Israel

Israel is heavily traveled and hotly debated, loved, hated, revered and feared. The only Jewish nation on earth and one of the smallest countries in the Mid East, Israel is surrounded by many much larger Muslim countries who deny its existence yet want it destroyed.  Israel is always on the world stage, never ceasing to be a topic of heated discussion. As a home to many religious sites of profound importance to Jews, Christians and Muslims, Israel draws large amounts of tourism but only during times of peace. The country’s complicated history and present-day struggles are extremely difficult to comprehend through media reports but can become somewhat clearer when visiting and learning about them firsthand.

QUICK STATS (Source:  CIA – The World Factbook)
Location:  Bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Lebanon
Border Countries:  Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon
Capital:  Jerusalem
Population:  7,473,052 (July 2010 estimate)
Ethnic Groups: Jewish 76.4% (Israel-born 67.1%, Europe/America-born 22.6%, Africa-born 5.9%, Asia-born 4.2%),  non-Jewish 23.6% (mostly Arab) (2004)
Religious Groups: Jewish 75.5%, Muslim 16.8%, Christian 2.1%, Druze 1.7%, other 3.9% (2008)

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