Caspian Sea into five equal sectors while Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia,
and Turkmenistan have generally agreed upon equidistant seabed boundaries;
Iran threatens to conduct oil exploration in Azerbaijani-claimed waters,
while interdicting Azerbaijani activities

Illicit drugs: despite substantial interdiction efforts, Iran remains a
key transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin to Europe; domestic
narcotics consumption remains a persistent problem and Iranian press
reports estimate at least 1.8 million drug users in the country

This page was last updated on 1 January 2002

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Israel

Introduction

Israel

Background: 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. Outstanding territorial and other disputes
with Jordan were resolved in the 26 October 1994 Israel-Jordan Treaty of
Peace. In keeping with the framework established at the Madrid Conference
in October 1991, bilateral negotiations were conducted between Israel
and Palestinian representatives (from the Israeli-occupied West Bank and
Gaza Strip) and Syria, to achieve a permanent settlement; however, these
efforts were derailed/postponed by the outbreak of Israeli-Palestinian
violence in September 2000. On 25 May 2000, Israel withdrew unilaterally
from southern Lebanon, which it had occupied since 1982.

Geography Israel

Location: Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt
and Lebanon

Geographic coordinates: 31 30 N, 34 45 E

Map references: Middle East

Area: total: 20,770 sq km water: 440 sq km land: 20,330 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than New Jersey

Land boundaries: 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

Coastline: 273 km

Maritime claims: continental shelf: to depth of exploitation territorial
sea: 12 NM

Climate: temperate; hot and dry in southern and easter