Israel at 60: A Statistical Glimpse

Geography

Israel stands at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa. Geographically, it belongs to the Asian continent. Its western border is the Mediterranean Sea. To the north it is bound by Lebanon and Syria, to the east by Jordan and to the south by the Red Sea and Egypt. Long and narrow in shape, Israel is about 290 miles (470 km.) long and 85 miles (135 km.) across at its widest point. Its total area is 22,072 sq km, of which 21,643 sq km is land area (Sea of Galilee: 164 sq km; Dead Sea: 265 sq km). Israel’s total land border measures 857 km, its Mediterranean coastline 194 km, and 12 km on the Red Sea.

Geographical Regions

Arid zones	45%
Plains and valleys	25%
Mountains	16%
Rift valley	9%
Coastal strip	5%

Selected elevations:

Mt. Hermon, Golan - highest point in Israel	7,300 ft.	2,224 m.
Mt. Meron, Upper Galilee	3,964 ft.	1,208 m.
Mt. Ramon, Negev	3,396 ft.	1,035 m.
Mt. of Olives, Jerusalem	2,739 ft.	835 m.
Mt. Tabor, Lower Galilee	1,930 ft.	588 m.
Mt. Carmel, Haifa	1,792 ft.	546 m.
Dead Sea - lowest point on earth	- 1,368 ft.	- 417 m.

Natural resources

Raw materials for construction of buildings and roads: gravel and stone, sand, kurkar, clay, limestone, gypsum, and tuff.
Raw materials for manufacturing: potash, bromine, magnesium, salt, phosphates, sand, clay, and limestone.
Energy sources: natural gas, oil shale.

People

	1980	1990	2006
Population	3,921,700	4,821,700	7,116,700
Civilian labor force	1,318,100	1,649,900	2,809,700
Jews in Israel, as a percentage of world Jewry	25	30	41
Life expectancy Females Males	75.7 72.1	78.4 75.7	82.2 78.5
Infant mortality (per 1000 live births)	15.6	9.9	4.3
School population	1,200,700	1,451,300	2,129,200
Percentage of the population (15+) with 13 years or more of formal schooling

Population by Religion

Jews	75.8%
Muslims	16.5%
Christians	2.1%
Druze	1.7%
Not classified by religion	3.9%

Population Distribution

Urban localities	91.8%
Rural localities	8.2%
Of which: Moshavim Kibbutzim	3.3% 1.7%

Largest cities by population

Jerusalem	733,300
Tel Aviv-Yafo	384,400
Haifa	266,300
Rishon Lezion	222,000
Ashdod	204,200

Immigrants by Continent
1948-2005

Europe	1,811,402
Africa	497,439
Asia	429,160
America & Oceania	242,703
Unknown	31,572

Immigrants by Year of Immigration

1948-1951	688,000
1952-1959	272,000
1960-1969	374,000
1970-1979	346,000
1980-1989	154,000
1990-1999	956,400
2000-2006	222,000

Economy

	1980	1990	2006
Gross Domestic Product (US$ billions)	23.2	59.2	165.0
Net exports of goods (US$ billions)	5,291.9	11,603.1	39,700.5
thereof: Industrial products (excl. diamonds) Agricultural products	3,340.4 555.7	7,696.8 657.2	29,335.5 1,031.2
Net imports of goods (US$ billions)	7,845.7	15,107.1	47,317.8
Tourists arriving	1,065,800	1,131,700	1,825,200
Air passengers	2,847,000	3,720,000	8,896,000
Freight shipped by air (in tons)	105,800	194,160	318,747
Production of electricity (millions of kilwatt/hours)	12,400	20,900	50,372
Private cars	410,000	803,000	1,684,700

Economic growth (Ministry of Finance)

GDP growth: 2007: 5.3% 2006: 5.2%; 2005: 5.3%

GDP per capita growth: 3.4%

Private Consumption Growth: 2007: 6.6% 2006: 4.5%; 2005: 4.0%

Business GDP growth: 2007: 6.1% 2006: 6.5%; 2005: 6.5%

Industrial GDP growth: 4.3%

Public Consumption Growth: 2007: 2.6% 2006: 2.3%; 2005: 2.9%

GDP per Capita: 2007: $25,762 (80% of OECD members' average) 2006: $24,271; 2005: $22,812

Education

First Degree University Students by Field of Study
(Total 122,650 students in 7 universities)

Humanities	23.6%
Social Sciences	23.3%
Science and mathematics	16.6%
Engineering	13.6%
Medicine	9.9%
Business & Administration	7.2%
Law	4.4%
Agriculture	1.4%

* Figures based on the Statistical Abstract of Israel, No. 58, 2007

Source: Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs