Israel people groups

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ISREAL STATISTICS

Geography
Location: Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Lebanon
Area:
total: 20,770 sq km
land: 20,330 sq km
water: 440 sq km
Area—comparative: slightly smaller than New Jersey
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
Natural hazards: sandstorms may occur during spring and summer

People
Population: 5,643,966 (July 1998 est.)
note: includes 155,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank, 17,000 in the Israeli-occupied Golan
Heights, 6,000 in the Gaza Strip, and 164,000 in East Jerusalem (August 1997 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 28% (male 814,558; female 776,630)
15-64 years: 62% (male 1,751,111; female 1,745,499)
65 years and over: 10% (male 239,658; female 316,510) (July 1998 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.91% (1998 est.)
Birth rate: 19.99 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Death rate: 6.19 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 8.02 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)
Nationality:
Ethnic groups: Jewish 82% (Israel-born 50%, Europe/Americas/Oceania-born 20%,
Africa-born 7%, Asia-born 5%), non-Jewish 18% (mostly Arab) (1993 est.)
Religions: Judaism 82%, Islam 14% (mostly Sunni Muslim), Christian 2%, Druze and other 2%
Languages: Hebrew (official), Arabic used officially for Arab minority, English most commonly
used foreign language

Government
Conventional Country name: State of Israel
Government type: republic
National capital: Jerusalem

Economy 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. Manufacturing and construction employ about 28% of
Israeli workers; agriculture, forestry, and fishing only 2.6%; and services the rest. Israel is largely
self-sufficient in food production except for grains.
Currency: 1 new Israeli shekel (NIS) = 100 new agorot

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