The geography of Israel is very diverse, with desert conditions in the south, and snow-capped mountains in the north. Israel is located at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea in West Asia. It is bounded to the north by Lebanon, the northeast by Syria, the east by Jordan and the West Bank, and to the southwest by Egypt. To the west of Israel is the Mediterranean Sea, which makes up the majority of Israel's 273 km (170 mi) coastline, and the Gaza Strip. Israel has a small coastline on the Red Sea in the south.
The demographics of Israel, monitored by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, encompass various attributes that define the nation's populace. Since its establishment in 1948, Israel has witnessed significant changes in its demographics. Formed as a homeland for the Jewish people, Israel has attracted Jewish immigrants from Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the oldest cities in the world, and is considered holy to the three major Abrahamic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Both the State of Israel and the State of Palestine claim Jerusalem as their capital city. Israel maintains its primary governmental institutions there, and the State of Palestine ultimately foresees it as its seat of power. Neither claim is widely recognized internationally.
Gaza, also called Gaza City, is a city in the Gaza Strip, Palestine. As of 2022, it was the largest city in the State of Palestine, with 590,481 inhabitants in 2017. The city is spread across an area of 45 square kilometres (17 sq mi). Gaza is one of the principal coastal cities in the country, home to Palestine's only port. Located some 76.6 kilometres (47.6 mi) southwest of the country's proclaimed capital East Jerusalem, the city is located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Prior to the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, it was the most populous city in the State of Palestine, when massive displacement happened during the war.
Haifa is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of 290,306 in 2022. The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area in Israel. It is home to the Baháʼí Faith's Baháʼí World Centre, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a destination for Baháʼí pilgrimage.
The Old City of Jerusalem is a 0.9-square-kilometre (0.35 sq mi) walled area in East Jerusalem.
Gush Dan or Tel Aviv metropolitan area is a conurbation in Israel, located along the country's Mediterranean coastline. There is no single formal definition of Gush Dan, though the term is in frequent use by both governmental bodies and the general public. It ranges from combining Tel Aviv with cities that form an urban continuum with it, to the entire areas from both the Tel Aviv District and the Central District, or sometimes the whole Metropolitan Area of Tel Aviv, which includes a small part of the Southern District as well. Gush Dan is the largest conurbation and metropolitan area in Israel and the center of Israel's financial and High technology sector. The metropolitan area having an estimated population of 4,156,900 residents, 89% of whom are Israeli Jews.
East Jerusalem is the portion of Jerusalem that was held by Jordan after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Under international law, East Jerusalem is considered part of the West Bank, and Palestinian territories, and under illegal occupation by Israel. Many states recognize East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine, whereas other states assert that East Jerusalem "will be the capital of Palestine", while referring to it as "an occupied territory". In 2020, East Jerusalem had a population of 595,000 inhabitants, of which 361,700 (61%) were Palestinian Arabs and 234,000 (39%) Jewish settlers. Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem are illegal under international law and in the eyes of the international community.
Ariel is an Israeli settlement organized as a city council in the central West Bank, part of the Israeli-occupied territories, approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) east of the Green Line and 34 kilometres (21 mi) west of the Jordan border. Ariel was first established in 1978 and its population was 20,520 in 2022, composed of veteran and young Israelis, English-speaking immigrants, and immigrants from the former Soviet Union, with an additional influx of above 10,000 students from Ariel University. It is the fourth largest Israeli settlement in the West Bank, after Modi'in Illit, Beitar Illit, and Ma'ale Adumim.
The Capital Regional District (CRD) is a local government administrative district encompassing the southern tip of Vancouver Island and the southern Gulf Islands in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The CRD is one of several regional districts in British Columbia and had an official population of 415,451 as of the Canada 2021 Census.
The Jerusalem District is one of the six administrative districts of Israel. The district capital is Jerusalem and its total land area is 652 km2. The population of 1,159,900 is 66.3% Jewish and 32.1% Arab. A fifth (21%) of the Arabs in Israel live in the Jerusalem Municipality, which includes both East and West Jerusalem. Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem has not been recognized by the international community.
The population of the region of Palestine, which approximately corresponds to modern Israel and the Palestinian territories, has varied in both size and ethnic composition throughout the history of Palestine.
Pisgat Ze'ev is an Israeli settlement in East Jerusalem and the largest residential neighborhood in Jerusalem with a population of over 50,000. Pisgat Ze'ev was established by Israel as one of the city's five Ring Neighborhoods on land effectively annexed after the 1967 Six-Day War.
Demographic features of the population of the area commonly described as the Palestinian territories includes information on ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of that population.
El'ad,, is a city in the Central District of Israel. In the 1990s, it was built for a Haredi Jewish population and to a lesser extent, it was also built for a Religious Zionist Jewish population. Located about 25 kilometres (16 mi) east of Tel Aviv on Route 444 between Rosh HaAyin and Shoham, it had a population of 49,487 in 2022. El'ad is the only locality in Israel officially designated a religious municipality. The name El'ad means "Forever God", but it is also named after a member of the tribe of Ephraim, who lived in this area.
Judaization of Jerusalem is the view that Israel has sought to transform the physical and demographic landscape of Jerusalem to enhance its Jewish character at the expense of its Muslim and Christian ones.
The Haifa metropolitan area is a metropolitan area including areas from both the Haifa and the Northern districts of Israel. It is located along the Israeli Mediterranean coastline. With an estimated population of almost 1 million, the Haifa metropolitan area is the third largest metropolitan area in Israel, behind Gush Dan and Greater Jerusalem.
Beersheba metropolitan area is a metropolitan area in Israel that encompasses the Beersheba and Southern Districts of Israel. It is located in the Negev desert and constitutes the fourth largest metropolitan area in the country, with an estimated population of over 377,100.
