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Compare British Indian Ocean Territory (2002) - Israel (2005)
Compare British Indian Ocean Territory (2002) z Israel (2005)
| British Indian Ocean Territory (2002) | Israel (2005) | |
 |  | |
| Administrative divisions | - | 6 districts (mehozot, singular - mehoz); Central, Haifa, Jerusalem, Northern, Southern, Tel Aviv |
| Age structure | - | 0-14 years: 26.5% (male 851,415/female 812,095)
15-64 years: 63.7% (male 2,010,888/female 1,986,256) 65 years and over: 9.8% (male 264,708/female 351,521) (2005 est.) |
| Agriculture - products | - | citrus, vegetables, cotton; beef, poultry, dairy products |
| Airports | 1 (2001) | 51 (2004 est.) |
| Airports - with paved runways | total: 1
over 3,047 m: 1 (2002) |
total: 28
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 8 914 to 1,523 m: 10 under 914 m: 4 (2004 est.) |
| Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total: 23
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 20 (2004 est.) |
| Area | total: 60 sq km
land: 60 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes the entire Chagos Archipelago |
total: 20,770 sq km
land: 20,330 sq km water: 440 sq km |
| Area - comparative | about 0.3 times the size of Washington, DC | slightly smaller than New Jersey |
| Background | Established as a territory of the UK in 1965, a number of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) islands were transferred to the Seychelles when it attained independence in 1976. Subsequently, BIOT has consisted only of the six main island groups comprising the Chagos Archipelago. The largest and most southerly of the islands, Diego Garcia, contains a joint UK-US naval support facility. All of the remaining islands are uninhabited. Former agricultural workers, earlier residents in the islands, were relocated primarily to Mauritius but also to the Seychelles, between 1967 and 1973. In 2000, a British High Court ruling invalidated the local immigration order which had excluded them from the archipelago, but upheld the special military status of Diego Garcia. | Following World War II, the British withdrew from their mandate of Palestine, and the UN partitioned the area into Arab and Jewish states, an arrangement rejected by the Arabs. Subsequently, the Israelis defeated the Arabs in a series of wars without ending the deep tensions between the two sides. The territories occupied by Israel 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. Israel and Palestinian officials signed on 13 September 1993 a Declaration of Principles (also known as the "Oslo accords") 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. In addition, on 25 May 2000, Israel withdrew unilaterally from southern Lebanon, which it had occupied since 1982. 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. On 24 June 2002, US President BUSH laid out a "road map" for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which envisions a two-state solution. However, progress toward a permanent status agreement has been undermined by Palestinian-Israeli violence ongoing since September 2000. The conflict may have reached a turning point with the election in January 2005 of Mahmud ABBAS as the new Palestinian leader following the November 2004 death of Yasir ARAFAT. |
| Birth rate | - | 18.21 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
| Budget | - | revenues: $48.09 billion
expenditures: $52.11 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.) |
| 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 |
| Climate | tropical marine; hot, humid, moderated by trade winds | temperate; hot and dry in southern and eastern desert areas |
| Coastline | 698 km | 273 km |
| 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 |
| Country name | conventional long form: British Indian Ocean Territory
conventional short form: none abbreviation: BIOT |
conventional long form: State of Israel
conventional short form: Israel local long form: Medinat Yisra'el local short form: Yisra'el |
| Death rate | - | 6.18 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
| Debt - external | - | $74.46 billion (2004 est.) |
| Dependency status | overseas territory of the UK; administered by a commissioner, resident in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London | - |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | none (overseas territory of the UK) | chief of mission: Ambassador Daniel C. KURTZER
embassy: 71 Hayarkon Street, Tel Aviv 63903 mailing address: PSC 98, Box 29, APO AE 09830 telephone: [972] (3) 519-7369/7453/7454/7457/7458/7551/7575 FAX: [972] (3) 516-4390 consulate(s) general: Jerusalem; note - an independent US mission, established in 1928, whose members are not accredited to a foreign government |
| Diplomatic representation in the US | none (overseas territory of the UK) | chief of mission: Ambassador Daniel AYALON
chancery: 3514 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 364-5578 FAX: [1] (202) 364-5560 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco |
