Wikijunior:Asia/Israel

Israel

Israel, officially known as the State of Israel is a country in West Asia. Tel Aviv is the financial, economic, and technological center of the country, while its government is in Jerusalem.

Where is Israel?

map of Israel

Israel is bordered by Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan to the east, the Red Sea to the south, Egypt to the southwest, the Mediterranean Sea to the west, and the Palestinian territories – the West Bank along the east and the Gaza Strip along the southwest.

How many people live in Israel?

Israel has the largest Jewish population in the world and is the only country where Jews are the majority. As of 31 December 2022, Israel's population was an estimated 9,656,000. In 2022, the government recorded 73.6% of the population as Jews, 21.1% as Arabs, and 5.3% as "Others" (non-Arab Christians and people who have no religion listed). Over the last 10 years, large numbers of workers from Romania, Thailand, China, Africa, and South America have settled in Israel. Exact figures are unknown, as many of them are living in the country illegally, but estimates run from 166,000 to 203,000. By June 2012, approximately 60,000 Africans had entered Israel

What are the most common languages in Israel?

The official language of Israel is Hebrew, a Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and remained in regular use as a first language until after 200 CE and as the liturgical language of Judaism (since the Second Temple period) and Samaritanism. The language was revived as a spoken language in the 19th century, and is the only successful large-scale example of linguistic revival. It is the only Canaanite language, as well as one of only two Northwest Semitic languages, with the other being Aramaic, still spoken today.

What is the most common religion in Israel?

The most common religion in Israel is Judaism.

What is the sport of Israel?

The most popular sports in Israel have traditionally been football (mainly) and basketball (secondly) – with the first being considered the national sport.

What are some important sites?

Kfar Bar'am synagogue (Hebrew: כְּפַר בַּרְעָם), also Kafar Berem synagogue, is the ruins of two ancient Jewish synagogues at the site of Kafr Bir'im, a depopulated Palestinian village which in medieval times was the Jewish village of Kfar Bar'am. Today, it is located in Northern Israel, 3 kilometers from the Lebanese border.

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