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General Informations |
|
| Prime
Minister |
Mr.
Ehud Olmert |
| Capital |
Tel
Aviv |
| Area |
total:
20,770 sq km
land: 20,330 sq km
water: 440 sq km |
| Location |
Middle
East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt
and Lebanon |
| Land
boundaries: |
total:
1,006 km
border countries: Egypt 255 km, Gaza Strip 51 km,
Jordan 238 km, Lebanon 79 km, Syria 76 km, West Bank
307 km |
| Coastline: |
273
km |
| Maritime
claims |
Continental
shelf: to depth of exploitation
territorial sea: 12 nm |
| Climate |
Temperate;
hot and dry in southern and eastern desert areas |
| Natural
Resources |
Copper,
phosphates, bromide, potash, clay, sand, sulfur,
asphalt, manganese, small amounts of natural gas and
crude oil |
| Irrigated
land |
1,800
sq km (Approx.) |
| Natural
hazards |
Sandstorms
may occur during spring and summer |
| Environment-international
agreements |
party
to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification,
Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test
Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Marine Life Conservation |
| Population |
5,749,760
(Approx.) |
| Age
sector |
0-14
years: 28% (male 822,192; female 783,905)
15-64 years: 62% (male 1,792,062; female 1,783,755)
65 years and over: 10% (male 244,438; female 323,408)
(Approx.) |
| Population
growth Rate |
1.81%
(Approx.) |
| Birth
rate |
19.83
births/1,000 population
(Approx.) |
| Death
rate |
6.16
deaths/1,000 population
(Approx.) |
| Net
migration rate |
4.42
migrant(s)/1,000 population
(Approx.) |
| Sex
ratio |
at
birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female
total population: 0.99 male(s)/female
(Approx.) |
| Life
expectancy at birth |
total
population: 78.61 years
male: 76.71 years
female: 80.61 years (Approx.) |
| Religions |
Judaism
80.1%, Islam 14.6% (mostly
Sunni Muslim), Christian 2.1%,
other 3.2% (Approx.) |
| Legislative
Body |
Unicameral
Knesset or parliament |
| 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: 95%
male: 97%
female: 93% (Approx.) |
| Currency |
1
new Israeli shekel (NIS) = 100
new agorot |
| 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 |
| GDP:
Purchasing Power Parity |
$101.9
billion (Approx.) |
| GDP
- real growth rate |
1.9%
(Approx.) |
| GDP
- per capita |
$18,100
(Approx.) |
| GDP
- Composition by sector |
agriculture:
2%
industry: 17%
services: 81% (Approx.)
 |
| Economy
Overview |
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 2.6%; and services the
rest. Israel is largely
self-sufficient in food
production except for grains.
Diamonds, high-technology
equipment, and agricultural
products (fruits and
vegetables) are 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 US, which is its
major source of economic and
military aid. The influx of
Jewish immigrants from the
former USSR topped 750,000
during the period 1989-98,
bringing the population of
Israel from the former Soviet
Union to one million,
one-sixth of the total
population and adding
scientific and professional
expertise of substantial value
for the economy's future. The
influx, 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 slowing in
1996 when the government
imposed tighter fiscal and
monetary policies and the
immigration bonus petered out. |
| Household
income |
lowest
10%: 2.8%
highest 10%: 26.9% (Approx.) |
| Inflation
rate (consumer prices) |
5.4%
(Approx.) |
| Industries |
Food
processing, diamond cutting
and polishing, textiles and
apparel, chemicals, metal
products, military equipment,
transport equipment,
electrical equipment, potash
mining, high-technology
electronics, tourism |
| Industrial
production growth rate |
5.4%
(Approx.) |
| Agriculture-
products |
Citrus,
vegetables, cotton; beef,
poultry, dairy products |
| Exports |
$22.1
billion (f.o.b., 1998) |
| Exports-commodities |
machinery
and equipment, cut diamonds,
chemicals, textiles and
apparel, agricultural
products, metals |
| Exports-partners |
US
32%, UK, Hong Kong, Benelux,
Japan, Netherlands (1997) |
| Imports |
$26.1
billion (f.o.b., 1998) |
| Imports-commodities |
Raw
materials, military equipment,
investment goods, rough
diamonds, oil, consumer goods |
| Imports-partners |
US
19%, Benelux 12%, Germany 9%,
UK 8%, Italy 7%, Switzerland
6% (1997) |
| Communication |
|
| Telephones |
2.6
million (1996) |
| Telephone
system |
Most
highly developed system in the
Middle East although not the
largest
domestic: good system of
coaxial cable and microwave
radio relay
international: 3 submarine
cables; satellite earth
stations-3 Intelsat (2
Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian
Ocean) |
| Transportation |
|
| Railways |
total:
610 km
standard gauge: 610 km 1.435-m
gauge (1996) |
| Highways |
total:
15,464 km
paved: 15,464 km (including 56
km of expressways)
unpaved: 0 km (Approx.) |
| Pipelines |
Crude
oil 708 km; petroleum products
290 km; natural gas 89 km |
| Ports
and harbors |
Ashdod,
Ashqelon, Elat (Eilat), Hadera,
Haifa, Tel Aviv-Yafo |
| Tax
Structure |
Tax
Structure |
| International
Membership |
BSEC
(observer), CCC, CE
(observer), CERN (observer),
EBRD, ECE, FAO, IADB, IAEA,
IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA,
IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO,
Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol,
IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, OAS
(observer), OPCW, OSCE
(partner), PCA, UN, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU,
WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO
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General Section
