Facts and figures: Israel at 60

Most Israeli citizens are from families of former Diaspora Jews who returned to the land of their forefathers in the 20th Century. Many fled discrimination and persecution in Europe and the Middle East for the state founded in 1948.

More than one million Muslim and Christian Arabs also have Israeli nationality, a sizeable and growing proportion of Israel's population of seven million.

Immigration is an important factor in Israel maintaining its identity as a Jewish state, but Jewish immigration has fallen to its lowest level in 20 years, with fewer than 20,000 Jews arriving in 2007.

About four million Palestinians live in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The settlements that Israel has built in the West Bank are home to around 430,000 people.

Since 1948, wars with Arab neighbours, high government spending and soaring inflation have put severe pressure on the economy.

The economy has seen rapid growth since the early 1990s. This is in part due to the influx of highly educated Eastern Europeans after the fall of communism and increasing foreign investment, especially in the high-tech industry.

Israel receives substantial direct economic aid from the United States. This totals approximately $3bn annually - $1.2bn in economic aid and $1.8bn in military aid.

While trade in fruits has declined, the high-tech industry is booming.

Much of the history of Israel since 1948 has been one of conflict between Israel, its neighbours and the Palestinians.

Military spending on maintaining the occupation and infrastructure spending on building the settlements has also been very high.

Since 1948 hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been displaced, many living in UN-controlled refugee camps.

Fatalities since 2000 intifada

29 September 2000 to 31 March 2008

Palestinian refugees - December 2006

Region	Number of camps	Registered families in camps	Registered refugees in camps	Registered refugees
Jordan	10	63,591	328,076	1,858,362
Lebanon	12	50,806	215,890	408,438
Syria	9	26,645	119,055	442,363
West Bank	19	39,895	186,479	722,302
Gaza Strip	8	93,074	478,272	1,016,964
Total	58	274,011	1,327,772	4,448,429
Source: UNRWA

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