Information Technology Landscape in Israel
About Israel
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GEOGRAPHY
Location: Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Lebanon
Border countries: Egypt,
Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank
Climate: temperate; hot and dry in southern and eastern desert
areas
Terrain: Negev desert in the south; low coastal plain; central mountains; Jordan Rift Valley
Natural resources: timber, potash, copper ore, natural gas, phosphate rock, magnesium bromide, clays, sand, oil
PEOPLE
Population: 5,938,093 (July 2001 est.)
Population growth rate:
1.58% (2001 est.)
Ethnic groups: Jewish 80.1% (Europe/America-born 32.1%,
Israel-born 20.8%, Africa-born 14.6%, Asia-born 12.6%), non-Jewish 19.9% (mostly
Arab) (1996 est.)
Religious: Jewish 80.1%, Muslim 14.6% (mostly Sunni Muslim),
Christian 2.1%, other 3.2% (1996 est.)
Source: (30)
Languages: Hebrew (official), Arabic used officially for Arab minority, English most commonly used foreign language
GOVERNMENT
Country name: conventional long form: State of Israel,
conventional short form: Israel, local long form: Medinat Yisra'el,
local short form: Yisra'el
Government type: parliamentary democracy
Capital: Jerusalem; note - Israel proclaimed Jerusalem as its capital in 1950, but the US, like nearly all other countries, maintains its Embassy in Tel Aviv
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
Executive branch: chief of state: President Moshe
KATSAV (since 31 July 2000)
head of government: Prime Minister Ariel SHARON (since 2 March 2001)
cabinet: Cabinet selected by prime minister and approved by the Knesset
Legislative branch: unicameral Knesset or parliament (120 seats;
members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (justices appointed for life by
the president)
ECONOMY
GDP: purchasing power parity - $110.2 billion
GDP - real growth rate: 5.9%
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $18,900
Unemployment rate: 9%
Industries:
high-technology projects (including aviation, communications,
computer-aided design and manufactures, medical electronics), wood and paper
products, potash and phosphates, food, beverages, and tobacco, caustic soda,
cement, diamond cutting
Currency: new Israeli shekel (ILS)
Source: (30)
