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Israel at 55: 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 22,145 sq km, of which 21,671 sq km is land area.

Geographical Regions

Arid Zones 45%
Plains and Valleys 25%
Mountains 16%
Rift Valley 9%
Coastal Strip 5%



Selected elevations:

Mt. Hermon, Golan 9,220 ft.(2,810 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 - (1,300 ft. - 400 m)



People

  1980 1990 2002
Population 3,921,700 4,821,700 6,640,200
Civilian labor force 1,318,100 1,649,900 2,284,000
Jews in Israel, as a percentage of world Jewry 25 30 38
Life expectancy      
Females 75.7 78.4 80.9
Males 72.1 75.7 76.7


Population by Religion

Jews 77.2%
Muslims 15.4%
Christians 2.1%
Druze 1.6%
Not classified by religion 3.5%


Population Distribution

Urban localities 91.6%
Rural localities 8.4%
Of which:  
Moshavim 3.0%
Kibbutzim 1.8%


Immigrants by Continent
1948-2001

Europe 1,777,000
Africa 479,700
Asia 421,100
America & Oceania 218,200
Unknown 31,550


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
1990-2001 1,012,400

 

Economy

State Budget, 2002: NIS 254.8 billion

  1980 1990 2001
Gross Domestic Product(US$ billions) 23.2 59.2 111.8
Net exports of goods (US$ billions) 5,291.9 11,603.1 25,698.2
thereof:      
Industrial products (excl. diamonds) 3,340.4 7,696.8 19,561.6
Agricultural products 555.7
657.2 630.4
Net imports of goods (US$ billions) 7,845.7 15,107.1 32,696.2
Tourists arriving 1,065,800 1,131,700 1,195,700
Air passengers (annual) 2,847,000 3,720,000 8,020,000
Freight shipped by air(annual in tons) 105,800 194,160 296,055
Production of electricity (millions of kilwatt/hours) 12,400 20,900 43,800
Private cars 410,000 803,000 1,460,800


Education

University Students by Field of Study
(Total 117,525 students in 7 universities)

Humanities 26.3%
Social Sciences 23.6%
Science and mathematics 20.8%
Engineering 14.5%
Medicine 7.8%
Law 3.4%
Business & Administration 2.3%
Agriculture 1.2%

 

Israeli Foreign Ministry