Israel (/zrel/ or /zril/; Hebrew:

Yisr'el; Arabic: Isrl), officially

the State of Israel (Hebrew:

Mednat
Yisr'el [medinat jisael] ( listen);

Arabic: Dawlat Isrl [dawlat israil]), is a country in West Asia, situated at

the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Gulf of
Aqaba in the Red Sea. It shares land borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria in the
northeast, Jordan on the east, the Palestinian territories (which are claimed by the State
of Palestine and are partially controlled by Israel) comprising the West Bank and Gaza
Strip[7] to the east and west, respectively, and Egypt to the southwest. It contains
geographically diverse features within its relatively small area.[8][9] Israel's financial and
technology center is Tel Aviv,[10] while Jerusalem is both its self-designated capital
(though unrecognised by the United Nations[11]) and its most populous individual city
under the country's governmental administration. Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem is
internationally disputed.[note 2][12]

On 29 November 1947, the United Nations General Assembly recommended the

adoption and implementation of the Partition Plan for Mandatory Palestine. This UN plan
specified borders for new Arab and Jewish states and also specified an area of
Jerusalem and its environs which was to be administered by the UN under an
international regime.[13][14] The end of the British Mandate for Palestine was set for
midnight on 14 May 1948. That day, David Ben-Gurion, the Executive Head of the
Zionist Organization and president of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, declared "the
establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel," which
would start to function from the termination of the mandate.[15][16][17] The borders of
the new state were not specified in the declaration.[14][18] Neighboring Arab armies
invaded the former Palestinian mandate on the next day and fought the Israeli forces.
[19][20] Israel has since fought several wars with neighboring Arab states,[21] in the
course of which it has occupied the West Bank, Sinai Peninsula (195657, 196782),
part of South Lebanon (19822000), Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights. It extended its
laws to the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, but not the West Bank.[22][23][24][25]
Efforts to resolve the IsraeliPalestinian conflict have not resulted in peace. However,
peace treaties between Israel and both Egypt and Jordan have successfully been
signed. Israels occupation of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem is the world's
longest military occupation in modern times.[note 3][27]

The population of Israel, as defined by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, was
estimated in 2014 to be 8,146,300 people. It is the world's only Jewish-majority state;
6,212,000 citizens, or 74.9% of Israelis, are designated as Jewish. The country's second
largest group of citizens are denoted as Arabs, with 1,718,400 people (including the
Druze and most East Jerusalem Arabs).[28][29] The great majority of Israeli Arabs are
settled Muslims, with smaller but significant numbers of semi-settled Negev Bedouins;
the rest are Christians and Druze. Other minorities include Maronites, Samaritans, Dom

people and Roma, Black Hebrew Israelites, other Sub-Saharan Africans,[30] Armenians,
Circassians, Vietnamese boat people, and others. Israel also hosts a significant
population of non-citizen foreign workers and asylum seekers from Africa and Asia.[31]

In its Basic Laws, Israel defines itself as a Jewish and Democratic State.[32] Israel is a
representative democracy[33] with a parliamentary system, proportional representation
and universal suffrage.[34][35] The Prime Minister serves as head of government and
the Knesset serves as Israel's legislative body. Israel is a developed country and an
OECD member,[36] with the 37th-largest economy in the world by nominal gross
domestic product as of 2014. The country benefits from a highly skilled workforce and is
among the most educated countries in the world with the one of the highest percentage
of its citizens holding a tertiary education degree.[37][38] The country has the highest
standard of living in the Middle East and the fifth highest in Asia,[39][40][41] and has one
of the highest life expectancies in the world