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Israel
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Israel
officially the State of Israel, Medinat Yisra'el;
is a country in Western Asia
located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean
Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in
the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt
on the southwest, and contains geographically
diverse features within its relatively small area.
Also adjacent are the West Bank to the east and
Gaza Strip to the southwest. Israel is the world's
only predominantly Jewish state with a population
of about 7.4 million people, of which approximately
5.57 million are Jewish. The largest ethnic minority
group is the segment denominated as Arab citizens
of Israel, while minority religious groups include
Muslims, Christians, Druze, Samaritans and others,
most of which are found within the Arab segment.
The modern state of Israel has its religious roots
in the Biblical Land of Israel (Eretz Yisrael),
a concept central to Judaism since ancient times,
and the heartland of the ancient kingdoms of Israel
and Judah. Following the birth of political Zionism
in 1897 and the Balfour Declaration, the League
of Nations granted Britain the British Mandate
of Palestine after World War I, with responsibility
for establishing "...such political, administrative
and economic conditions as will secure the establishment
of the Jewish national home, as laid down in the
preamble, and the development of self-governing
institutions, and also for safeguarding the civil
and religious rights of all the inhabitants of
Palestine, irrespective of race and religion..."
In November 1947 United Nations decided on partition
of Palestine into a Jewish state, an Arab state,
and a UN-administered Jerusalem. Partition was
accepted by Zionist leaders but rejected by Arab
leaders leading to the 1947–1948 Civil War
in Mandatory Palestine. Israel declared independence
on May 14, 1948 and neighboring Arab states attacked
the next day. Since then, Israel has fought a
series of wars with neighboring Arab states, and
in consequence, Israel controls territories beyond
those delineated in the 1949 Armistice Agreements.
Some international borders remain in dispute,
however Israel has signed peace treaties with
Egypt and Jordan, though efforts to resolve conflict
with the Palestinians have so far only met with
limited success.
Israel is a representative democracy with a parliamentary
system and universal suffrage. The Prime Minister
serves as head of government and the Knesset serves
as Israel's legislative body. In terms of nominal
gross domestic product, the nation's economy is
estimated as being the 44th-largest in the world.
Israel ranks highest among Middle Eastern countries
on the bases of human development, freedom of
the press, and economic competitiveness. Jerusalem
is the country's capital, seat of government,
and largest city, while Israel's main financial
and cultural center is Tel Aviv. (Credit:
Wikipedia)
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