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Last update - 00:52 07/05/2008 Israel at 60: Population nears 7.3 million, 76% Jewish By Haaretz Service Tags: Israel, independence day  Israel's population totaled 7.282 million on the eve of its 60th anniversary, including 156,400 babies who were born over the last year, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported Tuesday. That is more than nine times the 806,000 people who lived here when the state was established in 1948. Since last Independence Day, the population has grown by 1.8 percent, including both births and some 18,000 new immigrants. Just over three quarters of all Israelis  5.5 million people  are Jews, while 20 percent (1.5 million) are Arabs. Of the Jews, 69 percent were born here, compared to only 35 percent in 1948. Advertisement Though Tel Aviv and the surrounding area still contain 53 percent of Israel's population, that is down sharply from 71 percent in 1948. The north and south, home to only 19 percent of Israelis in 1948, now account for 31 percent of the country's residents. Over the years, Israel's population has become steadily more educated: The proportion of those with no schooling has fallen from 16 percent in 1948 to 3 percent last year, while the proportion with 13 or more years of schooling has risen from 9 percent to 42 percent. In 1948, 208 people received degrees from the country's two universities; two years ago, 53,000 people received degrees from 62 local colleges and universities. Home ownership has also soared: Some 71 percent of Israelis currently own their own homes, compared to 54 percent at the end of the 1950s. And in another sign of increased prosperity, food currently accounts for only about 16 percent of the average household's expenditures, down from 40 percent in the 1950s. Haaretz's 60th Independence Day supplement, "Days of Our Lives," is published in Wednesday's newspaper Bookmark to del.icio.us   Nakba protest World Likud chief calls for cancellation of Nakba Day procession. Perfect match TA court sentences 'DNA Rapist' to 25 years in prison.   1.   Israel at 120 : 50 % Arab, 45 % Jewish 5 % immigrants 17:17  |  Swiss (Dino) 06/05/08   2.   I love those numbers and can`t wait for 2030! 17:35  |  Catholic Israeli 06/05/08   3.   You are so right Swiss (Dino)! 17:50  |  Morris Greene 06/05/08   4.   swiss dino ... 18:08  |  M. S from Edmonton 06/05/08   5.   Interesting. 18:13  |  Raphael 06/05/08   6.   Interesting Stat 19:02  |  MichaelF 06/05/08   7.   THis makes Israel one of the most diverse nations on the planet 19:04  |  bbl 06/05/08   8.   Swiss (Dumbo): I Thought Israel Was Going Away 19:16  |  Tex 06/05/08   9.   Am Yisrael Chai 19:38  |  peter 06/05/08   10.   # 3 Morris Greene (and also # 4 M. S from Edmonton) 20:35  |  Swiss (Dino) 06/05/08   11.   # 8 Tex 20:39  |  Swiss (Dino) 06/05/08   12.   # 9 peterchen 20:41  |  Swiss (Dino) 06/05/08   13.   Isarel will foreseeably remain mostly Jewish 21:04  |  nosmo29 06/05/08   14.   TO Swiss Dino Le shana abba Be Jerushlaim 21:07  |  Daniel 06/05/08   15.   Mazal Tov to all the families with new babies 21:10  |  Daniel 06/05/08   16.   Swiss #9 -- The founding of Israel was a game changer 21:16  |  bbl 06/05/08   17.   to No 3 21:19  |  Anthony 06/05/08   18.   Israel is an apartheid State 21:19  |  Atoo 06/05/08   19.   #12-swiss donkeys brays to bray 21:19  |  peter 06/05/08   20.   #1, Dino, Israel at 120, 80-90% Jewish 21:19  |  David 06/05/08   21.   To #3 -- Great response to Swiss (Dino) 21:21  |  Josh 06/05/08   22.   # 9 is right 21:23  |  JJ 06/05/08   23.   Dino: By 2030 will Swiss recognize they developed on nazi funds?? 21:23  |  Alain 06/05/08   24.   Am Iisrael chai 21:24  |  Anthony 06/05/08   25.   Just think about it 21:26  |  Rabbi Yosef 06/05/08   26.   To all the Israel bashers 21:52  |  Josh 06/05/08   27.   You don`t hear the term "sabra" much anymore 21:55  |  Conroy 06/05/08   28.   Does this include the pop. of west bank and gaza? 22:02  |  NO! 06/05/08   29.   #24-My boots feel fine Anthony 22:02  |  peter 06/05/08   30.   You add the Pop. of west bank and gaza and you have 50/50 22:04  |  FACT 06/05/08   31.   # 13 nosmo29 / # 20 David 22:27  |  Swiss (Dino) 06/05/08   32.   Swiss Dino, a major error of facts 22:30  |  Sam C 06/05/08   33.   peter 29 22:30  |  Anthony 06/05/08   34.   Swiss (Dino) unfairly attacked by goyim-bashers 22:33  |  Mark B. 06/05/08   35.   # 16 bbl 22:34  |  Swiss (Dino) 06/05/08   36.   To Josh, Daniel, Alain, and all the other guys in party mood..... 22:42  |  Swiss (Dino) 06/05/08   37.   What about those under occupation....... 22:45  |  Deborah 06/05/08   38.   #33- awww Anthony 22:46  |  peter 06/05/08   39.   Congruatulations Israel 22:55  |  Mark B. 06/05/08   40.   # 34 Mark B. 22:58  |  Swiss (Dino) 06/05/08   41.   lol @ Deborah 23:02  |  Lev 06/05/08   42.   # 32 Sam C 23:09  |  Swiss (Dino) 06/05/08   43.   famous words 23:15  |  Axel 06/05/08   44.   @40 (Swiss) Dino 23:16  |  Mark B. 06/05/08   45.   For "Swiss (Dino)" # 1 23:20  |  Fortuna Benmayor 06/05/08   46.   peter 38 23:48  |  Anthony 06/05/08   47.   peter - if you don`t care why all the uproar 23:53  |  GUT 06/05/08   48.   lev 41 23:53  |  Anthony 06/05/08   49.   peter 23:57  |  Too funny 06/05/08   50.   To Deborah on ethnic cleansing 00:14  |  Josh 07/05/08   51.   Peter #9 A-men to your post Peter !!! 00:19  |  Free Gilad Shalit 07/05/08   52.   Peter in Montreal 00:20  |  Mark B. 07/05/08   53.   # 44 Right-wing Fortuna, inciting eternal war for Israel....... 00:58  |  Swiss (Dino) 07/05/08   54.   happy birthday israel 01:30  |  Jorge Benavides Sach 07/05/08   55.   Anthony 47 01:39  |  Lev 07/05/08   56.   #45- Anthony and aboriginals of palestine 02:15  |  peter 07/05/08   57.   #46-GUT 02:18  |  peter 07/05/08   58.   #48- too funny`s too funny 02:25  |  peter 07/05/08   59.   gay jews & Israel 02:37  |  alfredo 07/05/08   60.   #51-Mark B 02:38  |  peter 07/05/08   61.   to 50 02:59  |  Anthony 07/05/08   62.   And may She see many more as the world comes to acceptance 03:48  |  To the Glory of God 07/05/08   63.   Do forget the West Bank and Gaza 03:59  |  N.A. 07/05/08   64.   Anthony 59 Aboriginal ? 04:05  |  Free Gilad Shalit 07/05/08   65.   Anthony - I also await your answers to Peter`s quiz 04:09  |  Free Gilad Shalit 07/05/08   66.   #50- Free Gilad Shalit, enjoy 04:09  |  peter 07/05/08   67.   Swiss #11: So You`re Like Ahmadinejad 04:56  |  Tex 07/05/08   68.   David # 20 you are deluded... 05:02  |  Lawyer II 07/05/08   69.   & 7 MiL Palestinian Refugees 05:18  |  Micael 07/05/08   70.   Why does Haaretz print `60` up top and then bash Israel every day 05:28  |  Steve Randolph 07/05/08   71.   Aboriginals of Palestine 06:58  |  Lev 07/05/08   72.   Steve Randolph 08:36  |  Lev 07/05/08   73.   In 1914 Jews were 7.6% only 12:07  |  koko 07/05/08   74.   Population and Affirmative Action 17:06  |  Ethan Ik Klenzing 07/05/08   75.   #69 ethnic cleansing 15:25  |  Rab Burns 08/05/08   76.   #73 ethnic cleansing 15:27  |  Rab Burns 08/05/08

Read & React Bradley Burston: Sixty years of Nakba, sixty years of nothing Responses: 288 PA official: No Israeli partner in light of latest Olmert probe Responses: 178 Haaretz Editorial: Israel stronger than its ills; Mideast peace is still possible Responses: 122 Rosner's Domain: Obama and the Jews: is 61% enough? Responses: 75 Peres: I didn't imagine Qassams would be fired from Gaza after pullout Responses: 217 Rosner's Domain Obama and the Jews: is 61% enough? Who's pushing the US to war with Iran? (WTR) Poll: If Olmert is gone, who should be PM? What Muslims really think? (WTR) The Democrats are fighting over Iran More Headlines 22:05 FM Livni: Israel ready to make sacrifices for peace 21:43 Two seriously hurt when paratrooper hits crowd in Tel Aviv 18:31 Thousands take to streets and parks as Israel celebrates 60 years of statehood 18:06 Olmert said ready to bring about peace agreement with Syria 22:00 Five cops and two Arab MKs hurt as clashes erupt at Naqba Day protest 17:34 British PM: Israel`s creation one of the 20th century`s `greatest achievements` 18:42 Ahmadinejad: Israel is a 'stinky corpse' doomed to disappear 21:55 Five die and 12 hurt as sectarian clashes ravage Beirut 18:21 Train commemorating Holocaust children arrives at Auschwitz 16:32 Days of Our Lives: 1948-2008 15:33 Singer Sarit Hadad, comedian Jackie Mason headline London bash for Israel 20:54 IAF kills Palestinian, wounds 4 in separate strikes on Gaza 20:56 Police: Gag order on probe against Olmert to be lifted, partially or fully, on Thursday 12:25 Your guide to Israel's 60th Independence Day celebrations 21:41 Two Israeli tourists thought missing in Burma cyclone found unharmed Previous Editions Select Day 07 may 06 may 05 may 04 may 02 may 01 may 30 apr 29 apr 28 apr 27 apr 25 apr 24 apr

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