Statistical information Israel 1992

Israel in the World

Israel - Introduction 1992

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Background: The territories occupied by Israel since the 1967 war are not included in the data below. In keeping with the framework established at the Madrid Conference in October 1991, bilateral negotiations are being conducted between Israel and Palestinian representatives, Syria, and Jordan to determine the final status of the occupied territories. On 25 April 1982, Israel withdrew from the Sinai pursuant to the 1979 Israel-Egypt Peace treaty.

Israel - Geography 1992

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Location

Geographic coordinates

Map reference

Area
Total: 20,770 km²
Land: 20,330 km²
Comparative: slightly larger than New Jersey

Land boundaries:

1,006 km; Egypt 255 km, Jordan 238 km, Lebanon 79 km,
Syria 76 km, West Bank 307, Gaza Strip 51 km

Coastline: 273 km

Maritime claims
Continental shelf: to depth of exploitation
Territorial sea: 6 nm
Disputes:

separated from Lebanon, Syria, and the West Bank by the 1949
Armistice Line; differences with Jordan over the location of the 1949
Armistice Line that separates the two countries; West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli occupied with status to be determined; Golan Heights is Israeli occupied; Israeli troops in southern Lebanon since June 1982; water-sharing issues with Jordan

Climate: temperate; hot and dry in desert areas

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

Elevation

Natural resources: copper, phosphates, bromide, potash, clay, sand, sulfur, asphalt, manganese, small amounts of natural gas and crude oil

Land use

Land use: arable land: 17%; permanent crops: 5%; meadows and pastures 40%; forest and woodland 6%; other 32%; includes irrigated 11%

Irrigated land

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards

Geography

Israel - People 1992

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Population:

4,748,059 (July 1992), growth rate 4.0% (1992); includes 95,000 Jewish settlers in the West Bank, 14,000 in the Israeli-occupied
Golan Heights, 4,000 in the Gaza Strip, and 132,000 in East Jerusalem (1992 est.)

Nationality: noun - Israeli(s; adjective - Israeli

Ethnic groups: Jewish 83%, non-Jewish (mostly Arab) 17%

Languages:

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

Religions:

Judaism 82%, Islam (mostly Sunni Muslim) 14%, Christian 2%,
Druze and other 2%

Demographic profile

Age structure

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate

Birth rate: 21 births/1000 population (1992)

Death rate: 6 deaths/1000 population (1992)

Net migration rate: 26 migrants/1000 population (1992)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: sandstorms may occur during spring and summer; limited arable land: and natural water resources pose serious constraints; deforestation
Current issues note:

there are 175 Jewish settlements in the West Bank, 38 in the
Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, 18 in the Gaza Strip, and 14 Israeli-built
Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 9 deaths/1000 live births (1992)

Life expectancy at birth: 76 years male, 80 years female (1992)

Total fertility rate: 2.9 children born/woman (1992)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy: 92% (male 95%, female 89%) age 15 and over can read and write (1983)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment

Israel - Government 1992

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Country name
Conventional long form: State of Israel

Government type: republic

Capital: Israel proclaimed Jerusalem its capital in 1950, but the US, like nearly all other countries, maintains its Embassy in Tel Aviv

Administrative divisions:

6 districts (mehozot, singular - mehoz);
Central, Haifa, Jerusalem, Northern, Southern, Tel Aviv

Dependent areas

Independence: 14 May 1948 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration)

National holiday:

Independence Day; Israel declared independence on 14
May 1948, but the Jewish calendar is lunar and the holiday may occur in
April or May

Constitution: no formal constitution; some of the functions of a constitution are filled by the Declaration of Establishment (1948), the basic laws of the parliament (Knesset), and the Israeli citizenship law

Legal system: mixture of English common law, British Mandate regulations, and, in personal matters, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim legal systems; in December 1985, Israel informed the UN Secretariat that it would no longer accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: universal at age 18
President: last held 23 February 1988 (next to be held February 1994); results - Chaim HERZOG reelected by Knesset
Knesset:

last held June 1992 (next to be held by NA; results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (120 total) Labor Party 44, Likud bloc 12, SHAS 6, National Religious Party 6, Meretz 12, Agudat Yisrael 4, PAZI 3, MAKI 3,
Tehiya Party 3, Tzomet Party 8, Moledet Party 3, Degel HaTorah 4, Center
Movement Progressive List for Peace 1, Arab Democratic Party 2; Black
Panthers 1, Moriya 1, Ge'ulat Yisrael 1, Unity for Peace and Aliyah 1

Communists: Hadash (predominantly Arab but with Jews in its leadership) has some 1,500 members

Executive branch: president, prime minister, vice prime minister, Cabinet

Legislative branch: unicameral parliament (Knesset)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation:

AG (observer), CCC, EBRD, FAO, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO,
ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL,
IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, OAS (observer), PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO,
UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation:

Ambassador Zalman SHOVAL; Chancery at 3,514
International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20,008; telephone (202) 364-5,500; there are Israeli Consulates General in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston,
Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco

