DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT - SATURDAY'S INFO BLOG.

ISRAEL - DID YOU KNOW...

Israel has a population of around eight million. This populous but small country has an amazing record of contemporary development. For example the Middle East has been growing date palms for centuries. The average tree is about 18-20 feet tall and yields about 38 pounds of dates a year. Today Israeli date trees are now yielding 400 pounds/year and are short enough to be harvested from the ground or a short ladder.

Israel, the world's 100th smallest country, with less than 1/1000th of the world's population, but can lay claim to the following:

The mobile cell phone was developed in Israel by Israelis working in the Israeli branch of Motorola, which has its largest development centre in Israel. Most of the Windows NT and XP operating systems were developed by Microsoft-Israel.

The Pentium MMX Chip technology was designed in Israel at Intel. Both the Pentium-4 microprocessor and the Centrino processor were entirely designed, developed and produced in Israel. The Pentium microprocessor in your computer was most likely made in Israel.

Voice mail technology was developed in Israel. Israel has the highest percentage in the world of home computers per capita.

Israel has the fourth largest air force in the world (after the US, Russia and China). In addition to a large variety of other aircraft, Israel's air force has an aerial arsenal of over 250 F-16s. This is the largest fleet of F-16 aircraft outside of the US. Israel's $100 billion economy is larger than all of its immediate neighbours combined.

Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees to its population in the world. Israel produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation.

In proportion to its population, Israel has the largest number of startup companies in the world. It has the highest concentration of hi-tech companies in the world outside of the Silicon Valley - 3,500 in total.

Israel has the highest average living standards in the Middle East. The per capita income in 2000 was over $17,500, exceeding that of the UK.

Twenty-four per cent of Israel's workforce holds university degrees, ranking third in the industrialised world, after the United States and Holland and 12 per cent hold advanced degrees.

Israel is the only liberal democracy in the Middle East.In 1984 and 1991, Israel airlifted a total of 22,000 Ethiopian Jews (Operation Solomon) at risk in Ethiopia to safety in Israel. Relative to its population, Israel is the largest immigrant-absorbing nation on earth. Immigrants come in search of democracy, religious freedom, and economic opportunity.

Israel is the only country in the world that entered the 21st century with a net gain in its number of trees, made more remarkable because this was achieved in an area considered mainly desert.

Israel leads the world in the number of scientists and technicians in the workforce, with 145 per 10,000, as opposed to 85 in the USA, over 70 in Japan, and less than 60 in Germany. With over 25% of its workforce employed in technical professions, Israel is first in this category as well.

All the above has been achieved while Israel has been engaged in regular wars with an implacable enemy that seeks its destruction, and an economy continuously under strain by having to spend more per capita on its own protection than any other county on earth. It is a remarkable achievement by any standard.

Source: Rev Dr Gordon Moyes.

Be encouraged.
GBYAY