21 Must-Know Facts about Israel

This is my next look at a country in Asia from my list of countries in Asia.

Israel is in the news for all the wrong/right reasons depdending on which side of the fence you sit.

However, did you know these 21 must-know facts about Israel?

1. Israel is just 20,700 square kilometers. This is about the same size as New Jersey or Vermont. It’s also comparable in size to Slovenia or Ecuador. (corrected)

2. Though the same size as New Jersey, Israel has about 2 million less people. – 7,000,000ish. And, more than 12 times the population of Vermont. (corrected)

3.  About two in three Israeli Jews were born in Israel. Three/fourths of the country are Jews. One in five immigrated there from Europe or the Americas. The rest came from other parts of Asia and Africa.

4. One in six Israelis are Muslim.

5. Israel has two official languages – Hebrew and Arabic. Most Israelis can communicate in English, too.

6. Israel’s capital, Jerusalem, is at or near the heart of three world-wide religions – Jews, Christians and Muslims. Three out of four Israelis are Jews, one in six are Muslim and less than 2% are Christian.

7. Israel has won just seven Olympic gold medals, but representatives from the country have won 100 Paraolympic gold medals.

8. Israel’s neighbors (boundaries) are: Egypt (266 km), Gaza Strip (51 km), Jordan (238 km), Lebanon (79 km), Syria (76 km), West Bank (307 km). There is 273km of coast line. (1.62km – 1 mile)

9. Israel naturally fears sandstorms during spring and summer, droughts and from time to time – earthquakes. They don’t seem to fear much else.

10. Israel hurts for natural fresh water, and suffers from desertification, air and ground water pollution.

11. The average age in Israel is 28.9 years. More than one in four are 14-years old or younger. Israeli females have a life expectancy of 82.79 years.

12. Israel spend 6.9% of its GDP on education and 7.3% on its military. Hmm…

13. Israel’s Independence Day was May 14, 1948.

14. You can contact Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. at

Ambassador Salai MERIDOR
chancery: 3514 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 364-5500
FAX: [1] (202) 364-5607

15. Israel’s unemployment rate is 7.3%.

16. Israel’s best export partners – US 35%, Belgium 7.5%, Hong Kong 5.8%

17. Israels’ best import partners – US 13.9%, Belgium 7.9%, Germany 6.2%, China 6.1%, Switzerland 5.1%, UK 4.7%, Italy 4.1%

18. Almost one in three Israelis are online.

19. Israel’s economy depends on

• Industry: high-technology projects
• Agriculture: citrus, vegetables, cotton; beef
• Exports: machinery and equipment, software, cut diamonds

20. All single women in Israel must serve 2 years in the military.

21. Israel has about 598,000 armed forces personnel. Compare that to 3.8 million armed forces personnel for the combined nearby countries -

• Iraq -1million
• Iran – 900K
• Syria – 700K
• Egypt – 700K
• Saudi Arabia – 160K
• Jordan – 140K
• Lebanon – 68K
• Palestine – 40K

22. Israel has been hated, rightfully or wrongfully for a long long time and it’s not about to change any time soon. Call it a family problem, if you will.

While you are here, Sign My Israel Guestbook.

And if you feel so inclined, please Subscribe to PanAsianBiz and join me on my fact finding in Asia.

source & source & source & source & source

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