US: Ambassador William HARROP; Embassy at 71 Hayarkon Street, Tel Aviv (mailing address is APO AE 9,830; telephone 972 (3) 654,338; FAX 972 (3) 663,449; there is a US Consulate General in Jerusalem

Diplomatic representation

Flag description

white with a blue hexagram (six-pointed linear star) known as the
Magen David (Shield of David) centered between two equal horizontal blue bands near the top and bottom edges of the flag

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage

Israel - Economy 1992

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Economy overview:

Israel has a market economy with substantial government participation. It depends on imports of crude oil, grains, raw materials, and military equipment. Despite limited natural resources, Israel has intensively developed its agricultural and industrial sectors over the past 20 years. Industry employs about 20% of Israeli workers, agriculture 5%, and services most of the rest. Diamonds, high-technology equipment, and agricultural products (fruits and vegetables) are leading exports. Israel usually posts balance-of-payments deficits, which are covered by large transfer payments from abroad and by foreign loans. Roughly half of the government's $17 billion external debt is owed to the United States, which is its major source of economic and military aid. To earn needed foreign exchange, Israel has been targeting high-technology niches in international markets, such as medical scanning equipment. Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in
August 1990 dealt a blow to Israel's economy. Higher world oil prices added an estimated $300 million to the oil import bill that year and helped keep annual inflation at 18%. Regional tension and the continuing Palestinian uprising (intifadah) have contributed to a sharp drop in tourism - a key foreign exchange earner - to the lowest level since the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. The influx of Jewish immigrants from the former USSR, which topped 330,000 during the period 1990-91, will increase unemployment, intensify housing problems, widen the government budget deficit, and fuel inflation.

GDP: purchasing power equivalent - $54.6 billion, per capita $12,000; real growth rate 5% (1991 est.)

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate

Real gdp per capita

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: accounts for about 3% of GDP; largely self-sufficient in food production, except for grains; principal products - citrus and other fruits, vegetables, cotton; livestock products - beef, dairy, and poultry

Industries: food processing, diamond cutting and polishing, textiles, clothing, chemicals, metal products, military equipment, transport equipment, electrical equipment, miscellaneous machinery, potash mining, high-technology electronics, tourism

Industrial production growth rate: growth rate - 7% (1991 est.), accounts for about 20% of GDP

Labor force: 1,400,000 (1984 est.); public services 29.3%; industry, mining, and manufacturing 22.8%; commerce 12.8%; finance and business 9.5%; transport, storage, and communications 6.8%; construction and public works 6.5%; personal and other services 5.8%; agriculture, forestry, and fishing 5.5%; electricity and water 1.0% (1983)
Organized labor: 90% of labor force

Labor force

Unemployment rate: 11% (1991 est.)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget: revenues $41.7 billion; expenditures $47.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY92)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year:

previously 1 April - 31 March; FY91 was 1 April - 31
December, and since 1 January 1992 the fiscal year has conformed to the calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $12.1 billion (f.o.b., 1991 est.)
Commodoties: polished diamonds, citrus and other fruits, textiles and clothing, processed foods, fertilizer and chemical products, military hardware, electronics
Partners: US, EC, Japan, Hong Kong, Switzerland

Imports: $18.1 billion (c.i.f., 1991 est.)
Commodoties: military equipment, rough diamonds, oil, chemicals, machinery, iron and steel, cereals, textiles, vehicles, ships, aircraft
Partners: US, EC, Switzerland, Japan, South Africa, Canada, Hong Kong

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: new Israeli shekels (NIS) per US$1 - 2.4019 (March 1992), 2.2791 (1991), 2.0162 (1990), 1.9164 (1989), 1.5989 (1988), 1.5946 (1987)

Israel - Energy 1992

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Electricity
Production: 5,300,000 kWh capacity; 21,000 million kWh produced, 4,800 kWh per capita (1991)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita

Israel - Communication 1992

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Telephones

Telephone system

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions

Israel - Military 1992

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Military expenditures
Percent of gdp: $7.5 billion, 12.1% of GNP (1992 budget; note - does not include pay for reserve soldiers and other defense-related categories; actual outlays would therefore be higher

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups

Israel - Transportation 1992

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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports:

51 total, 44 usable; 26 with permanent-surface runways; none
with runways over 3,659 m; 6
with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 11
with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Heliports

Pipelines: crude oil 708 km; petroleum products 290 km; natural gas 89 km

Railways

Roadways

Waterways

Merchant marine:

34 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 629,966
GRT/721,106 DWT; includes 8 cargo, 23 container, 2 refrigerated cargo, 1 roll-on/roll-off; note - Israel also maintains a significant flag of convenience fleet, which is normally at least as large as the Israeli flag fleet; the Israeli flag of convenience fleet typically includes all of its petroleum tankers

Civil air: 32 major transport aircraft

Ports and terminals

Israel - Transnational issues 1992

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Disputes international

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs