*Israel, Geography

Location:
  Middle East, bordering the eastern Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and
  Lebanon
Map references:
  Africa, Middle East, Standard Time Zones of the World
Area:
 total area:
  20,770 km2
 land area:
  20,330 km2
 comparative area:
  slightly larger than New Jersey
Land boundaries:
  total 1,006 km, 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
International disputes:
  separated from Lebanon, Syria, and the West Bank by the 1949 Armistice Line;
  differences with Jordan over the location of the 1949 Armistice Line that
  separates the two countries; West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli occupied
  with status to be determined; Golan Heights is Israeli occupied; Israeli
  troops in southern Lebanon since June 1982; water-sharing issues with Jordan
Climate:
  temperate; hot and dry in southern and eastern desert areas
Terrain:
  Negev desert in the south; low coastal plain; central mountains; Jordan Rift
  Valley
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:
  5%
 meadows and pastures:
  40%
 forest and woodland:
  6%
 other:   32%
Irrigated land:
  2,140 km2 (1989)
Environment:
  sandstorms may occur during spring and summer; limited arable land and
  natural water resources pose serious constraints; deforestation
Note:
  there are 175 Jewish settlements in the West Bank, 38 in the
  Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, 18 in the Gaza Strip, and 14 Israeli-built
  Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem

*Israel, People

Population:
  4,918,946 (July 1993 est.)
 note:
  includes 102,000 Jewish settlers in the West Bank, 14,000 in the
  Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, 4,000 in the Gaza Strip, and 134,000 in East
  Jerusalem (1993 est.)
Population growth rate:
  3.08% (1993 est.)
Birth rate:
  20.72 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Death rate:
  6.45 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Net migration rate:
  16.51 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
  8.9 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
 total population:
  77.77 years
 male:
  75.72 years
 female:
  79.93 years (1993 est.)
Total fertility rate:
  2.86 children born/woman (1993 est.)
Nationality:
 noun:
  Israeli(s)
 adjective:
  Israeli
Ethnic divisions:
  Jewish 83%, non-Jewish 17% (mostly Arab)
Religions:
  Judaism 82%, Islam 14% (mostly Sunni Muslim), Christian 2%, Druze and other
  2%
Languages:
  Hebrew (official), Arabic used officially for Arab minority, English most
  commonly used foreign language
Literacy:
  age 15 and over can read and write (1983)
 total population:   92%
 male:
  95%
 female:
  89%
Labor force:
  1.4 million (1984 est.)
 by occupation:
  public services 29.3%, industry, mining, and manufacturing 22.8%, commerce
  12.8%, finance and business 9.5%, transport, storage, and communications
  6.8%, construction and public works 6.5%, personal and other services 5.8%,
  agriculture, forestry, and fishing 5.5%, electricity and water 1.0% (1983)

*Israel, Government

Names:
 conventional long form:
  State of Israel
 conventional short form:
  Israel
 local long form:
  Medinat Yisra'el
 local short form:
  Yisra'el
Digraph:
  IS
Type:
  republic
Capital:
  Jerusalem
 note:
  Israel proclaimed Jerusalem its capital in 1950, but the US, like nearly all
  other countries, maintains its Embassy in Tel Aviv
Administrative divisions:
  6 districts (mehozot, singular - mehoz); Central, Haifa, Jerusalem,
  Northern, Southern, Tel Aviv
Independence:
  14 May 1948 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration)
Constitution:
  no formal constitution; some of the functions of a constitution are filled
  by the Declaration of Establishment (1948), the basic laws of the parliament
  (Knesset), and the Israeli citizenship law
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
National holiday:
  Independence Day, 14 May 1948 (Israel declared independence on 14 May 1948,
  but the Jewish calendar is lunar and the holiday may occur in April or May)
Political parties and leaders:
 members of the government:
  Labor Party, Prime Minister Yitzhak RABIN; MERETZ, Minister of Education
  Shulamit ALONI; SHAS, Minister of Interior Arieh DERI
 opposition parties:
  Likud Party, Binyamin NETANYAHU; Tzomet, Rafael EITAN; National Religious
  Party, Zevulun HAMMER; United Torah Jewry, Avraham SHAPIRA; Democratic Front
  for Peace and Equality (Hadash), Hashim MAHAMID; Moledet, Rehavam ZEEVI;
  Arab Democratic Party, Abd al Wahab DARAWSHAH
 note:
  Israel currently has a coalition government comprising 3 parties that hold
  62 seats of the Knesset's 120 seats
Other political or pressure groups:
  Gush Emunim, Jewish nationalists advocating Jewish settlement on the West
  Bank and Gaza Strip; Peace Now, critical of government's West Bank/Gaza
  Strip and Lebanon policies
Suffrage:
  18 years of age; universal
Elections:
 President:
  last held 24 March 1993 (next to be held NA March 1999); results - Ezer
  WEIZMAN elected by Knesset