| Disputes - international | Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos Archipelago and its former inhabitants, who reside chiefly in Mauritius, but in 2001 were granted UK citizenship and the right to repatriation since eviction in 1965; repatriation is complicated by the US military lease of Diego Garcia, the largest island in the chain | West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli-occupied with current status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent status to be determined through further negotiation; Israel continues construction of a "seam line" separation barrier along parts of the Green Line and within the West Bank; Israel announced its intention to pull out Israeli settlers and withdraw from the Gaza Strip and four settlements in the northern West Bank in 2005; Golan Heights is Israeli-occupied (Lebanon claims the Shab'a Farms area of Golan Heights); since 1948, about 350 peacekeepers from the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) headquartered in Jerusalem monitor ceasefires, supervise armistice agreements, prevent isolated incidents from escalating, and assist other UN personnel in the region |
| Economic aid - recipient | - | $662 million from US (2003 est.) |
| Economy - overview | All economic activity is concentrated on the largest island of Diego Garcia, where joint UK-US defense facilities are located. Construction projects and various services needed to support the military installations are done by military and contract employees from the UK, Mauritius, the Philippines, and the US. There are no industrial or agricultural activities on the islands. When the Ilois return, they plan to reestablish sugarcane production and fishing. | Israel has a technologically advanced 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. Israel imports substantial quantities of grain, but is largely self-sufficient in other agricultural products. Cut diamonds, high-technology equipment, and agricultural products (fruits and vegetables) are the leading exports. Israel usually posts sizable current account deficits, which are covered by large transfer payments from abroad and by foreign loans. Roughly half of the government's external debt is owed to the US, which is its major source of economic and military aid. The bitter Israeli-Palestinian conflict; difficulties in the high-technology, construction, and tourist sectors; and fiscal austerity in the face of growing inflation led to small declines in GDP in 2001 and 2002. The economy grew at 1% in 2003, with improvements in tourism and foreign direct investment. In 2004, rising business and consumer confidence - as well as higher demand for Israeli exports boosted GDP by 3.9%. |
| Electricity - consumption | NA kWh | 38.3 billion kWh (2002) |
| Electricity - exports | - | 1.387 billion kWh (2002) |
| Electricity - imports | - | 0 kWh (2002) |
| Electricity - production | NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by the US military | 42.67 billion kWh (2002) |
| Elevation extremes | lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location on Diego Garcia 15 m |
lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m
highest point: Har Meron 1,208 m |
| Environment - current issues | NA | limited arable land and natural fresh water resources pose serious constraints; desertification; air pollution from industrial and vehicle emissions; groundwater pollution from industrial and domestic waste, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides |
| Environment - international agreements | - | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation |
| 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.) |
| Exchange rates | - | new Israeli shekels per US dollar - 4.482 (2004), 4.5541 (2003), 4.7378 (2002), 4.2057 (2001), 4.0773 (2000) |
| Executive branch | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952)
head of government: Commissioner Alan HUCKLE (since 2001); Administrator Louise SAVILL (since NA); note - both reside in the UK cabinet: NA elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; commissioner and administrator appointed by the monarch |
chief of state: President Moshe KATZAV (since 31 July 2000)
head of government: Prime Minister Ariel SHARON (since 7 March 2001) cabinet: Cabinet selected by prime minister and approved by the Knesset elections: president is largely a ceremonial role and is elected by the Knesset for a seven-year term; election last held 31 July 2000 (next to be held mid-2007); following legislative elections, the president assigns a Knesset member - traditionally the leader of the largest party - the task of forming a governing coalition; election last held 28 January 2003 (next scheduled to be held fall of 2006) election results: Moshe KATZAV elected president by the 120-member Knesset with a total of 60 votes, other candidate, Shimon PERES, received 57 votes (there were three abstentions); Ariel SHARON continues as prime minister after Likud Party victory in January 2003 Knesset elections; Likud won 38 seats and then formed coalition government with Shinui, the National Religious Party, and the National Union |
| Exports | - | NA |
| Exports - commodities | - | machinery and equipment, software, cut diamonds, agricultural products, chemicals, textiles and apparel |
