Israel has 5.31 million Jewish and 1.38 million Arab citizens plus 300,000 people who have not been classified under any particular group
The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) announced last week that Israel’s population grew by 1.8% to some 7 million in 2005. (6,912.7 thousands) Israel has 5.31 million Jewish and 1.38 million Arab citizens plus 300,000 people who have not been classified under any particular group by the Ministry of Interior.
The Arab population accounted for 20% of the total population in 2005, 2% more than the proportion in 1948. The CBS noted that the rapid growth of the Arab population has been largely balanced out by the waves of immigrants arriving in Israel, in recent years most of whom are Jewish.
In 2005, some 21,000 immigrants arrived in Israel, of whom 9,400 people immigrated from Russia, some 3,600 arrived from Ethiopia, 2,500 from France, 2,000 from the US and 3,500 from other countries. 2,200 entered the country as tourists and decided to remain permanently.
