How Many Israelis?

Judging by how often Israel is in the news, you might expect that the country is one of the largest in the world, but the statistics say otherwise.
 
Each fall, as Rosh Hashanah approaches, Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics releases the country’s latest population figures. The numbers for 2010: 7,645,000 people live there, an increase of 1.8% over last year.
 
You’re probably thinking, “Wow, that’s a lot of Jews” – but nearly a quarter of that number are Muslims, Christians or people with other – or no – religious identification. Israel may be the Jewish state, but in addition to having the largest Jewish population of any country in the world (yes, even more than in the US),  it’s also home to nearly 2 million non Jews.
 
Israel’s population has grown at a staggering pace since the country gained independence in 1948. Back then, it had 806,000 residents. Large-scale immigration pushed the number beyond 1 million in 1949, and past 2 million in 1958. Demographers expect the country’s population to reach 10 million by 2030.
 
For more info on Israel’s population, check out:
 
New Year Statistics, in The Jerusalem Post: http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=187266