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The country of Israel is located on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan to the east, and Egypt to the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area. The sovereign territory of Israel, excluding all territories captured by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War, is approximately 8 thousand square miles. The total area under Israeli law, including East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, is 8.5 thousand square miles.

The total area under Israeli control, including the military-controlled and partially Palestinian-governed territory of the West Bank, is over 10.5 thousand square miles.

Israel is home to a variety of geographic features from the Negev desert in the south to the mountain ranges of the Galilee, Carmel, and the Golan in the north. The Israeli coastal plain of the Mediterranean is home to seventy percent of the nation's population. East of the central highlands is the Jordan Rift Valley. The Jordan River runs along the valley, from Mount Hermon through the Hulah Valley and the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on the surface of the Earth. Further south is the Arabah, ending with the Gulf of Eilat, part of the Red Sea.

Temperatures in Israel vary widely, especially during the winter. The mountainous regions are windy, cold, and sometimes snowy; Mount Hermon's peak is covered with snow for most of the year and Jerusalem usually receives at least one snowfall each year. Coastal cities, such as Tel Aviv and Haifa, have a typical Mediterranean climate with cool, rainy winters and long, hot summers.

Israel has scarce water resources and has developed water-saving technologies, including drip irrigation. Israel also takes advantage of the considerable sunlight to generate solar energy, making Israel the leading nation in solar energy use per capita.

The modern state of Israel has its roots in Judaism going back over three thousand years. After World War I, the League of Nations approved the intent to create a "national home for the Jewish people." In 1947, the United Nations approved the partition of Palestine into two states: one Jewish and the other Arabic. The Arab League rejected the plan. In 1948, the Jewish provisional government declared Israel's 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 its neighbouring Arab countries, resulting in several major wars and decades of violence still continue.

Since its foundation, Israel's boundaries and the country's right to exist have been subject to dispute, especially among its Arab neighbours. Israel has signed peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, and efforts are still being made to reach a permanent accord with the Palestinians.

The Israeli “occupied territories” are the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights: areas captured from Jordan and Syria during the Six-Day War. The term was also used to describe the Sinai Peninsula, which was returned to Egypt as part of the 1979 Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty.

The term occupied territories was also used to encompass the Gaza strip which was occupied by Egypt and captured by Israel in 1967. In 2005, Israel removed all of its residents and forces in the Gaza Strip and four settlements in the West Bank as part of its unilateral disengagement plan. Israel still controls Gaza's airspace and sea access. Israel regulates Gaza's travel and trade with the rest of the world. Inner control of the area is in the hands of the Hamas government.

Following Israel's capture of these territories, settlements consisting of Israeli citizens were established within each of them. Israel has applied civilian law to the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, incorporating them into its territory and offering their inhabitants Israeli citizenship.

In contrast, the West Bank has remained under military occupation, and is widely seen – by Israel, the Palestinians, and the international community alike – as the site of a future Palestinian state. Most negotiations relating to the territories have been on the basis of United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, which calls on Israel to withdraw from occupied territories in return for peaceful actions from Arab states.

The West Bank has a population consisting primarily of Arab Palestinians, including historic residents of the territories and refugees of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. From their occupation in 1967 until 1993, the Palestinians living in these territories were under Israeli military administration. Since the Israel-PLO letters of recognition, most of the Palestinian population and cities have been under the internal jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority, and only partial Israeli military control, although Israel has on several occasions redeployed its troops and reinstated full military administration during periods of unrest. In response to increasing attacks, the Israeli government started to construct the Israeli West Bank barrier.

The population of Israel is about 7 million, the majority of whom are of Jewish origin and it is also home to Arab Muslims, Christians, Druze, and Samaritans, as well as other religious and ethnic minority groups.

Israel is a representative democracy with a parliamentary system and universal suffrage. The Prime Minister is the head of government and of the Cabinet. Israel is governed by a 120-member parliament, known as the Knesset. Membership in the Knesset is based on proportional representation of political parties. Parliamentary elections are held every four years. The Basic Laws of Israel function as an unwritten constitution.

