - proved reserves: |
2 million bbl (1 January 2006
est.) |
|
Natural gas - production: |
709.7 million cu m (2005 est.)
|
|
Natural gas - consumption: |
709.7 million cu m (2005 est.)
|
|
Natural gas - exports: |
0 cu m (2005 est.) |
|
Natural gas - imports: |
0 cu m (2005) |
|
Natural gas - proved reserves: |
37.34 billion cu m (1 January
2006 est.) |
|
Current account balance: |
$5.941 billion (2007 est.)
|
|
Exports: |
$48.6 billion f.o.b. (2007
est.) |
|
Exports - commodities: |
machinery and equipment,
software, cut diamonds, agricultural products, chemicals, textiles and
apparel |
|
Exports - partners: |
US 38.4%, Belgium 6.5%, Hong
Kong 5.9% (2006) |
|
Imports: |
$52.8 billion f.o.b. (2007
est.) |
|
Imports - commodities: |
raw materials, military
equipment, investment goods, rough diamonds, fuels, grain, consumer goods
|
|
Imports - partners: |
US 12.4%, Belgium 8.2%, Germany
6.7%, Switzerland 5.9%, UK 5.1%, China 5.1% (2006) |
|
Economic aid - recipient: |
$240 million from US (FY06)
|
|
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: |
$30.99 billion (31 December
2007 est.) |
|
Debt - external: |
$87.43 billion (30 June 2007)
|
|
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home: |
$47.39 billion (2006 est.)
|
|
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad: |
$34.89 billion (2006 est.)
|
|
Market value of publicly traded shares: |
$173.3 billion (2006) |
|
Currency (code): |
new Israeli shekel (ILS); note
- NIS is the currency abbreviation; ILS is the International Organization
for Standardization (ISO) code for the NIS |
|
Currency code: |
ILS |
|
Exchange rates: |
new Israeli shekels per US
dollar - 4.14 (2007), 4.4565 (2006), 4.4877 (2005), 4.482 (2004), 4.5541
(2003) |
|
Fiscal year: |
calendar year |
|
Telephones - main lines in use: |
3.005 million (2006) |
|
Telephones - mobile cellular: |
8.404 million (2006) |
|
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; four privately-owned mobile-cellular
service providers with countrywide coverage; mobile-cellular teledensity
is more than 130 per 100 persons
international: country code -
972; submarine cables provide links to Europe, Cyprus, and parts of the
Middle East; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (2 Atlantic Ocean and 1
Indian Ocean) |
|
Radio broadcast stations: |
AM 23, FM 15, shortwave 2
(1998) |
|
Radios: |
3.07 million (1997) |
|
Television broadcast stations: |
17 (plus 36 repeaters) (1995)
|
|
Televisions: |
1.69 million (1997) |
|
Internet country code: |
.il |
|
Internet hosts: |
671,030 (2007) |
|
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): |
21 (2000) |
|
Internet users: |
1.899 million (2006)
|
|
Airports: |
53 (2007) |
|
Airports - with paved runways: |
total: 30
over
3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 5
1,524 to 2,437 m:
7
914 to 1,523 m: 10
under 914 m: 6 (2007) |
|
Airports - with unpaved runways: |
total: 23
1,524
to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 2
under 914 m: 20
(2007) |
|
Heliports: |
3 (2007) |
|
Pipelines: |
gas 160 km; oil 442 km; refined
products 261 km (2007) |
|
Railways: |
total: 853 km
standard gauge: 853 km 1.435-m gauge (2006) |
|
Roadways: |
total: 17,446 km
paved: 17,446 km (includes 144 km of expressways) (2004) |
|
Merchant marine: |
total: 18 ships (1000
GRT or over) 716,382 GRT/845,053 DWT
by type: cargo 2,
container 16
registered in other countries: 51 (Bermuda 3,
Cyprus 4, Honduras 1, North Korea 1, Liberia 9, Malta 21, Panama 2,
Slovakia 6, St Vincent and The Grenadines 4) (2007) |
|
Ports and terminals: |
Ashdod, Elat (Eilat), Hadera,
Haifa |
|
Military branches: |
Israel Defense Forces (IDF),
Israel Naval Forces (INF), Israel Air Force (IAF) (2007) |
|
Military service age and obligation: |
18 years of age for compulsory
(Jews, Druzes) and voluntary (Christians, Muslims, Circassians) military
service; both sexes are obligated to military service; conscript service
obligation - 36 months for enlisted men, 21 months for enlisted women, 48
months for officers; reserve obligation to age 41-51 (men), 24 (women)
(2008) |
|
Manpower available for military service: |
males age 16-49:
1,717,362
females age 16-49: 1,636,574 (2008 est.) |
|
Manpower fit for military service: |
males age 16-49:
1,452,926
females age 16-49: 1,383,796 (2008 est.) |
|
Manpower reaching military service age annually: |
males age 16-49: 60,602
females age 16-49: 57,532 (2008 est.) |
|
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: |
7.3% (2006) |
| Transnational Issues |
Israel |
|
Disputes - international: |
West Bank and Gaza Strip are
Israeli-occupied with current status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian
Interim Agreement - permanent status to be determined through further
negotiation; Israel continues construction of a 'seam line' separation
barrier along parts of the Green Line and within the West Bank; Israel
withdrew its settlers and military from the Gaza Strip and from four
settlements in the West Bank in August 2005; Golan Heights is
Israeli-occupied (Lebanon claims the Shab'a Farms area of Golan Heights);
since 1948, about 350 peacekeepers from the UN Truce Supervision
Organization (UNTSO) headquartered in Jerusalem monitor ceasefires,
supervise armistice agreements, prevent isolated incidents from
escalating, and assist other UN personnel in the region |
|
Refugees and internally displaced persons: |
IDPs: 150,000-420,000
(Arab villagers displaced from homes in northern Israel) (2006) |
|
Illicit drugs: |
increasingly concerned about
ecstasy, cocaine, and heroin abuse; drugs arrive in country from Lebanon
and, increasingly, from Jordan; money-laundering center |
|
