- current issues:
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, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes,
Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation

Geography - note:
there are 242 Israeli settlements and civilian land use sites in
the West Bank, 42 in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, 0 in the
Gaza Strip, and 29 in East Jerusalem (August 2005 est.); Sea of
Galilee is an important freshwater source

People Israel

Population:
6,352,117
note: includes about 187,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank,
about 20,000 in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, and fewer than
177,000 in East Jerusalem (July 2006 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 26.3% (male 855,054/female 815,619)
15-64 years: 63.9% (male 2,044,135/female 2,016,647)
65 years and over: 9.8% (male 266,671/female 353,991) (2006 est.)

Median age:
total: 29.6 years
male: 28.8 years
female: 30.5 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate:
1.18% (2006 est.)

Birth rate:
17.97 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate:
6.18 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 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 (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
total: 6.89 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 7.61 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 6.14 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 79.46 years
male: 77.33 years
female: 81.7 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate:
2.41 children born/woman (2006 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.1% (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
3,000 (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
100 (2001 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Israeli(s)
adjective: Israeli

Ethnic groups:
Jewish 76.4% (of which Israel-born 67.1%, Europe/America-born
22.6%, Africa-born 5.9%, Asia-born 4.2%), non-Jewish