The State of Israel is divided into six main administrative districts, known as mehozot– Centre, Haifa, Jerusalem, North, Southern and Tel Aviv. Districts are sub-divided into fifteen sub-districts known as nafot and which are themselves partitioned into fifty natural regions.

The country is divided into three metropolitan areas: Tel Aviv and Gush Dan (population 3 million), Haifa (population 1 million), and Beersheba (population half a million). Israel's largest city, both in population and area, is Jerusalem with 7 hundred thousand residents in an area of 50 square miles Tel Aviv and Haifa are the next most populous cities, with populations of 375 thousand and 250 thousand respectively.

Israel has a three-tier court system. At the lowest level are magistrate courts and above them are district courts. The highest tier in Israel is the Supreme Court in Jerusalem. Israel is not a member of the International Criminal Court. Israel's legal system combines English common law, civil law, and Jewish law. It is based on the principle of precedent and operates the adversarial system. Court cases are decided by professional judges rather than juries. Marriage and divorce are under the jurisdiction of the religious courts: Jewish, Muslim, Druze, and Christian. The Israeli Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty seeks to defend human rights and liberties.

Israel maintains diplomatic relations with most countries and has many diplomatic missions around the world. Only three members of the Arab League have normal relations with Israel; Egypt and Jordan signed peace treaties in 1979 and 1994, respectively. Mauritania opted for full diplomatic relations with Israel in 1999. Two other members of the Arab League, Morocco and Tunisia severed them in 2000. Under Israeli law, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Yemen are classified as “enemy countries” and Israeli citizens may visit them only with permission from the Ministry of the Interior. Since 1995, Israel has been a member of the Mediterranean Dialogue, which fosters cooperation between seven countries in the Mediterranean Basin and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

The United States, Turkey, Germany, the UK and India are Israel's closest allies. The United States regards Israel as a primary ally in the region, based on shared political and religious values. Turkey has cooperated with the State since its recognition of Israel in 1949. Germany's strong ties with Israel include cooperation on scientific and educational projects and the two states are strong economic and military partners. India established full diplomatic ties with Israel in 1992 and has fostered a strong military and cultural partnership with the country since then. The UK has kept full diplomatic relations with Israel since its formation.

The Israel Defence Forces (“IDF”) consists of the Army, the Air Force and the Sea Corps. The Force was founded in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War out of paramilitary organizations that preceded the establishment of the state. The IDF works with the Military Intelligence Directorate (Aman), Mossad and Shabak. The IDF is one of the best battle-trained armed forces in the world.

The majority of Israelis are drafted at the age of eighteen. Men serve three years and women serve two years. Following compulsory service, Israeli men join the reserve forces and do weeks of reserve duty every year. Most women are exempt from reserve duty. Israeli Arabs (except the Druze) and those engaged in full-time religious studies are exempt from military service. An alternative for those who receive exemptions on various grounds is Sherut Leumi, or national service, which involves a programme of service in hospitals, schools and other social welfare frameworks. The IDF maintains approximately 168,000 active troops and an additional 408,000 reservists.

The military rely heavily on high-tech weapons systems designed and manufactured in Israel as well as some foreign imports. The United States is a particularly notable foreign contributor in military aid. Since the Yom Kippur War, Israel has developed a network of reconnaissance satellites. The country has also developed its own main battle tank, the Merkava. Since its establishment, Israel has spent a significant portion of its gross domestic product on defence, now about 7%.

Israel has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and maintains a policy of deliberate ambiguity toward its nuclear capabilities, though it is widely regarded as possessing nuclear weapons. After the Gulf War in 1991, when Israel was attacked by Iraqi Scud missiles, a law was passed requiring all apartments and homes in Israel to have a reinforced security room impermeable to chemical and biological attacks.

Whilst Jerusalem is the country's capital, seat of government and country’s largest city, the main financial centre is Tel Aviv where the diamond stock exchange is located.

