Country Facts - Israel

The People

Nationality Israeli(s)

Ethnic Composition

Jewish	80.1%
Europe/America- born	32.1%
Israel-born	20.8%
Africa-born	14.6%
Asia-born	12.6%
Arab	19.9%

Religious Composition

Jewish	80.1%
Muslim (mostly Sunni)	14.6%
Christian	2.1%
Druze and other	3.2%

Languages Spoken

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

Education and Literacy

Education is state-funded and compulsory for 11 years. Adult literacy is 95 percent nationwide.

Labor Force

Total: 2.4 million (2000)

By occupation:

Public Services	31.2%
Manufacturing	20.2%
Finance, and business	13.1%
Commerce	12.8%
Construction	7.5%
Services	6.4%
Transport, storage, and communications	6.2%
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing	2.6%

Geography

Land Mass Total

8,019 sq mi (20,770 sq km)

Land

7,849 sq mi (20,330 sq km)

Water

169 sq mi (

440 sq km)

Land Boundaries

Total: 631 mi (1,017 km)
Border countries: Egypt 165 mi (266 km), Gaza Strip 31 mi (51 km), Jordan 147 mi (238 km), Lebanon 49 mi (79 km), Syria 47 mi (76 km), West Bank 190 mi (307 km)

Coastline

169 mi (273 km)

Maritime claim

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

Climate/Weather

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: Dead Sea 1,338 ft (408 m)
Highest: Har Meron 3,963 ft (1,208 m)

Natural Resources

Copper, phosphates, bromide, potash, clay, sand, sulfur, asphalt, manganese, small amounts of natural gas and crude oil

Land use

Arable land	17%
Permanent crops	4%
Other	79%

(1998)

Natural hazards

Sandstorms may occur during spring and summer.

Environment - current issues

Limited arable land and natural freshwater resources pose serious constraints; desertification; air pollution from industrial and vehicle emissions; groundwater pollution from industrial and domestic waste, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides.

Geography Note

There are 231 Israeli settlements and civilian land use sites in the West Bank, 42 in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, 25 in the Gaza Strip, and 29 in East Jerusalem (August 2001); Sea of Galilee is an important freshwater source.

Demographics

Population

6,029,529 (July 2002 est.)
Note: includes about 182,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank, about 20,000 in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, fewer than 7,000 in the Gaza Strip, and about 176,000 in East Jerusalem. (August 2001)

Age structure

0-14 years:	27.1%	Male: 837,491	Female: 798,695
15-64 years:	63%	Male: 1,905,677	Female: 1,889,525
65 years and over:	9.9%	Male: 257,066	Female: 341,075

(2002)

Growth Rate

1.48% (2002)

Life Expectancy

78.86 years (2002)
Female: 81.01 years
Male: 76.82 years

GDP Per Capita

Purchasing power parity
US$20,000 (2001)

Infant Mortality

7.55 deaths/1,000 live births (2002)

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

(2002)

Net migration rate

2.11 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)

Economy & Trade

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 is largely self-sufficient in food production except for grains. 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 U.S., which is its major source of economic and military aid. The influx of Jewish immigrants from the former USSR during the period 1989-99 coupled with the opening of new markets at the end of the Cold War, energized Israel's economy, which grew rapidly in the early 1990s. But growth began moderating in 1996 when the government imposed tighter fiscal and monetary policies and the immigration bonus petered out. Growth was a strong 6.4 percent in 2000. But the outbreak of Palestinian unrest in late September 2000 and the declines in the high technology and tourist sectors led to a 0.6 percent drop in GDP in 2001. Near the end of 2002, the head of the Israeli Security Council declared that the Palestinian conflict was costing Israel about US$3 billion per year and heavily impacting on the national economy both directly and indirectly. International consumer boycotts also began that year, adding further economic pressure and another drop in GDP of 1 percent for 2002.

Unemployment

9% (2001)

Inflation Rate

1.1% (2001)

Industries

High-technology projects (including aviation, communications, computer-aided design and manufactures, medical electronics), wood and paper products, potash and phosphates, food, beverages, and tobacco, caustic soda, cement, diamond cutting

Exports

US$26.5 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Imports

US$30.6 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
GDP US$119 billion (2001)

Top Export Partners

US 37.4%, Benelux 6%, Germany 4.8%, Hong Kong 4.4%, UK 4.3%, Netherlands 2.8% (2000)

Top Import Partners

US 17.8%, Benelux 10%, UK 7.6%, Germany 7.5%, Switzerland 5.4%, Italy 4.8% (2000)

Top Exports

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

Top Imports

Raw materials, military equipment, investment goods, rough diamonds, fuels, consumer goods

Debt - external

US$42.8 billion (2001)

Economic aid

$1.1 billion from the U.S. (1999)

Fiscal Year:

Calendar year

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	Sunday to Thursday 8a.m. to 4p.m. Friday 8a.m. to 1p.m.	Closed
Retail	Sunday to Thursday 9a.m. to 8p.m. Friday 10p.m. to 3p.m.	Closed
Banks	Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 8:30a.m. to 12:30p.m., and 4p.m. to 5:30p.m. Wednesday 8:30a.m. to 12:30p.m. Friday 8:30a.m. to noon.	Closed
Government	Sunday to Thursday 7:30a.m. to 4p.m.	Closed

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2003	2004	2005
New Year of Trees (Tu Bishvat)	January 18	February 7	January 25
Feast of Lots (Purim)	March 18	March 7	March 25
Passover (Pesach)¹	April 17	April 6	April 24 to May 1
Holocaust Memorial Day (Yom HaSho'ah)	April 29	April 18	May 6
Independence Day (Yom HaAtzma'ut)	May 7	April 26	May 12
Time of Counting (Lag B'Omer)	May 20	May 9	May 27
Pentecost, Acceptance of the Torah (Shavu'ot)¹	June 6	May 26	June 13 to14
Fast of the Ninth Month (Tisha B'Av)	August 7	July 27	July 14
Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah)¹	September 27	September 16	October 4 and 5
Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur)¹	October 6	September 25	October 13
Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot)¹	October 11	September 30	October 18 to 24
Assembly of the Eighth Day (Shemini Atzeret)¹	October 18	October 7	October 25
Rejoicing the Law (Simhat Torah)¹	October 19	October 8	October 26
Festival of Lights (Chanukkah, Hannukah)	December 20	December 8	December 26 to January 2

¹	All Jewish holidays begin at sundown on the evening before the date shown. Businesses are closed on these days.

Note: The lunar Hebrew calendar calculates the days based on the cycle of the moon around the Earth, measured over a 19-year period. The lunar month equals 29.5 days, but has been fixed to alternate between 29 and 30 days each month, totaling 354 days per year. Two months are added every third year to make up the deficit of 11.25 days.
The alternating monthly days lead to fluctuation in the dates of Jewish observances. Jewish holidays are also closely related to the seasons, and observances are counted based on commands from the Torah. This is especially true of the 49-days between Passover and Shavu'ot, called Lag B'Omer. Days in the Hebrew calendar begin and end at sunset.

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press