Compare British Indian Ocean Territory (2008) - Israel (2004)

Compare British Indian Ocean Territory (2008) z Israel (2004)

	British Indian Ocean Territory (2008)	Israel (2004)

Administrative divisions	-	6 districts (mehozot, singular - mehoz); Central, Haifa, Jerusalem, Northern, Southern, Tel Aviv
Age structure	-	0-14 years: 26.7% (male 847,591; female 808,399) 15-64 years: 63.4% (male 1,976,539; female 1,954,782) 65 years and over: 9.9% (male 262,781; female 348,916) (2004 est.)
Agriculture - products	-	citrus, vegetables, cotton; beef, poultry, dairy products
Airports	1 (2007)	51 (2003 est.)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 1 over 3,047 m: 1 (2007)	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: 54,400 sq km land: 60 sq km; Diego Garcia 44 sq km water: 54,340 sq km note: includes the entire Chagos Archipelago of 55 islands	total: 20,770 sq km land: 20,330 sq km water: 440 sq km
Area - comparative	land area is 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 that 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	-	18.45 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Budget	-	revenues: $44.98 billion expenditures: $51.07 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2003)
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
Currency	-	new Israeli shekel (ILS); note - NIS is the currency abbreviation; ILS is the International Organization for Standarization (ISO) code for the NIS
Death rate	-	6.19 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Debt - external	-	$70.97 billion (2003 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 including Diego Garcia; in 2001, the former inhabitants of the Chagos Archipelago, evicted in 1967 and 1973 and now residing chiefly in Mauritius, were granted UK citizenship and the right to repatriation; in May 2006, the High Court of London reversed U.K. Government's 2004 orders of council that banned habitation on the islands; a small group of Chagossians visited Diego Garcia in April 2006; repatriation is complicated by the exclusive US military lease of Diego Garcia that restricts access to the largest viable 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; Golan Heights is Israeli-occupied (Lebanon claims the Shab'a Farms area of Golan Heights)
Economic aid - recipient	-	$662 million from US (2003 est.)
Economy - overview	All economic activity is concentrated on the largest island of Diego Garcia, where a joint UK-US military facility is located. Construction projects and various services needed to support the military installation are performed 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 native Ilois return, they plan to reestablish sugarcane production and fishing. The territory makes money by selling fishing licenses and postage stamps.	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 2.7%.
Electricity - consumption	NA kWh	37.82 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports	-	1.457 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports	-	0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - production	NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by the US military	42.24 billion kWh (2001)
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, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, 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 - 4.5541 (2003), 4.7378 (2002), 4.2057 (2001), 4.0773 (2000), 4.1397 (1999)
Executive branch	chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952) head of government: Commissioner Leigh TURNER (since July 2006); Administrator Tony HUMPHRIES (since February 2005); note - both reside in the UK and are represented by the officer commanding British Forces on Diego Garcia 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 schedulde 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 (2001)
Exports - commodities	-	machinery and equipment, software, cut diamonds, agricultural products, chemicals, textiles and apparel
Exports - partners	-	US 38.4%, Belgium 7.4%, Hong Kong 4.8% (2003)
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	-	purchasing power parity - $120.9 billion (2003 est.)
GDP - composition by sector	-	agriculture: 2.8% industry: 37.7% services: 59.5% (2003 est.)
GDP - per capita	-	purchasing power parity - $19,800 (2003 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	-	1.3% (2003 est.)
Geographic coordinates	6 00 S, 71 30 E; note - Diego Garcia 7 20 S, 72 25 E	31 30 N, 34 45 E
Geography - note	archipelago of 55 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 (2003 est.)
Highways	-	total: 16,281 km paved: 16,281 km (including 56 km of expressways) unpaved: NA (2000)
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 (2001)
Imports - commodities	-	raw materials, military equipment, investment goods, rough diamonds, fuels, grain, consumer goods
Imports - partners	-	US 15.6%, Belgium 9.3%, Germany 8%, UK 6.7%, Switzerland 6.1%, Italy 4.1% (2003)
Independence	-	14 May 1948 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration)
Industrial production growth rate	-	-0.6% (2003 est.)
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
Infant mortality rate	-	total: 7.21 deaths/1,000 live births male: 7.96 deaths/1,000 live births female: 6.42 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	-	0.7% (2003 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
Irrigated land	0 sq km	1,990 sq km (1998 est.)
Judicial branch	-	Supreme Court (justices appointed for life by the president)
Labor force	-	2.61 million (2003 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: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2005)	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 or parliament (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: 79.17 years male: 77.08 years female: 81.37 years (2004 est.)
Literacy	-	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 95.4% male: 97.3% female: 93.6% (2003 est.)
Location	archipelago in the Indian Ocean, south of India, 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	territorial sea: 3 nm exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm	territorial sea: 12 nm continental shelf: to depth of exploitation
Merchant marine	-	total: 18 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 752,873 GRT/881,711 DWT by type: container 18 registered in other countries: 40 (2004 est.)
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 (including Pioneer Fighting Youth (Nahal)), Navy, Air Force(including Air Defense Forces); note - 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)
Military manpower - availability	-	males age 15-49: 1,581,883 females age 15-49: 1,532,234 (2004 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service	-	males age 15-49: 1,294,742 females age 15-49: 1,250,969 (2004 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually	-	males: 51,054 females: 53,515 (2004 est.)
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	-	0.68 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 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 in the 1960s and 1970s; in November 2000 they were granted the right of return by a British High Court ruling, though no timetable has been set; in November 2004, there were approximately 4,000 UK and US military personnel and civilian contractors living on the island of Diego Garcia	6,199,008 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 2004 est.)
Population below poverty line	-	18% (2001 est.)
Population growth rate	-	1.29% (2004 est.)
Ports and harbors	-	Ashdod, Ashqelon, Elat (Eilat), Hadera, Haifa, Tel Aviv-Yafo
Radio broadcast stations	AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998)	AM 23, FM 15, shortwave 2 (1998)
Railways	-	total: 640 km standard gauge: 640 km 1.435-m gauge (2003)
Religions	-	Jewish 80.1%, Muslim 14.6% (mostly Sunni Muslim), Christian 2.1%, other 3.2% (1996 est.)
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 (2004 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: country code (Diego Garcia) - 246; 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 two meters in elevation)	Negev desert in the south; low coastal plain; central mountains; Jordan Rift Valley
Total fertility rate	-	2.47 children born/woman (2004 est.)
Unemployment rate	-	10.7% (2003 est.)

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