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Further information: Israelis
The State of Israel had population of approximately 7,465,500 inhabitants as of September 2009.[1] 75.5% of them were Jewish (about 5,634,300 individuals), 20.3% were Arabs (About 1,513,200 inhabitants), while the remaining 4.2% (about 318,000 individuals) were defined as "others" (family members of Jewish immigrants who were not registered at the Interior Ministry as Jews, non-Arab Christians, non-arab Muslims and residents who do not have a religious classification).
[edit] Ethnic groups[edit] JewsMain article: Israeli Jews According to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics, as of 2009, of Israel's 7 million people, 82.8% were Jews of any background[2] Among them, 68% were Sabras (Israeli-born), mostly second- or third-generation Israelis, and the rest are olim (Jewish immigrants to Israel) — 22% from Europe and the Americas, and 10% from Asia and Africa, including the Arab countries.[3] Nearly 60% of Israeli Jews are Arab Jews, Iranian Jews, Turkish Jews, Kurdish Jews, Berber Jews, Bukharan Jews, and other Afro-Asiatic countries or are descended from such Jews, and about 40% are European or descended from European Jews. Over two hundred thousand are, or are descended from, Ethiopian and Indian Jews.[4] There are also Chinese Jews, Afghani Jews, Pakistani Jews, and many other communities. [edit] Non-Jewish Arabs Main article: Arab citizens of Israel Non-Jewish Arab citizens of Israel are those non-Jewish Arabs who were present within Israel's borders and who remained within Israel's borders during the 1948 Palestinian exodus following the establishment of the state of Israel, including those born within the state borders subsequent to this time, as well as those who had left during the exodus (or their descendants) who have since re-entered by means accepted as lawful residence by the Israeli state (primarily family reunifications). Because Arab identity is linguistic, geographic, and cultural rather than purely religious, Arabs can come in any religion (though usually come as Muslims, Jews, and Christians). Because of this, there are many Arab Jews, particularly in Israel. When people refer to Muslim Arabs solely as "Arab" assume this means Muslim automatically, it is a misnomer. Israeli racial structure have made "Arab" and "Jewish" as mutually exclusive, but this is a recent phenomenon and highly contested and controversial. There are 209,000 non-Jewish Arabs (14% of the Muslim Israeli-Arab population) in east Jerusalem, also counted in the Palestinian statistics , although 98% of East Jerusalem Palestinians has either Israeli residency or Israeli citizenship.[5] Most non-Jewish Arab citizens of Israel are Muslim, particularly of the Sunni branch of Islam, and there is a significant Arab Christian minority from various denominations, as well as Arab Druze, among other religious communities. As of 2008, non-Jewish Arab citizens of Israel comprise just over 20% of the country's total population. About 82.6% of the non-Jewish Arab population in Israel is Sunni Muslim (with a very small minority of Shia), another 9% is Druze, and around 9% is Christian (mostly Eastern Orthodox and Catholic denominations). The non-Jewish Arab citizens of Israel include also the the Bedouins who are divided into two main groups: the Bedouin in the north of Israel, who live in villages and towns for the most part, and the Bedouin in the Negev, who include half-nomadic and inhabitants of towns and Unrecognized villages. According to the Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel, currently, 110,000 Bedouins live in the Negev, 50,000 in the Galilee and 10,000 in the central region of Israel.[6] The non-Jewish Arab citizens of Israel Include also the Druze who were numbered at an estimated 117,500 at the end of 2006.[7] All of the Druze living in what was then British Mandate Palestine became Israeli citizens after the declaration of the State of Israel. Though some individuals identify themselves as "Palestinian Druze",[8] most Druze do not consider themselves to be Palestinian, and consider their Israeli identity stronger than their Arab identity; indeed, Druze serve prominently in the Israel Defense Forces, and are represented in mainstream Israeli politics and business as well. [edit] Non-Arab and Non-Jewish citizens[edit] ArmeniansMain article: Armenians in Israel More than 5,000 Armenians reside in Israel mostly in Jerusalem (including in the Armenian Quarter), but also in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Jaffa and the West Bank. Armenians have a Patriarchate in Jerusalem and churches in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Haifa and Jaffa. [edit] CircassiansMain article: Circassians in Israel In Israel, there are also a few thousand Circassians, living mostly in Kfar Kama (2,000) and Reyhaniye (1,000).[9] These two villages were a part of a greater group of Circassian villages around the Golan Heights. The Circassians in Israel enjoy, like Druzes, a status aparte. Male Circassians (at their leader's request) are mandated for military service, while females are not. [edit] SamaritansMain article: Samaritan The Samaritans are an ethnoreligious group of the Levant. Ancestrally, they claim descent from a group of Israelite inhabitants who have connections to ancient Samaria from the beginning of the Babylonian Exile up to the beginning of the Common Era. 2007 population estimates show that 712 Samaritans live half in Holon, Israel and half at Mount Gerizim in the West Bank.
