Founded in 1948, Israel is one of the world's youngest countries and also on of the most religiously homogeneous. With a population of just over 7.5 million, 76 percent of whom are Jewish, Israel is surrounded by Muslim countries, including Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. Part of its many political struggles have to do precisely with its location. Both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank have seen numerous conflicts regarding land division, many of which are rooted in religious differences.
Israel's capital, Jerusalem, has a population of 747,600. While Israel is just over half a century old, the area where Jerusalem is located has been populated since the fourth millennium BCE, making Jerusalem one of the oldest cities in the world. Jerusalem is well-known for its many religious sights, including the Tower of David, Dome of the Rock, Mount of Olives and the Western Wall, and is the center of three major religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Israel can have marked differences between winter and summer, especially in the Mount Hermon area, where snow is common. On the coast, cities like Tel Aviv and Haifa have summers with many days that surpass the 100 degree F mark, with rain and humidity being prevalent in winter. Summers are usually dry everywhere in the country, though the coastal areas such as Tel Aviv and Haifa can get humid.
Israel is a democracy governed by a parliamentary system that has power of decision over all major matters, even over the word of the prime minister. Aside from the six administrative districts (mehozot) that make up the country, Israel also has control over four occupied territories: the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. The total land area equals 8,019 square miles (8,522 including the occupied territories).
Israel has faced military conflict with some of its neighbors since even before the country declared independence from the British Mandate of Palestine in 1948. The original division of the area was mandated by the UN in 1947, but contested by Arab states soon after, which caused the first armed conflict in the area. After many attacks and takeover attempts, a peace treaty was signed in 1993 between Yitzhak Rabin (Israel) and Yasser Arafat (Palestine) in 1993. Conflict arose again just a few years later, and there still doesn't seem to be a resolution to the age-old Arab-Israeli conflict.