*Israel, Government

 Knesset:
  last held June 1992 (next to be held by NA); results - percent of vote by
  party NA; seats - (120 total) Labor Party 44, Likud bloc 32, Meretz 12,
  Tzomet 8, National Religious Party 6, Shas 6, United Torah Jewry 4,
  Democratic Front for Peace and Equality 3, Moledet 3, Arab Democratic Party
  2
Executive branch:
  president, prime minister, vice prime minister, Cabinet
Legislative branch:
  unicameral parliament (Knesset)
Judicial branch:
  Supreme Court
Leaders:
 Chief of State:
  President Ezer WEIZMAN (since 13 May 1993)
 Head of Government:
  Prime Minister Yitzhak RABIN (since July 1992)
Member of:
  AG (observer), CCC, CERN (oberver), EBRD, ECE, FAO, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD,
  ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT,
  INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, OAS (observer), PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
  UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in US:
 chief of mission:
  Ambassador Itamar RABINOVICH
 chancery:
  3514 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008
 telephone:
  (202) 364-5500
 consulates general:
  Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York,
  Philadelphia, and San Francisco
US diplomatic representation:  chief of mission:
  Acting Ambassador William BROWN
 embassy:
  71 Hayarkon Street, Tel Aviv
 mailing address:
  APO AE 09830
 telephone:
  [972] (3) 654338
 FAX:
  [972] (3) 663449
 consulate general:
  Jerusalem
Flag:
  white with a blue hexagram (six-pointed linear star) known as the Magen
  David (Shield of David) centered between two equal horizontal blue bands
  near the top and bottom edges of the flag

*Israel, Economy

Overview:
  Israel has a 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.
  Industry employs about 20% of Israeli workers, agriculture 5%, and services
  most of the rest. Diamonds, high-technology equipment, and agricultural
  products (fruits and vegetables) are leading exports. Israel usually posts
  balance-of-payments deficits, which are covered by large transfer payments
  from abroad and by foreign loans. Roughly half of the government's $17
  billion external debt is owed to the United States, which is its major
  source of economic and military aid. To earn needed foreign exchange, Israel
  has been targeting high-technology niches in international markets, such as
  medical scanning equipment. The influx of Jewish immigrants from the former
  USSR, which topped 400,000 during the period 1990-92, has increased
  unemployment, intensified housing problems, and widened the government
  budget deficit. At the same time, a considerable number of the immigrants
  bring to the economy valuable scientific and professional expertise.
National product:
  GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $57.4 billion (1992 est.)
National product real growth rate:
  6.4% (1992 est.)
National product per capita:
  $12,100 (1992 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  10% (1992 est.)
Unemployment rate:
  11% (1992 est.)
Budget:
  revenues $33.9 billion; expenditures $36.8 billion, including capital
  expenditures of $9.3 billion (FY93)
Exports:
  $11.8 billion (f.o.b., 1992 est.)
 commodities:
  polished diamonds, citrus and other fruits, textiles and clothing, processed
  foods, fertilizer and chemical products, military hardware, electronics
 partners:
  US, EC, Japan, Hong Kong, Switzerland
Imports:
  $19.6 billion (c.i.f., 1992 est.)
 commodities:
  military equipment, rough diamonds, oil, chemicals, machinery, iron and
  steel, cereals, textiles, vehicles, ships, aircraft
 partners:
  US, EC, Switzerland, Japan, South Africa, Canada, Hong Kong
External debt:
  $25 billion of which government debt is $17 billion (December 1992 est.)
Industrial production:
  growth rate 9.4% (1992 est.); accounts for about 20% of GDP
Electricity:
  5,835,000 kW capacity; 21,840 million kWh produced, 4,600 kWh per capita
  (1992)
Industries:
  food processing, diamond cutting and polishing, textiles, clothing,
  chemicals, metal products, military equipment, transport equipment,
  electrical equipment, miscellaneous machinery, potash mining,
  high-technology electronics, tourism

*Israel, Economy

Agriculture:
  accounts for about 3% of GDP; largely self-sufficient in food production,
  except for grains; principal products - citrus and other fruits, vegetables,
  cotton; livestock products - beef, dairy, poultry
Economic aid:
  US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-90), $18.2 billion; Western (non-US)
  countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $2.8 billion
Currency:
  1 new Israeli shekel (NIS) = 100 new agorot
Exchange rates:
  new Israeli shekels (NIS) per US$1 - 2.8000 (December 1992), 2.4591 (1992),
  2.2791 (1991), 2.0162 (1990), 1.9164 (1989), 1.5989 (1988), 1.5946 (1987)
Fiscal year:
  calendar year (since 1 January 1992)

*Israel, Communications

Railroads:
  600 km 1.435-meter gauge, single track; diesel operated
Highways:
  4,750 km; majority is bituminous surfaced
Pipelines:
  crude oil 708 km; petroleum products 290 km; natural gas 89 km
Ports:
  Ashdod, Haifa
Merchant marine:
  35 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 678,584 GRT/785,220 DWT; includes 8
  cargo, 24 container, 2 refrigerated cargo, 1 roll-on/roll-off; note - Israel
  also maintains a significant flag of convenience fleet, which is normally at
  least as large as the Israeli flag fleet; the Israeli flag of convenience
  fleet typically includes all of its oil tankers
Airports:
 total:
  53
 usable:
  46
 with permanent-surface runways:
  28
 with runways over 3,659 m:
  0
 with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
  7
 with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
  12
Telecommunications:
  most highly developed in the Middle East although not the largest; good
  system of coaxial cable and microwave radio relay; 1,800,000 telephones;
  broadcast stations - 14 AM, 21 FM, 20 TV; 3 submarine cables; satellite
  earth stations - 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT

*Israel, Defense Forces

Branches:
  Israel Defense Forces (including ground, naval, and air components)
 note:
  historically, there have been no separate Israeli military services
Manpower availability:
  males age 15-49 1,240,757; females age 15-49 1,218,610; males fit for
  military service 1,018,212; females fit for military service 996,089; males
  reach military age (18) annually 46,131; females reach military age (18)
  annually 44,134 (1993 est.); both sexes are liable for military service
Defense expenditures:
  exchange rate conversion - $12.5 billion, 18% of GDP (1993 est.)