[edit] Religious affiliationMain article: Religion in Israel
Official figures do not exist as to the number of atheists or otherwise non-affiliated individuals, who may comprise up to a quarter of the population referred to as Jewish. According to a 2004 Israel Central Bureau of Statistics Study on Israelis aged over 18, 8% of Israeli Jews define themselves as haredim (or Ultra-Orthodox); an additional 9% are "religious" (predominantly orthodox, also known in Israel as: Zionist-religious, national-religious and kippot srugot); 12% consider themselves "religious-traditionalists" (mostly adhering to Jewish Halakha); 27% are "non-religious traditionalists" (only partly respecting the Jewish Halakha), and 43% are "secular". Among the seculars, 53% say they believe in God. Due to the higher natality rate of religious and traditionalists over seculars, the share of religious and traditionalists among the overall population is even higher. [edit] Population [edit] Total Population(December 2008)
[edit] Sex ratio(2006)
[edit] Age Structure(2008)
[edit] Population Growth Rate(2008)
During the 1990s, the Jewish population growth rate was about 3% per year, as a result of massive immigration to Israel, primarily from the republics of the former Soviet Union. There is also a high population growth rate among certain Jewish groups, especially adherents of Haredi Judaism. The growth rate of the Arab population in Israel is 2.6%, while the growth rate of the Jewish population in Israel is 1.7%. The growth rate of the both Jewish and Arab population has slowed from 3.8% in 1999 to 2.6% in 2008 for Arab and 2.7% to 1.7% for the Jewish population. The fastest growing segment of population remain to be Arab Muslim with the latest growth rate of 2.8% for 2008.[10] [edit] Density
[edit] Crude death rate6.18 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) There were a total of 38,666 deaths in 2006. (39,026 in 2005 & 37,688 in 2000). Of this 33,568 were Jews (34,031 in 2005 & 33,421 in 2000). 3,078 were Muslims (2,968 in 2005 & 2,683 in 2000). 360 were Druze (363 in 2005 & 305 in 2000). 712 were Christian (686 in 2005 & 666 in 2000).[citation needed] [edit] Net migration rate
3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.) There were a total of 19,269 immigrants in 2006: 7,472 from the Former Soviet Union, 3,595 from Ethiopia, 2,411 from France, 2,159 from the United States, 594 from the United Kingdom, 304 from India, 293 from Argentina, 232 from Brazil, 228 from Canada, 142 from Colombia, 134 from Venezuela, 114 from South Africa, 112 from Germany, 91 from Belgium, 91 from Central America, 85 from Switzerland, 73 from Uruguay, 72 from Mexico, 66 from Oceania, 63 from Hungary, 61 from Chile, 50 from Romania and 50 from the Netherlands. [edit] EmigrationFor many years definitive data on Israeli emigration was unavailable.[13] In The Israeli Diaspora sociologist Stephen J. Gold maintains that calculation of Jewish emigration has been a contentious issue, explaining, "Since Zionism, the philosophy that underlies the existence of the Jewish state, calls for return home of the world's Jews, the opposite movement - Israelis leaving the Jewish state to reside elsewhere - clearly presents an ideological and demographic problem."[14] In the past several decades, emigration (yerida) has seen a considerable increase. From 1990 to 2005, 230,000 Israelis left the country; a large proportion of these departures included people who initially immigrated to Israel and then reversed their course (48% of all post-1990 departures and even 60% of 2003 and 2004 departures were former immigrants to Israel). 8% of Jewish immigrants in the post-1990 period left Israel, while 15% of non-Jewish immigrants did. In 2005 alone, 21,500 Israelis left the country and had not yet returned at the end of 2006; among them 73% were Jews, 5% Arabs, and 22% "Others" (mostly non-Jewish immigrants, with Jewish ancestry, from USSR). At the same time, 10,500 Israelis came back to Israel after over one year abroad; 84% were Jews, 9% Others, and 7% Arabs.[15] According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, as of 2005, 650,000 Israelis had left the country for over one year and not returned. Of them, 530,000 are still alive today. This number does not include the children born overseas. Israeli law grants citizenship only to the first generation of children born to Israeli emigrants. [edit] Infant mortality rate
[edit] Life expectancy at birth (2006)
