Israel Map

Israel (Hebrew: מדינת ישראל Medinat Yisra'el; Arabic: دولة إسرائيل) is a small yet diverse Middle Eastern country. The modern State of Israel was established in 1948 as a homeland for the Jewish people, but the region contains thousands of years of history for many peoples and religions in addition to the Jews. Israel is considered part of the Holy Land (together with areas of Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinian territories), and of the Levant and in ancient history of the Fertile Crescent. The three major Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, as well as the Baha'i Faith, have strong ties to this land, and their holy and historic sites are major destinations for pilgrims and tourists from around the world. The Israeli population is about 74% Jews, 21% Arabs, and 5% non-Arab Christians and others. Most of the Jews are descended from Olim ("returnees" from the Jewish Diaspora), and their diverse origins (Russian, German, Moroccan, Yemeni, and Ethiopian, to name a few of the prominent ones) can be seen in various aspects of modern Israeli culture.

In contrast to its long ancient history, Israel is a highly urbanized, economically developed, first-world society. It remains in conflict with the Palestinians and some of its other Arab neighbors.

Since 1967, Israel has controlled most of the West Bank (often called "Judea and Samaria" in Israel) as well as the Golan Heights. Israel has annexed East Jerusalem and the Golan, but most other countries, except the United States, reject the annexation, and consider these areas and the West Bank (which Israel did not annex, and Israeli law does not apply to the area) to be occupied Arab territories. Wikivoyage takes no stance on these political issues, but notes that in practice, current visitors to these areas will need Israeli visas and permits.