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Compare Western Sahara (2005) - Israel (2005)
Compare Western Sahara (2005) z Israel (2005)
| Western Sahara (2005) | Israel (2005) | |
 |  | |
| Administrative divisions | none (under de facto control of Morocco) | 6 districts (mehozot, singular - mehoz); Central, Haifa, Jerusalem, Northern, Southern, Tel Aviv |
| Age structure | 0-14 years: NA
15-64 years: NA 65 years and over: NA |
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 | fruits and vegetables (grown in the few oases); camels, sheep, goats (kept by nomads) | citrus, vegetables, cotton; beef, poultry, dairy products |
| Airports | 11 (2004 est.) | 51 (2004 est.) |
| Airports - with paved runways | total: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 (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: 8
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 3 (2004 est.) |
total: 23
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 20 (2004 est.) |
| Area | total: 266,000 sq km
land: 266,000 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 20,770 sq km
land: 20,330 sq km water: 440 sq km |
| Area - comparative | about the size of Colorado | slightly smaller than New Jersey |
| Background | Morocco virtually annexed the northern two-thirds of Western Sahara (formerly Spanish Sahara) in 1976, and the rest of the territory in 1979, following Mauritania's withdrawal. A guerrilla war with the Polisario Front contesting Rabat's sovereignty ended in a 1991 UN-brokered cease-fire; a UN-organized referendum on final status has been repeatedly postponed. | 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 | NA births/1,000 population | 18.21 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
| Budget | revenues: NA
expenditures: NA, including capital expenditures of NA |
revenues: $48.09 billion
expenditures: $52.11 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.) |
| Capital | none | 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 | hot, dry desert; rain is rare; cold offshore air currents produce fog and heavy dew | temperate; hot and dry in southern and eastern desert areas |
| Coastline | 1,110 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: none
conventional short form: Western Sahara former: Spanish Sahara |
conventional long form: State of Israel
conventional short form: Israel local long form: Medinat Yisra'el local short form: Yisra'el |
| Death rate | NA deaths/1,000 population | 6.18 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
| Debt - external | NA | $74.46 billion (2004 est.) |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | none | 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 | 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 | Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, whose sovereignty remains unresolved - UN-administered cease-fire has remained in effect since September 1991, administered by the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), but attempts to hold a referendum have failed and parties thus far have rejected all brokered proposals | 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 | Western Sahara depends on pastoral nomadism, fishing, and phosphate mining as the principal sources of income for the population. The territory lacks sufficient rainfall for sustainable agricultural production, and most of the food for the urban population must be imported. All trade and other economic activities are controlled by the Moroccan Government. Moroccan energy interests in 2001 signed contracts to explore for oil off the coast of Western Sahara, which has angered the Polisario. Incomes and standards of living in Western Sahara are substantially below the Moroccan level. | 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 | 83.7 million kWh (2002) | 38.3 billion kWh (2002) |
| Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2002) | 1.387 billion kWh (2002) |
| Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2002) | 0 kWh (2002) |
| Electricity - production | 90 million kWh (2002) | 42.67 billion kWh (2002) |
| Elevation extremes | lowest point: Sebjet Tah -55 m
highest point: unnamed location 463 m |
lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m
highest point: Har Meron 1,208 m |
| Environment - current issues | sparse water and lack of arable land | 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: none of the selected agreements
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 | Arab, Berber | 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 | Moroccan dirhams per US dollar - 8.868 (2004), 9.5744 (2003), 11.0206 (2002), 11.303 (2001), 10.6256 (2000) | new Israeli shekels per US dollar - 4.482 (2004), 4.5541 (2003), 4.7378 (2002), 4.2057 (2001), 4.0773 (2000) |
| Executive branch | none | 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 | phosphates 62% | machinery and equipment, software, cut diamonds, agricultural products, chemicals, textiles and apparel |
| Exports - partners | Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts | US 36.8%, Belgium 7.5%, Hong Kong 4.9% (2004) |
| Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
| 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 |
| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: NA
industry: NA services: 40% (1996 est.) |
agriculture: 2.8%
industry: 37.7% services: 59.5% (2003 est.) |
| GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - NA | purchasing power parity - $20,800 (2004 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate | NA | 3.9% (2004 est.) |
| Geographic coordinates | 24 30 N, 13 00 W | 31 30 N, 34 45 E |
| Geography - note | the waters off the coast are particularly rich fishing areas | 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: 6,200 km
paved: 1,350 km unpaved: 4,850 km (1991 est) |
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 | - | 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 | fuel for fishing fleet, foodstuffs | raw materials, military equipment, investment goods, rough diamonds, fuels, grain, consumer goods |
| Imports - partners | Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts | 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 | NA | 4.5% (2004 est.) |
| Industries | phosphate mining, handicrafts | 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: NA
male: NA female: NA |
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) | NA | 0% (2004 est.) |
| International organization participation | none | 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 (justices appointed for life by the president) |
| Labor force | 12,000 | 2.68 million (2004 est.) |
| Labor force - by occupation | animal husbandry and subsistence farming 50% | 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 | total: 2,046 km
border countries: Algeria 42 km, Mauritania 1,561 km, Morocco 443 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: 0.02%
permanent crops: 0% other: 99.98% (2001) |
arable land: 16.39%
permanent crops: 4.17% other: 79.44% (2001) |
| Languages | Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic | Hebrew (official), Arabic used officially for Arab minority, English most commonly used foreign language |
| 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 |
| 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: NA years
male: NA years female: NA years |
total population: 79.32 years
male: 77.21 years female: 81.55 years (2005 est.) |
| Literacy | definition: NA
total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 95.4% male: 97.3% female: 93.6% (2003 est.) |
| Location | Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Mauritania and Morocco | Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Lebanon |
| Map references | Africa | Middle East |
| Maritime claims | contingent upon resolution of sovereignty issue | 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 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: Sahrawi(s), Sahraoui(s)
adjective: Sahrawi, Sahrawian, Sahraouian |
noun: Israeli(s)
adjective: Israeli |
| Natural hazards | hot, dry, dust/sand-laden sirocco wind can occur during winter and spring; widespread harmattan haze exists 60% of time, often severely restricting visibility | sandstorms may occur during spring and summer; droughts; periodic earthquakes |
| Natural resources | phosphates, iron ore | 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 | none | 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 | 273,008 (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 | NA | 1.2% (2005 est.) |
| Ports and harbors | Ad Dakhla, Cabo Bojador, Laayoune (El Aaiun) | Ashdod, Elat (Eilat), Hadera, Haifa |
| Radio broadcast stations | AM 2, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 23, FM 15, shortwave 2 (1998) |
| Railways | - | total: 640 km
standard gauge: 640 km 1.435-m gauge (2004) |
| Religions | Muslim | Jewish 76.5%, Muslim 15.9%, Arab Christians 1.7%, other Christian 0.4%, Druze 1.6%, unspecified 3.9% (2003) |
| Sex ratio | NA | 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 | none; a UN-sponsored voter identification campaign not yet completed | 18 years of age; universal |
| Telephone system | general assessment: sparse and limited system
domestic: NA international: country code - 212; tied into Morocco's system by microwave radio relay, tropospheric scatter, and satellite; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) linked to Rabat, Morocco |
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 | about 2,000 (1999 est.) | 3.006 million (2002) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | 0 (1999) | 6.334 million (2002) |
| Television broadcast stations | NA | 17 (plus 36 low-power repeaters) (1995) |
| Terrain | mostly low, flat desert with large areas of rocky or sandy surfaces rising to small mountains in south and northeast | Negev desert in the south; low coastal plain; central mountains; Jordan Rift Valley |
| Total fertility rate | NA children born/woman | 2.44 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
| Unemployment rate | NA | 10.7% (2004 est.) |
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