[edit] Total fertility rate (2008)In Israel, the total fertility rate (TFR) is 2.96 children born per woman. TFR was 2.88 for Jews (2.69 in 2005, 2.67 in 2000), 3.84 for Muslims (4.03 in 2005, 4.57 in 2000), 2.49 for Druze (2.59 in 2005, 2.87 in 2000), 2.11 for Christians (2.15 in 2005, 2.35 in 2000) and 1.57 for Others (1.49 in 2005, 1.55 in 2000). TFR is very high among Haredi Jews. For Ashkenazi Haredim, the TFR rose to 8.51 in 1996 from 6.91 in 1980. The figure for 2008 is estimated to be even higher. TFR for Sephardi/Mizrachi Haredim rose from 4.57 in 1980 to 6.57 in 1996.[16] [edit] LanguagesMain article: Languages in Israel  Due to its immigrant nature, Israel is one of the most multicultural and multilingual societies in the world. Hebrew and Arabic are the official languages in the country, while English, Russian, Georgian,Yiddish, Romanian, Ukrainian, Amharic, Armenian, Ladino, French, Spanish, German, Vietnamese, Thai, Tagalog and Polish are the most commonly used foreign languages.[citation needed] A certain degree of English is spoken virtually universally, and is the language of choice for many Israeli businesses. Courses on the English language are mandatory in the Israeli school system, and most schools offer either Arabic, Spanish, German or French. [edit] LiteracyThe definition of literacy: Age 15 and over can read and write.
Education between ages 5 and 18 is compulsory. It is not free, but may be subsidized by the government, individual organizations (such as the Beit Yaakov System) or a combination. Parents are expected to participate in costs as well. The school system is organized into kindergartens, 6-year primary schools, and either 6-year secondary schools or 3-year junior secondary schools + 3-year senior secondary schools (depending on region), after which a comprehensive examination is offered for university admissions. See Education in israel and the List of universities and colleges in Israel for more information. [edit] Israeli demographic policySee also: Demographic threat (Israel)  As Israel's continued existence as a "Jewish State" relies upon maintenance of a Jewish demographic majority, Israeli demographers, politicians and bureaucrats have treated Jewish population growth promotion as a central question in their research and policymaking. Non-Jewish population growth and immigration is regarded as a threat to the Jewish demographic majority and to Israel's security, as detailed in the Koenig Memorandum. According to Jewish National Fund Board member Daniel Orenstein, Israel is the second most-densely crowded country in the developed world. In an academic article, Orenstein argues that, as elsewhere, overpopulation is a stressor on the environment in Israel; he shows that environmentalists have conspicuously failed to consider the impact of population on the environment and argues that overpopulation in Israel has not been appropriately addressed for ideological reasons.[17][18] [edit] Russian immigrationDuring the 1970s about 163,000 people immigrated to Israel from the USSR. Later Ariel Sharon, in his capacity as Minister of Housing & Construction and member of the Ministerial Committee for Immigration & Absorption, launched an unprecedented large-scale construction effort to accommodate the new Russian population in Israel so as to facilitate their smooth integration and encourage further Jewish immigration as an ongoing means of increasing the Jewish population of Israel.[19] [edit] Citizenship and Entry LawThe Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order) 5763 was first passed on 31 July 2003 and has since been extended until 31 July 2008. The law places age restrictions for the automatic granting of Israeli citizenship and residency permits to spouses of Israeli citizens, such that spouses who are inhabitants of the West Bank and Gaza Strip are ineligible. On May 8, 2005, The Israeli ministerial committee for issues of legislation once again amended the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law, to restrict citizenship and residence in Israel only to Palestinian men over the age of 35, and Palestinian women over the age of 25. Those in favor of the law say the law not only limits the possibility of the entrance of terrorists into Israel, but, as Ze'ev Boim asserts, allows Israel "to maintain the state's democratic nature, but also its Jewish nature" (i.e. it's Jewish demographic majority).[20] Critics, including the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination,[21] say the law disproportionately affects non-Jewish Arab citizens of Israel, since non-Jews Arabs in Israel are far more likely to have spouses from the West Bank and Gaza Strip than other Israeli citizens.[22] [edit] OthersSmall populations of other groups reside in Israel:
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
(2005). Gefen Publishing House.
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