Israel

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State of Israel

Flag Emblem
Anthem: Hatikvah
The Hope


Capital Jerusalem[a]
35°13′E / 31.783°N 35.217°E / 31.783; 35.217
Official language(s) Hebrew, Arabic[1]
Ethnic groups  75.4% Jewish, 20.6% Arab, 4% minority groups[2]
Demonym Israeli
Government Parliamentary democracy[1]
 -  President Shimon Peres
 -  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
 -  Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin
 -  Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch
Independence from British Mandate of Palestine 
 -  Declaration May 14, 1948 
Area
 -  Total ¹ 20,770 / 22,072 km² (151st)
8,019 / 8,522 sq mi 
 -  Water (%) ~2%
Population
 -  2009 estimate 7,465,000²[3] (96th)
 -  1995 census 5,548,523 
 -  Density 356.8/km² (34th)
839/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2008 estimate
 -  Total US$202.562 billion[4] (50th)
 -  Per capita $28,473[4] (31st)
GDP (nominal) 2009 estimate
 -  Total $215.727 billion[4] (39th)
 -  Per capita $29,671[4] (29th)
Gini (2008) 39.2[1] 
HDI (2007) ▲ 0.935[5] (very high) (27th)
Currency Shekel (₪‎) (ILS or NIS)
Time zone IST (UTC+2)
 -  Summer (DST) IDT (UTC+3)
Drives on the right
Internet TLD .il
Calling code 972
¹ Excluding / Including the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem; see below.
² Includes all permanent residents in Israel proper, the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem. Also includes Israeli population in the West Bank. Excludes non-Israeli population in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Israel (Hebrew: יִשְׂרָאֵל‎, Yisra'el; Arabic: إِسْرَائِيلُ‎, Isrā'īl) officially the State of Israel (Hebrew: מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל (help·info), Medinat Yisra'el; Arabic: دَوْلَةُ إِسْرَائِيلَ‎, Dawlat Isrā'īl), is a country in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area.[6] Also adjacent are the West Bank to the east and Gaza Strip to the southwest. Israel is the world's only predominantly Jewish state[7] with a population of about 7.5 million people, of whom approximately 5.7 million are Jewish.[8][9] The largest ethnic minority group is the segment denominated as Arab citizens of Israel, while minority religious groups include Muslims, Christians, Druze, Samaritans, most of whom are found within the Arab segment.

The modern state of Israel has its historical and religious roots in the Biblical Land of Israel (Eretz Yisrael), also known as Zion, a concept central to Judaism since ancient times,[10][11] and the heartland of the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah.[12] Following the birth of political Zionism in 1897 and the Balfour Declaration, the League of Nations granted Great Britain the Mandate for Palestine after World War I, with responsibility for establishing "...such political, administrative and economic conditions as will secure the establishment of the Jewish national home, as laid down in the preamble, and the development of self-governing institutions, and also for safeguarding the civil and religious rights of all the inhabitants of Palestine, irrespective of race and religion..."[13]

In November 1947, the United Nations voted in favor of the partition of Palestine, proposing the creation of a Jewish state, an Arab state and a UN-administered Jerusalem.[14] Partition was accepted by Zionist leaders but rejected by Arab leaders leading to the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine. Israel declared independence on 14 May 1948 and neighboring Arab states attacked the next day. Since then, Israel has fought a series of wars with neighboring Arab states,[15] and in consequence occupies territories beyond those delineated in the 1949 Armistice Agreements. Some international borders remain in dispute. Israel has signed peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, though efforts to resolve conflict with the Palestinians have so far only met with limited success.

Israel is a developed country and a representative democracy with a parliamentary system and universal suffrage.[16][17] The Prime Minister serves as head of government and the Knesset serves as Israel's legislative body. The economy, based on the nominal gross domestic product, was the 41st-largest in the world in 2008.[18] Israel ranks highest among Middle Eastern countries on the UN Human Development Index,[19] and has one of the highest life expectancies in the world.[20] Jerusalem is the country's capital, although it is not recognized internationally as such,[a] while Israel's main financial center is Tel Aviv.

Etymology

Over the past three thousand years, the name "Israel" has meant in common and religious usage both the Land of Israel and the entire Jewish nation.[21] According to the Bible, Jacob is renamed Israel after successfully wrestling with an angel of God.[22]

The earliest archaeological artifact to mention "Israel" (other than as a personal name) is the Merneptah Stele of ancient Egypt (dated the late 13th century BCE), which refers to a people of that name.[23] The modern country was named Medinat Yisrael, or the State of Israel, after other proposed names, including Eretz Israel ("the Land of Israel"), Zion, and Judea, were rejected.[24] In the early weeks of independence, the government chose the term "Israeli" to denote a citizen of Israel, with the formal announcement made by Minister of Foreign Affairs Moshe Sharett.[25]