In 2007, the economy was estimated to be 44th in the world. Israel ranks high among Middle Eastern countries on the bases of human development, freedom of the press and economic competitiveness and has the 22nd-highest gross domestic product per capita in the world.

The country has been ranked highest in its Middle Eastern region by the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Index and in the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report. It has the second-largest number of start-up companies in the world (after the United States) and the largest number of NASDAQ-listed companies outside North America. In 2007, Israel was invited to join the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, (OECD) which promotes co-operation between those countries which adhere to democratic principles and operate free market economies.

Despite limited natural resources, the intensive development of the agricultural and industrial sectors over the decades has made Israel largely self-sufficient in food production, apart from grain and beef. Major non-food imports include fossil fuels, raw materials, and military equipment. Key exports include fruits, vegetables, pharmaceuticals, software, chemicals, military technology and diamonds. Israel is a world leader in water conservation and geothermal energy. The economy has developed world-class leading technologies in software, communications and the life sciences, evoking comparisons with California’s Silicon Valley. Both Intel and Microsoft built their first overseas research and development centres in Israel. Other high-tech multi-national corporations, such as IBM, Cisco Systems, and Motorola, have opened facilities in the country. Since the 1970s, Israel has received substantial economic aid from the United States.

Tourism, especially religious tourism, is another important economic activity: the country's temperate climate, fine beaches, important archaeological and historical sites and its unique geography all attract tourists.

Israel has the highest school life expectancy in the region and the highest literacy rate. There are five types of schools: state secular, state religious, ultra orthodox, communal settlement schools, and Arab schools. The public secular is the largest school group, and is attended by the majority of Jewish and non-Arab pupils in Israel. Most Arabs send their children to schools where Arabic is the lead teaching language.

Education is compulsory in Israel for children between the ages of three and eighteen. Schooling is divided into three tiers – primary school (grades 1–6), middle school (grades 7–9), and high school (grades 10–12) – culminating in matriculation exams. Proficiency in core subjects such as mathematics, Bible, Hebrew language, Hebrew and general literature, English, history, and civics is necessary to receive a matriculation certificate. In Arab, Christian and Druze schools, the exam on Biblical studies is replaced by an exam in Islam, Christianity or Druze heritage.

Israel's eight public universities are publicly financed. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel's oldest university, houses the Jewish National and University Library, the world's largest repository of books on Jewish subjects. Other major universities in the country include the Technion, the Weizmann Institute of Science, Tel Aviv University, Bar-Ilan University, the University of Haifa, and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Israel ranks third in the world in the number of citizens who hold university degrees.

Israel has produced four Nobel Prize-winning scientists and publishes among the most scientific papers per capita of any country in the world.

During the 1990’s, an influx of a million immigrants from the former Soviet Union (forty percent of whom were university graduates) helped boost Israel's high-tech sector.

Israel has two official languages: Hebrew and Arabic. The former is the primary language of the state and spoken by the majority of the population. Arabic is spoken by the Arab minority and Jews who immigrated to Israel from Arab lands. Most Israelis can communicate well in English; many television programs are in English and many schools teach English from the early grades. As a country of immigrants, dozens of languages are in everyday use: large influxes from the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia have made Russian and Amharic widely spoken in Israel. This immigration movement of Jews has increased Israel's population by almost 12%. Other recent immigration flows have included significant numbers from Romania, Thailand, and a number of countries in Africa and South America.

Israel's multi-faceted culture stems from the diversity of the population: Jews from around the world have brought their cultural and religious traditions with them, creating a melting pot of Jewish customs and beliefs. Israel is the only country in the world where life revolves around the Hebrew calendar. Work and school holidays are determined by the Jewish holidays, and the official day of rest is Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath. Israel's substantial Arab minority has left its imprint on Israeli culture in such spheres as architecture, music, and food.

