General Information

Capital:

Jerusalem 633,000 (2000 est.)

Area:

20,770 sq km (8,000 sq mi)

Form of government

Parliamentary democracy

GDP per capita

Purchasing power parity-$18,300 (1999 est.)

Population

5,842,454

Note: This count includes about 171,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank, 20,000 in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, 6,500 in the Gaza Strip, and 172,000 in East Jerusalem (July 2000 est.)

Ethnic composition

Israel is a country of immigrants and its population is comprised of a mosaic people with varied ethnic backgrounds, lifestyles, religions, cultures and traditions. The Jewish people account for 80.5% of the total population of Israel.

European/American-born Jews - 25.9%

Israel-born Jews - 61.6%

African/Asian born Jews - 12.5%

Non-Jewish (mostly Arab) - 19.5%

Note: Percentages based on 1996 estimates.

Official Language(s)

Hebrew, Arabic for Arab minority

Minority Language(s)

English is the most commonly used foreign language and is taught in state schools. Yiddish, Egyptian Spoken Arabic, Levantine Bedawi Spoken Arabic, North Levantine Spoken Arabic, Dutch, some Western Farsi, French, Malayalam, Marathi, Spanish, Turkish, and numerous other languages and dialects spoken by smaller segments of population reflect the diversity of cultural origins.

Top of page