Replies to post #12952 on Tsafi

[tsafi]

here is all the data for you as i say small very small
Geography

Israel stands at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa. Geographically, it belongs to the Asian continent. Its western border is the Mediterranean Sea. To the north it is bound by Lebanon and Syria, to the east by Jordan and to the south by the Red Sea and Egypt. Long and narrow in shape, Israel is about 290 miles (470 km.) long and 85 miles (135 km.) across at its widest point. Its total area is 22,072 sq km, of which 21,643 sq km is land area (Sea of Galilee: 164 sq km; Dead Sea: 265 sq km). Israel's total land border measures 857 km, its Mediterranean coastline 194 km, and 12 km on the Red Sea.

Geographical Regions

Arid Zones 45%
Plains and Valleys 25%
Mountains 16%
Rift Valley 9%
Coastal Strip 5%

Selected elevations:

Mt. Hermon, Golan - highest point in Israel 7,300 ft. 2,224 m.
Mt. Meron, Upper Galilee 3,964 ft. 1,208 m.
Mt. Ramon, Negev 3,396 ft. 1,035 m.
Mt. of Olives, Jerusalem 2,739 ft. 835 m.
Mt. Tabor, Lower Galilee 1,930 ft. 588 m.
Mt. Carmel, Haifa 1,792 ft. 546 m.
Dead Sea - lowest point on earth - 1,368 ft. - 417 m.

Natural resources

Raw materials for construction of buildings and roads: gravel and stone, sand, kurkar, clay, limestone, gypsum, and tuff.
Raw materials for manufacturing: potash, bromine, magnesium, salt, phosphates, sand, clay, and limestone.
Energy sources: natural gas, oil shale.


People

1980 1990 2005
Population 3,921,700 4,821,700 6,930,100
Civilian labor force 1,318,100 1,649,900 2,740,100
Jews in Israel, as a percentage of world Jewry 25 30 41
Life expectancy
Females
Males
75.7
72.1
78.4
75.7
82.3
78.3
Infant mortality
(per 1000 live births) 15.6 9.9 4.9
School population 1,200,700 1,451,300 2,109,500
Percentage of the population (15+) with 13 years or more of formal schooling 19.2 25.3 41.3


Population by Religion

Jews 76.1%
Muslims 16.2%
Christians 2.1%
Druze 1.6%
Not classified by religion 3.9%
Population Distribution

Urban localities 91.8%
Rural localities 8.2%
Of which:
Moshavim
Kibbutzim
3.3%
1.7%


Largest cities by population

Jerusalem 719,900
Tel Aviv-Yafo 378,900
Haifa 267,000
Rishon Lezion 219,500
Ashdod 200,600
Immigrants by Continent
1948-2005

Europe 1,801,530
Africa 493,638
Asia 427,383
America & Oceania 238,890
Unknown 31,656

Immigrants by Year of Immigration

1948-1951 688,000
1952-1959 272,000
1960-1969 374,000
1970-1979 346,000
1980-1989 154,000
1990-2001 1,060,091
2002-2005 98,913

Economy

1980 1990 2005
Gross Domestic Product (US$ billions) 23.2 59.2 129.7
Net exports of goods (US$ billions) 5,291.9 11,603.1 36,610.8
thereof:
Industrial products (excl. diamonds)
Agricultural products
3,340.4
555.7
7,696.8
657.2
25,566.1
1,027.1
Net imports of goods (US$ billions) 7,845.7 15,107.1 44,456.7
Tourists arriving 1,065,800 1,131,700 1,902,700
Air passengers 2,847,000 3,720,000 8,586,000
Freight shipped by air (in tons) 105,800 194,160 313,300
Production of electricity (millions of kilwatt/hours) 12,400 20,900 48,379
Private cars 410,000 803,000 1,626,300

• GDP growth in 2007 is expected to be about 5%, after achieving similar levels in 2005 and 2006.
• Imports increased by 3.1% in 2006 (3.4% in 2005).
• Exports increased by 4.9% in 2006 (5.1% in 2005).
• Productivity has increased over the past five years, with output per working hour up by 16.3% in 2002-2006, while workers remuneration increased by only 10.5%.
•Foreign investments in Israel in 2006 reached $24.4 billion (including TEVA-Ivax deal), and $3 billioni in the first three months of 2007.
• Israeli investments abroad are growing: $30 billion in 2006 (as opposed to $18 billion in 2005 and $13 billion in 2004).
• Budget deficit for 2007 is estimated at 1.5%, following 0.9% in 2006.
• Inflation in 2006 was -0.1%, compared to 2.2% in the Euro Area.
• Israel currently enjoys high long term foreign currenty ratings:
S&P: A- Moody's: A2 and Fitch: A-.

Challenges:
• Maintaining the budget framework.
• Narrowing socio-economic gaps and reducing poverty.
• Reducing unemployment: 8.4% in 2006.

Continuing reforms:
• Continue reducing corporate tax - from 31% in 2006 to 25% in 2010
• Introduce negative income tax (EITC)
• Reduce tax burden on low and medium income levels (increase disposable income)
• Pension benefits for all
• Continue privatization process: recent privatization of Haifa oil refinery (estimate $1 billion).


Education

University Students by Field of Study
(Total 124,000 students in 7 universities)

Humanities 25.1%
Social Sciences 26.4%
Science and mathematics 16.4%
Engineering 13.9%
Medicine 9.3%
Law 3.2%
Business & Administration 4.3%
Agriculture 1.4%