| Exports - partners | - | US 36.8%, Belgium 7.5%, Hong Kong 4.9% (2004) |
| Fiscal year | - | calendar year |
| Flag description | white with six blue wavy horizontal stripes; the flag of the UK is in the upper hoist-side quadrant; the striped section bears a palm tree and yellow crown centered on the outer half of the flag | 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 |
| GDP - composition by sector | - | agriculture: 2.8%
industry: 37.7% services: 59.5% (2003 est.) |
| GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $20,800 (2004 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate | - | 3.9% (2004 est.) |
| Geographic coordinates | 6 00 S, 71 30 E | 31 30 N, 34 45 E |
| Geography - note | archipelago of 2,300 islands; Diego Garcia, largest and southernmost island, occupies strategic location in central Indian Ocean; island is site of joint US-UK military facility | there are 242 Israeli settlements and civilian land use sites in the West Bank, 42 in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, 25 in the Gaza Strip, and 29 in East Jerusalem (February 2002 est.); Sea of Galilee is an important freshwater source |
| Heliports | - | 3 (2004 est.) |
| Highways | total: NA km
paved: short stretch of paved road of NA km between port and airfield on Diego Garcia unpaved: NA km |
total: 16,903 km
paved: 16,903 km (including 56 km of expressways) unpaved: 0 km (2002) |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share | - | lowest 10%: 2.4%
highest 10%: 28.3% (1997) |
| Illicit drugs | - | increasingly concerned about cocaine and heroin abuse; drugs arrive in country from Lebanon and, increasingly, from Jordan; money-laundering center |
| Imports | - | NA |
| Imports - commodities | - | raw materials, military equipment, investment goods, rough diamonds, fuels, grain, consumer goods |
| Imports - partners | - | US 15%, Belgium 10.1%, Germany 7.5%, Switzerland 6.5%, UK 6.1% (2004) |
| Independence | - | 14 May 1948 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration) |
| Industrial production growth rate | - | 4.5% (2004 est.) |
| Industries | - | high-technology projects (including aviation, communications, computer-aided design and manufactures, medical electronics, fiber optics), wood and paper products, potash and phosphates, food, beverages, and tobacco, caustic soda, cement, construction, metals products, chemical products, plastics, diamond cutting, textiles and footwear |
| Infant mortality rate | - | total: 7.03 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 7.77 deaths/1,000 live births female: 6.26 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | - | 0% (2004 est.) |
| International organization participation | - | BIS, BSEC (observer), CE (observer), CERN (observer), EBRD, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS (observer), ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MIGA, OAS (observer), OPCW (signatory), OSCE (partner), PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO |
| Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | - |
| Irrigated land | 0 sq km (1998 est.) | 1,990 sq km (1998 est.) |
| Judicial branch | - | Supreme Court (justices appointed for life by the president) |
| Labor force | - | 2.68 million (2004 est.) |
| Labor force - by occupation | - | agriculture, forestry, and fishing 2.6%, manufacturing 20.2%, construction 7.5%, commerce 12.8%, transport, storage, and communications 6.2%, finance and business 13.1%, personal and other services 6.4%, public services 31.2% (1996) |
| Land boundaries | 0 km | total: 1,017 km
border countries: Egypt 266 km, Gaza Strip 51 km, Jordan 238 km, Lebanon 79 km, Syria 76 km, West Bank 307 km |
| Land use | arable land: NEGL
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 16.39%
permanent crops: 4.17% other: 79.44% (2001) |
| Languages | - | Hebrew (official), Arabic used officially for Arab minority, English most commonly used foreign language |
| Legal system | the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply | 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 |
| Legislative branch | - | unicameral Knesset (120 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 28 January 2003 (next scheduled to be held fall of 2006) election results: percent of vote by party - Likud Party 29.4%, Labor 14.5%, Shinui 12.3%, Shas 8.2%, National Union 5.5%, Meretz 5.2%, United Torah Judaism 4.3%, National Religious Party 4.2%, Democratic Front for Peace and Equality 3.0%, One Nation 2.8%, National Democratic Assembly 2.3%, Yisra'el Ba'Aliya (YBA) 2.2%, United Arab List 2.1%, Green Leaf Party 1.2%, Herut 1.2%, other 1.6%; seats by party - Likud 38, Labor 19, Shinui 15, Shas 11, National Union 7, Meretz 6, National Religious Party 6, United Torah Judaism 5, Democratic Front for Peace and Equality 3, One Nation 3, National Democratic Assembly 3, YBA 2, United Arab List 2 |
| Life expectancy at birth | - | total population: 79.32 years
male: 77.21 years female: 81.55 years (2005 est.) |
| Literacy | - | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 95.4% male: 97.3% female: 93.6% (2003 est.) |
| Location | Southern Asia, archipelago in the Indian Ocean, about one-half the way from Africa to Indonesia | Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Lebanon |
