Facts of Israel
Israel, a Middle Eastern country on the Mediterranean Sea, is regarded by Jews, Christians and Muslims as the biblical Holy Land. Its most sacred sites are in Jerusalem. Within its Old City, the Temple Mount complex includes the Dome of the Rock..
- Israel is the only country in the world that has more trees today than it had 50 years ago.
- Israel has more museums per capita than any other country, including the world’s only one underwater.
- Voicemail technology was developed in Israel.
- The IDF is a leader in saving people trapped by natural and man-made disasters. On short notice, its search and rescue unit has operated in many countries (including Mexico, Kenya, India, Turkey and the U.S.) following earthquakes, train wrecks, collapsed buildings and terrorist attacks.
- Israel is home to the world’s only theater company comprised entirely of deaf and blind actors.
- Life expectancy in Israel is among the highest in the world at 82 years.
- Coffee and cafés are so good in Israel that it’s the only country where Starbucks failed trying to break into the local market. (shocking right???)
- On a per capita basis, Israel tops the list of countries when it comes to the annual production of scientific papers.
- First launched in Israel in 2011, bus-stop mini-libraries, offering books free of charge, have inspired similar initiatives in other countries.
- Two professors at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University created the first cherry tomatoes.
- Beersheba, in Israel’s Negev desert, has the largest number of chess grandmasters per capita than any other city in the world.
- In 2012, Israel became the first country to prohibit the use of underweight models in fashion shows.
- An Israeli start-up invented a non-touch, radiation-free device, Babysense, that prevents crib death by monitoring a baby’s breathing and movement during sleep.
- Israel has the world’s highest rate of university degrees on a per capita basis.
- Israel developed the technology that allowed for the original cell phone.
- The Mount of Olives in Jerusalem is the world’s oldest continuously used cemetery.
- Two Israelis at Tel Aviv University invented an “Anti-Date Rape Straw” which detects the two most common date rape drugs placed in drinks and alerts intended victims.
- An Israeli company developed the first ingestible video camera that helps doctors diagnose cancer and digestive disorders.
- Israel has more in-vitro fertilization per capita than any other country, and it’s free.
- The popular mobile mapping program, Waze, was developed in Israel. Google purchased the GPS-based navigation app in 2013 for a reported $1.3 billion.
- Passengers on Israel’s national airline El Al clap for the pilots when their flights touch down at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv.
- Despite the tough neighborhood they live in, numerous studies rank Israelis among the happiest people among Western nations
- The largest central bus station in the Middle East is located in Tel Aviv, Israel
- Over a million pounds of hummus is eaten in Israel every year
- Israel is one of 3 countries in the world that don’t have a constitution
- If you are mailing a letter addressed to God, it will be mailed to Israel and placed in the western wall and over 1 million notes are placed in the western wall every year
- Israel has not only the lowest place is the world (the dead sea), but also World's lowest freshwater reservoir, the sea of Galilei
- The smallest desert in the world is located in Israel – Judean desert
- Israel is one of nine countries that are members of the International Space Club and capable of launching space satellites
- Every year, half a billion migratory birds pass through Israel, in spring and autumn - This is a world record
- Israel is the third country in the world to consume chocolate per capita
- Israel is the only country in the world that has succeeded in reviving a dead language and using it as a national language
- Israelis consume more fruits and vegetables relative to the population than any other nation in the world
- 5 out of 7 natural craters in the world are located in Israel
- In Israel, more books are translated into the local language than in any other language or country in the world, in relation to the number of inhabitants.