Asia
Israel sits on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, bordered by Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan to the east, and Egypt to the southwest.
Israel's name comes from the Hebrew Bible, referring to the patriarch Jacob, who was given the name Israel after wrestling with an angel, and later applied to the ancient kingdom and people descended from him.
Landscape: Includes a coastal plain, central hills, the Jordan Rift Valley, and the Negev desert covering much of the south.
Climate: Mediterranean along the coast, becoming increasingly arid moving south and inland.
Food: Hummus, falafel, and shakshuka (eggs poached in a spiced tomato sauce) are widely eaten and shared across the broader region's cuisine.
Jerusalem's status as Israel's capital is internationally contested, with most countries maintaining embassies in Tel Aviv instead, though Israel has treated Jerusalem as its capital since 1950. The city holds deep religious significance for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam alike, and its Old City, with a population of a small fraction of the roughly 970,000 across the wider city, contains sites sacred to all three faiths within a very small area.
The Star of David, a six-pointed star long associated with Jewish identity, appears on Israel's flag and is the country's most widely recognised national symbol. The hoopoe, a distinctive crested bird, is Israel's national bird.
Israeli craft traditions draw on a wide mix of Jewish diaspora communities that immigrated from across the world, from Yemenite silverwork to Eastern European textile traditions, alongside more recent, distinctly Israeli design movements in fashion and jewellery.
The Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City, a remnant of the ancient Second Temple, is one of the holiest sites in Judaism, and the Dead Sea, the lowest point on Earth's land surface, is shared with Jordan.
Israel's position at the crossroads of Africa, Asia, and Europe makes it an important migratory route for hundreds of bird species each year, and the Israeli rock hyrax, a small mammal despite being the closest living relative of the elephant, is commonly seen in the country's rocky terrain.
Israel was established in 1948 as a Jewish state and remains majority Jewish, with a significant Arab minority, both Muslim and Christian, and religious and secular divides within Jewish Israeli society itself remain a significant feature of national politics and culture.
Israel is a major exporter of technology and software, pharmaceuticals, and cut diamonds, with a particularly strong and internationally significant technology start-up sector relative to its small population.
Independence Day, Yom Ha'atzmaut, marks 1948 and is calculated according to the Hebrew calendar, so its Gregorian date shifts year to year, typically falling in April or May. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is the holiest day in Judaism and is marked nationwide by a near-total halt to public life, including road traffic, and Passover commemorates the biblical exodus from Egyptian slavery with a ritual family meal called a seder.
Football and basketball both hold the largest followings in Israel, with basketball club Maccabi Tel Aviv having built a particularly strong European continental reputation over decades. Israel has also produced notable Olympic success in windsurfing and judo relative to its small population, and krav maga, a self-defence system developed for the Israeli military, has become a globally exported martial art in its own right.
Israel is a parliamentary republic, with a largely ceremonial President as head of state and a Prime Minister holding real executive power, accountable to the Knesset, Israel's single-chamber parliament. The country's proportional representation system typically produces coalition governments built from a large number of parties, and Israel does not have a single written constitution, instead relying on a series of Basic Laws.
Mount Hermon, on the border with Syria and Lebanon, includes Israel's highest point at around 2,236 metres, and is unusual among the country's terrain for regularly receiving enough snow for a functioning ski resort. The Dead Sea, shared with Jordan, holds the lowest point at around 430 metres below sea level, the lowest point on Earth's land surface, and continuing to drop further each year.
There's no close match for Israel's flag anywhere in the world, the blue Star of David on a white field bordered by blue stripes is distinctive enough as a combination that confusion with another national flag is essentially unheard of. Its closest visual relative in terms of colour alone might be Greece or Argentina for also using blue and white exclusively, though the actual symbols and layout are different enough to keep them clearly apart.
Designed by Arieh Arie Carmi.
Adopted in 1948 upon independence, based on the design of the tallit, the traditional Jewish prayer shawl.
The only Middle Eastern country to have won the Eurovision Song Contest.
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