Israeli literature is primarily written in Hebrew, as part of the renaissance of Hebrew as a spoken language since the mid-19th century. A minority is published in other languages, such as Arabic and English. By law, two copies of all printed matter published in Israel must be deposited in the Jewish National and University Library at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, including audio and video recordings, and other non-print media.

Israeli music contains influences from all over the world; Yemenite music, Hasidic melodies, Arabic music, Greek music, jazz, and pop rock are all part of the music scene. The nation's canonical folk songs deal with the experiences of the pioneers in building the Jewish homeland. Among Israel's world-renowned orchestras is the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, which was founded over seventy years ago. Israel has produced many musicians of note, some achieving international stardom such as Itzhak Perlman. Israel has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest almost every year since 1973, winning the competition three times and hosting it twice. Eilat hosts its own international music festival, the Red Sea Jazz Festival every summer. Founded in 1918, Habima Theatre in Tel Aviv is Israel's oldest repertory theatre company and national theatre.

The Israel Museum in Jerusalem is one of Israel's most important cultural institutions and houses the Dead Sea scrolls along with an extensive collection of Judaica and European art. Israel's national Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem, houses the world's largest archive of Holocaust-related information. Beth Hatefutsoth (the Diaspora Museum) is located on the campus of Tel Aviv University and is devoted to the history of Jewish communities around the world.

Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and used for prayer or study in Jewish communities around the world. In Israel, it is the de facto language of the state and the people, as well as being one of the two official languages (together with Arabic), and it is spoken by the majority of the population. Hebrew is also spoken as a mother tongue by the Samaritans, though today fewer than a thousand Samaritans remain. As a foreign language it is studied mostly by Jews and students of Judaism and Israel, archaeologists and linguists specializing in the Middle East and its civilisations and by theologians.

The core of the Torah (the Hebrew Bible) is written in Classical Hebrew and much of its present form is specifically the dialect of Biblical Hebrew that scholars believe flourished around the 6th century BC, near the Babylonian exile. For this reason, Hebrew has been referred to by Jews as "The Holy Language", since ancient times.

As a language, Hebrew belongs to the Canaanite group of languages. Hebrew (Israel) and Moabite (Jordan) are Southern Canaanite while Phoenician (Lebanon) is Northern Canaanite. Canaanite is closely related to Aramaic and to a lesser extent South-Central Arabic. All the other Canaanite languages and dialects have become extinct. Hebrew has survived. Hebrew flourished as a spoken language in Israel from the 10th century BC until just before the Byzantine Period in the 3rd or 4th century BC.

Most linguists agree that after the 6th century BC when the Neo-Babylonian Empire conquered the ancient Kingdom of Judah, destroying Jerusalem and exiling its population to Babylon and after Cyrus, Biblical Hebrew came to be replaced in daily use by new dialects of Hebrew and a local version of Aramaic. After the 2nd century BC when the Roman Empire exiled most of the Jewish population of Jerusalem, Hebrew gradually ceased to be a spoken language, but remained a major literary language. Letters, contracts, commerce, science, philosophy, medicine, poetry, and laws were written in Hebrew, which adapted by borrowing and inventing terms.

Hebrew persevered down the ages as the main written language used by all Jewish communities around the world for a large range of uses, including poetry, philosophy, science, medicine, commerce, daily correspondence and contracts, in addition to liturgy. This meant not only that well-educated Jews in all parts of the world could correspond in a mutually intelligible language, and that books and legal documents published or written in any part of the world could be read by Jews in all other parts, but that an educated Jew could travel and converse with Jews in distant places, just as priests and other educated Christians could once converse in Latin.

The major result of the literary work of the Hebrew intellectuals through the 19th century was a lexical modernization of Hebrew. New words and expressions were adapted as neologisms from the large corpus of Hebrew writings since the Hebrew Bible, or borrowed from Arabic and Aramaic. Many new words were either borrowed from or derived from European languages, especially English, Russian, German, and French. Modern Hebrew became an official language in British-ruled Palestine in 1921 (along with English and Arabic), and then in 1948 became an official language of the newly declared State of Israel.

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