Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on January 22, 2016

Following World War II, the British withdrew from their mandate of Palestine, and the UN proposed partitioning the area into Arab and Jewish states, an arrangement rejected by the Arabs. Nonetheless, an Israeli state was declared in 1948 and the Israelis subsequently defeated the Arabs in a series of wars without ending the deep tensions between the two sides. (The territories Israel occupied since the 1967 war are not included in the Israel country profile, unless otherwise noted.) On 25 April 1982, Israel withdrew from the Sinai pursuant to the 1979 Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty. In keeping with the framework established at the Madrid Conference in October 1991, bilateral negotiations were conducted between Israel and Palestinian representatives and Syria to achieve a permanent settlement. Israel and Palestinian officials signed on 13 September 1993 a Declaration of Principles (also known as the "Oslo Accords"), enshrining the idea of a two-state solution to their conflict and guiding an interim period of Palestinian self-rule. Outstanding territorial and other disputes with Jordan were resolved in the 26 October 1994 Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace.

Progress toward a permanent status agreement with the Palestinians was undermined by Israeli-Palestinian violence between 2001 and February 2005. Israel in 2005 unilaterally disengaged from the Gaza Strip, evacuating settlers and its military while retaining control over most points of entry into the Gaza Strip. The election of HAMAS to head the Palestinian Legislative Council in 2006 froze relations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA). Israel engaged in a 34-day conflict with Hizballah in Lebanon in June-August 2006 and a 23-day conflict with HAMAS in the Gaza Strip during December 2008 and January 2009. Direct talks with the Palestinians launched in September 2010 collapsed following the expiration of Israel's 10-month partial settlement construction moratorium in the West Bank. In November 2012, Israel engaged in a seven-day conflict with HAMAS in the Gaza Strip. Direct talks with the Palestinians resumed in July 2013 but were suspended in April 2014. Three months later HAMAS and other militant groups launched rockets into Israel, which led to a 51-day conflict between Israel and militants in Gaza.

Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Lebanon

31 30 N, 34 45 E

Middle East

total: 20,770 sq km

land: 20,330 sq km

water: 440 sq km

slightly larger than New Jersey

total: 1,068 km

border countries (6): Egypt 208 km, Gaza Strip 59 km, Jordan 307 km, Lebanon 81 km, Syria 83 km, West Bank 330 km

273 km

territorial sea: 12 nm

continental shelf: to depth of exploitation

temperate; hot and dry in southern and eastern desert areas

Negev desert in the south; low coastal plain; central mountains; Jordan Rift Valley

lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m

highest point: Har Meron 1,208 m

timber, potash, copper ore, natural gas, phosphate rock, magnesium bromide, clays, sand

agricultural land: 23.8%

arable land 13.7%; permanent crops 3.8%; permanent pasture 6.3%

forest: 7.1%

other: 69.1% (2011 est.)

2,250 sq km (2004)

1.78 cu km (2011)

total: 1.95 cu km/yr (39%/6%/55%)

per capita: 282.4 cu m/yr (2009)

sandstorms may occur during spring and summer; droughts; periodic earthquakes

limited arable land and natural freshwater resources pose serious constraints; desertification; air pollution from industrial and vehicle emissions; groundwater pollution from industrial and domestic waste, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation

Lake Tiberias (Sea of Galilee) is an important freshwater source; the Dead Sea is the second saltiest body of water in the world (after Lake Assal in Djibouti); in 2014, there were 423 settlements in the Israeli-occupied territories - 42 settlements in the Golan Heights, 381 sites in the occupied Palestinian territories to include 212 settlements and 134 outposts in the West Bank, and 35 settlements in East Jerusalem; there are no Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip because all were evacuated in 2005 (2014 est.)

noun: Israeli(s)

adjective: Israeli

Jewish 75% (of which Israel-born 74.4%, Europe/America/Oceania-born 17.4%, Africa-born 5.1%, Asia-born 3.1%), non-Jewish 25% (mostly Arab) (2013 est.)

Hebrew (official), Arabic (used officially for Arab minority), English (most commonly used foreign language)

Jewish 75%, Muslim 17.5%, Christian 2%, Druze 1.6%, other 3.9% (2013 est.)

8,049,314 (includes populations of the Golan Heights of Golan Sub-District and East Jerusalem, which was annexed by Israel after 1967) (July 2014 est.)

note: approximately 19,400 Israeli settlers live in the Golan Heights; approximately 200,000 Israeli settlers live in East Jerusalem (2013) (July 2015 est.)

0-14 years: 27.95% (male 1,151,247/female 1,098,632)

15-24 years: 15.5% (male 637,758/female 609,597)

25-54 years: 37.13% (male 1,528,271/female 1,460,772)

55-64 years: 8.57% (male 336,662/female 353,352)

65 years and over: 10.85% (male 389,401/female 483,622) (2015 est.)

total dependency ratio: 64.1%

youth dependency ratio: 45.7%

elderly dependency ratio: 18.4%

potential support ratio: 5.4% (2015 est.)

total: 39.6 years

male: 28.9 years

female: 30.2 years (2015 est.)

1.56% (2015 est.)

18.48 births/1,000 population (2015 est.)

5.15 deaths/1,000 population (2015 est.)

2.24 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2015 est.)

urban population: 92.1% of total population (2015)

rate of urbanization: 1.37% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

Tel Aviv-Yafo 3.608 million; Haifa 1.097 million; JERUSALEM (capital) 839,000 (2015)

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female

15-24 years: 1.05 male(s)/female

25-54 years: 1.05 male(s)/female

55-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.81 male(s)/female

total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2015 est.)

5 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.)

total: 3.55 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 3.51 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 3.58 deaths/1,000 live births (2015 est.)

total population: 82.27 years

male: 80.43 years

female: 84.21 years (2015 est.)

2.68 children born/woman (2015 est.)

7.2% of GDP (2013)

3.34 physicians/1,000 population (2012)

3.3 beds/1,000 population (2012)

improved:

urban: 100% of population

rural: 100% of population

total: 100% of population

unimproved:

urban: 0% of population

rural: 0% of population

total: 0% of population (2015 est.)

improved:

urban: 100% of population

rural: 100% of population

total: 100% of population

unimproved:

urban: 0% of population

rural: 0% of population

total: 0% of population (2015 est.)

NA

NA

NA

25.8% (2014)

5.6% of GDP (2011)

definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 97.8%

male: 98.7%

More:
CIA - The World Factbook -- Israel

Category: Jewish American Heritage Month
Tags: