Compare Singapore (2005) - Israel (2005)

Compare Singapore (2005) z Israel (2005)

	Singapore (2005)	Israel (2005)

Administrative divisions	none	6 districts (mehozot, singular - mehoz); Central, Haifa, Jerusalem, Northern, Southern, Tel Aviv
Age structure	0-14 years: 16% (male 366,971/female 342,295) 15-64 years: 75.9% (male 1,639,842/female 1,719,829) 65 years and over: 8.1% (male 157,636/female 199,147) (2005 est.)	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	rubber, copra, fruit, orchids, vegetables, poultry, eggs, fish, ornamental fish	citrus, vegetables, cotton; beef, poultry, dairy products
Airports	10 (2004 est.)	51 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 10 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.)	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: 692.7 sq km land: 682.7 sq km water: 10 sq km	total: 20,770 sq km land: 20,330 sq km water: 440 sq km
Area - comparative	slightly more than 3.5 times the size of Washington, DC	slightly smaller than New Jersey
Background	Singapore was founded as a British trading colony in 1819. It joined the Malaysian Federation in 1963 but separated two years later and became independent. It subsequently became one of the world's most prosperous countries with strong international trading links (its port is one of the world's busiest in terms of tonnage handled) and with per capita GDP equal to that of the leading nations of Western Europe.	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	9.49 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)	18.21 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Budget	revenues: $17.05 billion expenditures: $18.45 billion, including capital expenditures of $5.8 billion (2004 est.)	revenues: $48.09 billion expenditures: $52.11 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.)
Capital	Singapore	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; hot, humid, rainy; two distinct monsoon seasons - Northeastern monsoon from December to March and Southwestern monsoon from June to September; inter-monsoon - frequent afternoon and early evening thunderstorms	temperate; hot and dry in southern and eastern desert areas
Coastline	193 km	273 km
Constitution	3 June 1959; amended 1965 (based on preindependence State of Singapore 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: Republic of Singapore conventional short form: Singapore	conventional long form: State of Israel conventional short form: Israel local long form: Medinat Yisra'el local short form: Yisra'el
Death rate	4.16 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)	6.18 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Debt - external	$19.4 billion (2004 est.)	$74.46 billion (2004 est.)
Diplomatic representation from the US	chief of mission: Ambassador Franklin L. LAVIN embassy: 27 Napier Road, Singapore 258508 mailing address: FPO AP 96507-0001 telephone: [65] 6476-9100 FAX: [65] 6476-9340	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	chief of mission: Ambassador CHAN Heng Chee chancery: 3501 International Place NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 537-3100 FAX: [1] (202) 537-0876 consulate(s) general: San Francisco consulate(s): New York	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	disputes persist with Malaysia over deliveries of fresh water to Singapore, Singapore's extensive land reclamation works, bridge construction, maritime boundaries, and Pedra Branca Island/Pulau Batu Putih - parties agree to ICJ arbitration on island dispute within three years; Indonesia and Singapore pledged in 2005 to finalize their 1973 maritime boundary agreement by defining unresolved areas north of Batam Island; piracy remains a problem in the Malacca Strait	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	NA	$662 million from US (2003 est.)
Economy - overview	Singapore, a highly developed and successful free market economy, enjoys a remarkably open and corruption-free environment, stable prices, and a per capita GDP equal to that of the Big 4 West European countries. The economy depends heavily on exports, particularly in electronics and manufacturing. It was hard hit in 2001-03 by the global recession, by the slump in the technology sector, and by an outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in 2003, which curbed tourism and consumer spending. The government hopes to establish a new growth path that will be less vulnerable to the external business cycle and will continue efforts to establish Singapore as Southeast Asia's financial and high-tech hub. Fiscal stimulus, low interest rates, a surge in exports, and internal flexibility led to vigorous growth in 2004, with real GDP rising by 8 percent, by far the economy's best performance since 2000.	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	32 billion kWh (2003)	38.3 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports	0 kWh (2003)	1.387 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports	0 kWh (2003)	0 kWh (2002)
Electricity - production	35.33 billion kWh (2003)	42.67 billion kWh (2002)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Singapore Strait 0 m highest point: Bukit Timah 166 m	lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m highest point: Har Meron 1,208 m
Environment - current issues	industrial pollution; limited natural fresh water resources; limited land availability presents waste disposal problems; seasonal smoke/haze resulting from forest fires in Indonesia	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, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution signed, but not ratified: none of the selected 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	Chinese 76.8%, Malay 13.9%, Indian 7.9%, other 1.4% (2000 census)	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	Singapore dollars per US dollar - 1.6902 (2004), 1.7422 (2003), 1.7906 (2002), 1.7917 (2001), 1.724 (2000)	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: President Sellapan Rama (S. R.) NATHAN (since 1 September 1999) head of government: Prime Minister LEE Hsien Loong (since 12 August 2004); Senior Minister GOH Chok Tong (since 12 August 2004); Minister Mentor LEE Kuan Yew (since 12 August 2004); Deputy Prime Ministers Shunmugan JAYAKUMAR (since 12 August 2004) and Tony TAN Keng Yam (since 1 August 1995) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by president, responsible to Parliament elections: president elected by popular vote for six-year term; last appointed 17 August 2005 (next election to be held by August 2011); following legislative elections, leader of majority party or leader of majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by president; deputy prime ministers appointed by president election results: Sellapan Rama (S. R.) NATHAN appointed president in August 2005 after Presidential Elections Committee disqualified three other would-be candidates	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	NA
Exports - commodities	machinery and equipment (including electronics), consumer goods, chemicals, mineral fuels	machinery and equipment, software, cut diamonds, agricultural products, chemicals, textiles and apparel
Exports - partners	Malaysia 15.2%, US 13%, Hong Kong 9.8%, China 8.6%, Japan 6.4%, Taiwan 4.6%, Thailand 4.3%, South Korea 4.1% (2004)	US 36.8%, Belgium 7.5%, Hong Kong 4.9% (2004)
Fiscal year	1 April - 31 March	calendar year
Flag description	two equal horizontal bands of red (top) and white; near the hoist side of the red band, there is a vertical, white crescent (closed portion is toward the hoist side) partially enclosing five white five-pointed stars arranged in a circle	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: 0% negligible industry: 32.6% services: 67.4% (2004 est.)	agriculture: 2.8% industry: 37.7% services: 59.5% (2003 est.)
GDP - per capita	purchasing power parity - $27,800 (2004 est.)	purchasing power parity - $20,800 (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	8.1% (2004 est.)	3.9% (2004 est.)
Geographic coordinates	1 22 N, 103 48 E	31 30 N, 34 45 E
Geography - note	focal point for Southeast Asian sea routes	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: 3,130 km paved: 3,130 km (including 150 km of expressways) unpaved: 0 km (2002)	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%: NA highest 10%: NA	lowest 10%: 2.4% highest 10%: 28.3% (1997)
Illicit drugs	as a transportation and financial services hub, Singapore is vulnerable, despite strict laws and enforcement, to be used as a transit point for Golden Triangle heroin and as a venue for money laundering	increasingly concerned about cocaine and heroin abuse; drugs arrive in country from Lebanon and, increasingly, from Jordan; money-laundering center
Imports	NA	NA
Imports - commodities	machinery and equipment, mineral fuels, chemicals, foodstuffs	raw materials, military equipment, investment goods, rough diamonds, fuels, grain, consumer goods
Imports - partners	Malaysia 15.3%, US 12.7%, Japan 11.7%, China 9.9%, Taiwan 5.7%, South Korea 4.3%, Thailand 4.1% (2004)	US 15%, Belgium 10.1%, Germany 7.5%, Switzerland 6.5%, UK 6.1% (2004)
Independence	9 August 1965 (from Malaysian Federation)	14 May 1948 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration)
Industrial production growth rate	11.1% (2004 est.)	4.5% (2004 est.)
Industries	electronics, chemicals, financial services, oil drilling equipment, petroleum refining, rubber processing and rubber products, processed food and beverages, ship repair, offshore platform construction, life sciences, entrepot trade	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: 2.29 deaths/1,000 live births male: 2.5 deaths/1,000 live births female: 2.06 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)	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)	1.7% (2004 est.)	0% (2004 est.)
International organization participation	APEC, APT, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN, BIS, C, CP, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UPU, WCL, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO	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	NA sq km	1,990 sq km (1998 est.)
Judicial branch	Supreme Court (chief justice is appointed by the president with the advice of the prime minister, other judges are appointed by the president with the advice of the chief justice); Court of Appeals	Supreme Court (justices appointed for life by the president)
Labor force	2.18 million (2004 est.)	2.68 million (2004 est.)
Labor force - by occupation	manufacturing 18%, construction 6%, transportation and communication 11%, financial, business, and other services 49%, other 16% (2003)	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: 1.64% permanent crops: 0% other: 98.36% (2001)	arable land: 16.39% permanent crops: 4.17% other: 79.44% (2001)
Languages	Mandarin 35%, English 23%, Malay 14.1%, Hokkien 11.4%, Cantonese 5.7%, Teochew 4.9%, Tamil 3.2%, other Chinese dialects 1.8%, other 0.9% (2000 census)	Hebrew (official), Arabic used officially for Arab minority, English most commonly used foreign language
Legal system	based on English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction	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 Parliament (84 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms); note - in addition, there are up to nine nominated members; the losing opposition candidate who came closest to winning a seat may be appointed as a "nonconstituency" member elections: last held 3 November 2001 (next to be held not later than 25 June 2007) election results: percent of vote by party - PAP 75.3% (in contested constituencies), other 24.7%; seats by party - PAP 82, WP 1, SPP 1	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: 81.62 years male: 79.05 years female: 84.39 years (2005 est.)	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: 92.5% male: 96.6% female: 88.6% (2002)	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 95.4% male: 97.3% female: 93.6% (2003 est.)
Location	Southeastern Asia, islands between Malaysia and Indonesia	Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Lebanon
Map references	Southeast Asia	Middle East
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 3 nm exclusive fishing zone: within and beyond territorial sea, as defined in treaties and practice	territorial sea: 12 nm continental shelf: to depth of exploitation
Merchant marine	total: 923 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 23,065,290 GRT/36,393,317 DWT by type: bulk carrier 138, cargo 86, chemical tanker 115, combination ore/oil 5, container 180, liquefied gas 42, livestock carrier 1, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 316, refrigerated cargo 3, vehicle carrier 36 foreign-owned: 487 (Australia 5, Bangladesh 1, Belgium 10, China 15, Denmark 34, Germany 7, Greece 5, Hong Kong 43, India 3, Indonesia 54, Japan 83, Malaysia 31, Norway 83, Philippines 3, Russia 1, Slovenia 1, South Korea 12, Sweden 12, Taiwan 44, Thailand 17, UAE 6, United Kingdom 12, United States 5) registered in other countries: 276 (2005)	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 branches	Singapore Armed Forces: Army, Navy, Air Force, Air Defense (2005)	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	$4.47 billion (FY01 est.)	$9.11 billion (FY03)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	4.9% (FY01)	8.7% (FY02)
National holiday	National Day, 9 August (1965)	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: Singaporean(s) adjective: Singapore	noun: Israeli(s) adjective: Israeli
Natural hazards	NA	sandstorms may occur during spring and summer; droughts; periodic earthquakes
Natural resources	fish, deepwater ports	timber, potash, copper ore, natural gas, phosphate rock, magnesium bromide, clays, sand
Net migration rate	10.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)	0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Pipelines	gas 139 km (2004)	gas 140 km; oil 1,509 km (2004)
Political parties and leaders	governing party: People's Action Party or PAP [LEE Hsien Loong]; opposition parties: Democratic Progressive Party or DPP [LING How Dong]; National Solidarity Party or NSP [vacant] (SDA group); Singapore Democratic Alliance or SDA [CHIAM See Tong] (includes SPP, PKMS, NSP, SJP); Singapore Democratic Party or SDP [CHEE Soon Juan]; Singapore Justice Party or SJP [Desmond LIM] (SDA group); Singapore National Malay Organization or PKMS [Malik ISMAIL] (SDA group); Singapore People's Party or SPP [CHIAM See Tong] (SDA group); Workers' Party or WP [Sylvia Lim Swee LIAN]	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	NA	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	4,425,720 (July 2005 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	NA	18% (2001 est.)
Population growth rate	1.56% (2005 est.)	1.2% (2005 est.)
Ports and harbors	Singapore	Ashdod, Elat (Eilat), Hadera, Haifa
Radio broadcast stations	AM 0, FM 17, shortwave 2 (2003)	AM 23, FM 15, shortwave 2 (1998)
Railways	-	total: 640 km standard gauge: 640 km 1.435-m gauge (2004)
Religions	Buddhist 42.5%, Muslim 14.9%, Taoist 8.5%, Hindu 4%, Catholic 4.8%, other Christian 9.8%, other 0.7%, none 14.8% (2000 census)	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: 1.08 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.07 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.79 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2005 est.)	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	21 years of age; universal and compulsory	18 years of age; universal
Telephone system	general assessment: excellent service domestic: excellent domestic facilities international: country code - 65; submarine cables to Malaysia (Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia), Indonesia, and the Philippines; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 1 Pacific Ocean), and 1 Inmarsat (Pacific Ocean region)	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	1,896,100 (2004)	3.006 million (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular	3,521,800 (2004)	6.334 million (2002)
Television broadcast stations	7 (2003)	17 (plus 36 low-power repeaters) (1995)
Terrain	lowland; gently undulating central plateau contains water catchment area and nature preserve	Negev desert in the south; low coastal plain; central mountains; Jordan Rift Valley
Total fertility rate	1.05 children born/woman (2005 est.)	2.44 children born/woman (2005 est.)
Unemployment rate	3.4% (2004 est.)	10.7% (2004 est.)

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