st.)

Natural hazards: sandstorms may occur during spring and summer

Environment--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, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection,
Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Marine Life
Conservation

Geography--note: there are 216 Israeli settlements and civilian
land use sites in the West Bank, 42 in the Israeli-occupied Golan
Heights, 24 in the Gaza Strip, and 29 in East Jerusalem (August 1998
est.)

People

Population: 5,749,760 (July 1999 est.)
note: includes about 166,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank,
about 19,000 in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, about 6,000 in
the Gaza Strip, and about 176,000 in East Jerusalem (August 1998
est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 28% (male 822,192; female 783,905)
15-64 years: 62% (male 1,792,062; female 1,783,755)
65 years and over: 10% (male 244,438; female 323,408) (1999 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.81% (1999 est.)

Birth rate: 19.83 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Death rate: 6.16 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Net migration rate: 4.42 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female
total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (1999 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 7.78 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 78.61 years
male: 76.71 years
female: 80.61 years (1999 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.68 children born/woman (1999 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Israeli(s)
adjective: Israeli

Ethnic groups: 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.)

Religions: Judaism 80.1%, Islam 14.6% (mostly Sunni Muslim),
Christian 2.1%, other 3.2% (1996 est.)

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

Literacy:
de