Israel (
Hebrew
:
יִשְרָאֵל
, Yisra'el;
Arabic
:
إسرائيل
, Isrā'īl) officially the State of Israel (
Hebrew
:
מְדִינַת יִשְרָאֵל
(
help
·
info
)
, Medinat Yisra'el;
Arabic
:
دَوْلَةْ إِسْرَائِيل
, Dawlat Isrā'īl), is a country in
Western Asia
located on the eastern edge of the
Merranean Sea
. It borders
Lebanon
in the north,
Syria
in the northeast,
Jordan
in the east, and
Egypt
on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area.
The
West Bank
and
Gaza Strip
, which are partially administrated by the
Palestinian National Authority
, are also adjacent. With a population of about . million,
the majority of whom are
Jews
, Israel is the world's only
Jewish state
.
It is also home to
Arab
Muslims
,
Christians
,
Druze
, and
Samaritan
, as well as other religious and ethnic minority groups.
The modern state of Israel has its roots in the
Land of Israel
, a concept central to
Judaism
for over three thousand years. After
World War I
, the
League of Nations
approved the
British Mandate of Palestine
with the intent of creating a "national home for the Jewish people."
In , the
United Nations
approved
the partition of the Mandate of Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one
Arab
.
The
Arab League
rejected the plan, but on
May
,
, Israel
declared its independence
. The new country's victory in the subsequent
Arab-Israeli War
expanded the borders of the Jewish state beyond those in the UN Partition Plan. Since then, Israel has been
in conflict
with many of the
neighboring Arab countries
, resulting in several major wars and decades of violence until this day.
Since its foundation,
Israel's boundaries
and even the State's very right to exist have been subject to dispute, although Israel has signed peace treaties with
Egypt
and
Jordan
, and efforts are being made to reach a permanent accord with the
Palestinians
.
Israel is a
representative democracy
with a
parliamentary system
and
universal suffrage
.
The
Prime Minister
serves as
head of government
and the
Knesset
serves as Israel's legislative body. In terms of nominal
gross domestic product
, the nation's economy is estimated as being the
th-largest
in the world;
Israel ranks high among
Middle Eastern
countries on the bases of
human development
,
freedom of the press
,
and economy.
Jerusalem
is the country's capital, seat of government, and largest city,
and Israel's main financial center encompasses
Tel Aviv
. After
Silicon Valley
in
California
, Israel's
Silicon Wadi
is considered to be the world's second most important technological cluster.
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