Population density in Israel is among the highest in the
world, having reached an average of 278 people per square
kilometer in 1999 according to the new Statistical Yearbook
of Israel of the Central Bureau of Statistics.
Population density differs significantly in various regions
of the country, the Statistical Yearbook shows. The Tel Aviv
area is the most crowded, with a density figure of 6,700
people per square kilometer. Population is the sparsest in
the South, where the figure is just 16 people per square
kilometer. Jerusalem has the second highest density figures
in Israel, with 1,130 people per square kilometer. The figure
in Haifa is 931 people per square kilometer, and in the
North, 234 per square kilometer. With 646,000 people,
Jerusalem is Israel's largest city.
In Israel's urban-based population, more than 91 percent of
the population lives in towns and cities with more than 2,000
residents.
Among cities with populations of more than 100,000, Ashdod
registered the fastest growth rate at 6.2%. Rishon Letzion
was next at 4.6%.
The Jewish population of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza is now more
than twice what it was when the Oslo agreement was signed,
seven years ago. Some 210,000 people now live in Yesha
communities.
During 1999, 29,300 Jewish couples were married in Israel, as
compared to 17,200 Muslim unions. On the other hand, 10,195
couples were divorced last year; the majority--9,110--were
Jewish.
Last year, 89,286 infants were born to Jewish mothers, and
34,514 to Muslim mothers.
Jerusalem
About 56 percent of Jerusalem residents live in parts of the
city annexed in 1967, according to the Jerusalem Institute
for Israel Studies. Some 46 percent of residents of these
parts of the city are Jews, accounting for 38 percent of the
city's total Jewish population.
A total of 633,700 people lived in Jerusalem at the end of
1999, 68 percent Jews and 31 percent Arabs. In 1967, the city
was 74 percent Jewish and 26 percent Arab. Since then the
Arab population has grown by 186 percent while the Jewish
population has grown by only 121 percent. The city's total
population has grown 138 percent.
About 93 percent of Jerusalem Arabs are Muslim. The growth
rate of the city's Arab population, at 3.5% percent, is three
times that of the Jewish (1.2%). The Arab birthrate in
Jerusalem, 34.7 births per 1,000, is much higher than the
Jewish rate (25.2 births per 1,000). This however is higher
than the average for Israel as a whole (21.8 births per
1,000).
If current growth rates continue, the institute expects the
city's Jewish population to reach 588,700, or 62 percent of
the total, in 2020, while the Arab population will be
357,800, or 38 percent of the total.
The Arab majority is particularly high in the Old City. This
is also the most crowded part of the city, with 32,488 people
living in less than a square kilometer of space. Since 1967,
the population of the Old City has grown by 37 percent.
The number of chareidi children of kindergarten age has been
declining: 15,672 last year compared to the peak of 16,046
reached three years earlier. A recent study predicted that
chareidim, who in 1995 comprised 29 percent of the city's
population, would make up 32 percent in 2020.
This 2.3 percent decline is much steeper than the 0.7 percent
drop among kindergarten children in the secular and national
religious schools, which numbered 9,315 last year.
Immigration Boom
A staggering 35 percent growth in immigration in 1999 has led
to the highest Israeli population growth rate in five years
according to the 1999 Statistical abstract released by the
Central Bureau of Statistics. Some 63,000 immigrants arrived.
Almost 90% of the immigrants came from the former Soviet
Union, 36% from the Russian Federation.
The population at the end of last year topped 6.2 million and
posted a total growth rate of 2.7% or about 165,000
people.
According to the report, over one in every seven people now
living in Israel arrived within the last 10 years,
representing some 900,000 individuals. Of those, more than 90
percent hail from the former Soviet Union.
Jews and immigrants arriving under the Law of Return are 82%
of the population, growing 2.5% to 4.95 million, a growth
rate that is still high by world standards, where the average
rate is 1.3%. Registered Jews were 78.57% of the total
population.
There are some 200,000 non-Jewish immigrants and their
families living in Israel, of which 180,000 are Christian and
20,000 unclassified. There represent those officially
registered as non-Jews. The actual number of true non-Jews is
much higher.
The Arab population reached 1.15 million, 18% of the total.
This includes Moslems, Druse, and Christians and has remained
constant for the past few years.
The report thus places Israel among the fastest growing and
most densely populated countries in the world. Even the
traditionally high growth rate of two percent in North Africa
and the rest of the Middle East is outstripped by Israel.
Only Central Africa's growth rate is comparable.
The growth rate has affected Israel in many ways. While
Israel's largest cities posted low to moderate growth levels,
the expansion rates of some smaller communities were
frequently in the double or even the triple digits.
The extreme example of the chareidi town of Elad, which began
the year with 200 residents and ended it with nearly 3,000,
served only to highlight the trend of fast expansion among
many Israeli towns. Only the kibbutzim saw negative growth,
with some 500 people leaving for other communities.
These developments have steadily advanced Israel's high level
of urbanization. Already, 91% of Israelis live in communities
with over 2,000 people, and the rate is increasing by nearly
0.2% per year.