| Map references | Political Map of the World | Middle East |
| Maritime claims | exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 3 NM |
territorial sea: 12 nm
continental shelf: to depth of exploitation |
| Merchant marine | - | total: 17 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 752,873 GRT/881,711 DWT
by type: cargo 1, container 16 registered in other countries: 48 (2005) |
| Military - note | defense is the responsibility of the UK; the US lease on Diego Garcia expires in 2016 | - |
| Military branches | - | Israel Defense Forces (IDF): Ground Corps, Navy, Air and Space Force (includes Air Defense Forces); historically there have been no separate Israeli military services |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $9.11 billion (FY03) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 8.7% (FY02) |
| National holiday | - | Independence Day, 14 May (1948); note - Israel declared independence on 14 May 1948, but the Jewish calendar is lunar and the holiday may occur in April or May |
| Nationality | - | noun: Israeli(s)
adjective: Israeli |
| Natural hazards | NA | sandstorms may occur during spring and summer; droughts; periodic earthquakes |
| Natural resources | coconuts, fish, sugarcane | timber, potash, copper ore, natural gas, phosphate rock, magnesium bromide, clays, sand |
| Net migration rate | - | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
| Pipelines | - | gas 140 km; oil 1,509 km (2004) |
| Political parties and leaders | - | Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (Hadash) [Muhammad BARAKA]; Green Leaf Party (no longer active) [Boaz WACHTEL and Shlomi SANDAK]; Herut (no longer active) [Michael KLEINER]; Labor Party [Shimon PERES]; Likud Party [Ariel SHARON]; Meretz (merged with YAHAD) [Zahava GALON]; National Democratic Assembly (Balad) [Azmi BISHARA]; National Religious Party [Ephraim "Efie" EITAM]; National Union (Haichud Haleumi) [Avigdor LIBERMAN] (includes Tekuma Moledet and Yisra'el Beiteinu); One Nation [David TAL]; Shas [Eliyahu YISHAI]; Shinui [Yosef "Tommy" LAPID]; United Arab List [Abd al-Malik DAHAMSHAH]; United Torah Judaism [Yaakov LITZMAN]; YAHAD [Yossi BEILIN]; Yisra'el Ba'Aliya or YBA (merged with Likud) [Natan SHARANSKY] |
| Political pressure groups and leaders | - | Israeli nationalists advocating Jewish settlement on the West Bank and Gaza Strip; Peace Now supports territorial concessions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip; Yesha (settler) Council promotes settler interests and opposes territorial compromise; B'Tselem monitors human rights abuses |
| Population | no indigenous inhabitants
note: approximately 1,200 former agricultural workers resident in the Chagos Archipelago, often referred to as Chagossians or Ilois, were relocated to Mauritius and the Seychelles around the time of the construction of UK-US military facilities; in 2001, there were approximately 1,500 UK and US military personnel and 2,000 civilian contractors living on the island of Diego Garcia (July 2002 est.) |
6,276,883
note: includes about 187,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank, about 20,000 in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, more than 5,000 in the Gaza Strip, and fewer than 177,000 in East Jerusalem (July 2005 est.) |
| Population below poverty line | - | 18% (2001 est.) |
| Population growth rate | - | 1.2% (2005 est.) |
| Ports and harbors | Diego Garcia | Ashdod, Elat (Eilat), Hadera, Haifa |
| Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 23, FM 15, shortwave 2 (1998) |
| Radios | NA | - |
| Railways | - | total: 640 km
standard gauge: 640 km 1.435-m gauge (2004) |
| Religions | - | Jewish 76.5%, Muslim 15.9%, Arab Christians 1.7%, other Christian 0.4%, Druze 1.6%, unspecified 3.9% (2003) |
| Sex ratio | - | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
| Suffrage | - | 18 years of age; universal |
| Telephone system | general assessment: separate facilities for military and public needs are available
domestic: all commercial telephone services are available, including connection to the Internet international: international telephone service is carried by satellite (2000) |
general assessment: most highly developed system in the Middle East although not the largest
domestic: good system of coaxial cable and microwave radio relay; all systems are digital international: country code - 972; 3 submarine cables; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (2 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) |
| Telephones - main lines in use | NA | 3.006 million (2002) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | - | 6.334 million (2002) |
| Television broadcast stations | 1 (1997) | 17 (plus 36 low-power repeaters) (1995) |
| Terrain | flat and low (most areas do not exceed four meters in elevation) | Negev desert in the south; low coastal plain; central mountains; Jordan Rift Valley |
| Total fertility rate | - | 2.44 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
| Unemployment rate | - | 10.7% (2004 est.) |
| Waterways | none | - |
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