The State of Israel is a
country in Western Asia on the southeastern edge
of the Mediterranean Sea. It is a parliamentary
democracy and the world's only Jewish state.
The name "Israel" is rooted in
the Hebrew Bible, where Jacob is renamed
Israel after wrestling with a mysterious adversary.
The biblical nation fathered by Jacob was then
called "The Children of Israel"
or the "Israelites". Citizens
of the modern State of Israel are referred
to, in English, as "Israelis".
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics
defines three metropolitan areas: Tel Aviv,
Haifa and Beersheba. Jerusalem
may also be considered a metropolitan area, though
its limits are hard to define since it spans communities
in Israel proper and the West Bank, both Israeli
and Palestinian, and even the boundaries of
Jerusalem city itself are disputed. Nazareth
and its suburbs, with a Muslim Arab population
majority, are sometimes considered to be an additional
metropolitan area.
Israel has a technologically advanced market
economy with substantial government participation.
It depends on imports of fossil fuels (crude
oil, natural gas, and coal), grains, beef, raw
materials, and military equipment. Despite
limited natural resources, Israel has intensively
developed its agricultural and industrial sectors
over the past 20 years. Israel is largely self-sufficient
in food production except for grains and beef.
Diamonds, high technology, military equipment,
software, pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, and
agricultural products (fruits, vegetables
and flowers) are leading exports. Israel
possesses extensive facilities for oil refining,
diamond polishing, and semiconductor fabrication.
High technology industries have taken a
pre-eminent role in the economy, particularly
in the last decade. Israel’s limited natural
resources and strong emphasis on education have
also played key roles in directing industry towards
high technology fields. As a result of the country’s
success in developing cutting edge technologies
in software, communications and the
life sciences, Israel is frequently
referred to as a second Silicon Valley. Another
leading industry is tourism, which benefits
from the plethora of important historical sites
for Judaism and Christianity and from Israel’s
warm climate and access to water resources.
Haifa, Tel Aviv, and Jerusalem are cultural
centers, known for art museums, and many towns
and kibbutzim have smaller high-quality museums.
Israeli music is very versatile and combines
elements of both western and eastern music. It
tends to be very eclectic and contains a wide
variety of influences from the Diaspora and more
modern cultural importation: Hassidic songs,
Asian and Arab pop, especially by Yemenite
singers, and Israeli hip hop or heavy metal.
Folk dancing, which draws upon the cultural
heritage of many immigrant groups, is popular.
There is also flourishing modern dance. |
