d 3.9% (2004)

Languages:

Hebrew (official), Arabic used officially for Arab minority, English
most commonly used foreign language

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 97.1%
male: 98.5%
female: 95.9% (2004 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):

total: 15 years
male: 15 years
female: 16 years (2006)

Education expenditures:

6.9% of GDP (2004)

Government
Israel

Country name:

conventional long form: State of Israel
conventional short form: Israel
local long form: Medinat Yisra'el
local short form: Yisra'el

Government type:

parliamentary democracy

Capital:

name: Jerusalem
geographic coordinates: 31 46 N, 35 14 E
time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during
Standard Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Friday in March; ends the
Sunday between the holidays of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur
note: Israel proclaimed Jerusalem as its capital in 1950, but the
US, like nearly all other countries, maintains its Embassy in Tel
Aviv

Administrative divisions:

6 districts (mehozot, singular - mehoz); Central, Haifa, Jerusalem,
Northern, Southern, Tel Aviv

Independence:

14 May 1948 (from League of Nations mandate under British
administration)

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

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; note -
since May 2003 the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee of the
Knesset has been working on a draft constitution

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

Suffrage:

18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:

chief of state: President Shimon PERES (since 15 July 2007)
head of government: Prime Minister Ehud OLMERT (since May 2006);
Deputy Prime Minister Tzipora "Tzipi" LIVNI; note - Prime Minister
OLMERT resigned on 17 September 2008, but will serve as acting prime
minister until a new government is for