Israel has released the results of its annual census in advance of the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashana) which begins on Sunday night. 5,978,600 Jews live in Israel, within close reach of the highly symbolic number of six million. Experts say that the six million mark will be passed by the end of 2012.
The total population of Israel is approximately 7,933,200 people with 1,636,600 Arabs and 318,000 from other populations including Christians. The rate of growth for the Jewish population in Israel this past year was 1.8% which is similar to the rate during the last eight years and throughout the 1980s. The rate was actually much higher during the 1990’s because of the massive immigration from the former Soviet Union.
In terms of geography, approximately 50% of Israel’s Jews live in central Israel and Tel Aviv, while 40% of the Arab population lives in northern Israel. Just 4% of Israel’s population live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Hebrew University demographics expert Professor Sergio Della Pergola reports that Jews in Israel make up 43% of world Jewry while 39% live in the United States (5.46 million) and 9.5% (1.43 million) in Europe.
Reported by DOV LIPMAN for United with Israel.
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