The state of Israel is a small, independent republic in Western Asia, in the Middle East. It is bordered on the west by the Mediterranean Sea, on the southwest by Egypt, on the east and southeast by Jordan, on the northeast by Syria, and on the north by Lebanon.
The boundaries of Israel have been in dispute since its founding in 1948, but the total land area, according to the current boundaries, is 20,770 square kilometers, slightly smaller than the state of New Jersey. The population is 7,112,359, including the disputed areas of the West Bank (187,000), the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights (20,000), and fewer than 177,000 in East Jerusalem (July 2008 est.).
Languages are Hebrew and Arabic; Hebrew is the official language, with Arabic being used officially for the Arab minority. English is the most commonly used foreign language.
The dominant religion is Judaism (76.4%), followed by Islam (16%), Arab Christianity (1.7%), other Christians (0.4%), and other (3.9%), as of 2004.
Israel declared its independence on May 14, 1948 from the League of Nations mandate which placed the historical region of Palestine under British administration in 1922.
The Balfour Declaration of November 1917 had officially recognized the Jewish Zionist cause, recognizing the “historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine” and committed Great Britain to its support in establishing a Jewish national home.
The Israeli form of government today is a parliamentary democracy with a president, a prime minister, a unicameral legislature (“Knesset”), and a Supreme Court.
The form of currency is the new Israeli shekel.
Web Sites
- CIA: The World Factbook
- Israeli Embassy in Washington DC
- U.S. State Department
- The Library of Congress
Catalog
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Databases
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