Flag:

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

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.)

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.)

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  (630 000)

Largest Cities
        Tel  Aviv  (350 000)
        Haifa  (265 000) 
        Holon  (165 000)

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

Religion
        Jewish 80.1% 
        Muslim 14.6% (mostly Sunni Muslim)
        Christian 2.1%
        other 3.2% (1996 est.)

Political system:  parliamentary democracy

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

GDP per head: purchasing power parity - $20,800 (2004 est.) 

GDP - composition by sector
        agriculture: 2.8% 
        industry: 37.7%
        services: 59.5% (2003 est.)

Annual growth: 3.9% (2004 est.) 

Inflation:  0% (2004 est.)

© Copyright 2005 Discover - The World.com.  See also Disclaimer.