Israel's geographic location is in the Middle East, on the Mediterranean Sea, bordering Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. It is a small country compared to surrounding countries in the region, only covering a total area of ​​8,019 miles (20,770 kilograms). The southernmost part of the country is covered by the Negev Desert with the mountains located in the central region of Israel. The Jordan River flows for 200 miles from north to south, serving as a natural border between Israel, Jordan and Syria, where the river's headwaters flow into the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is effectively a lake, sitting 1,312 feet (400 meters) below sea level, making it the lowest inland body of water on earth. According to 2000 population statistics of Israel, approximately 32% of Israelis were born in Europe or America; 20% in Israel; 14% in Africa; 12% in Asia. The population of Israel is well over 6,000,000 people, of which 80% are of Jewish origin and 20% non-Jewish are Arab. The nation's official language is Hebrew, developed by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, a Lithuanian Jew who moved to Palestine in 1880. Prior to this, Biblical Hebrew was the language of prayer, and the common vernacular for most of the Jews it was Yiddish. At that time the two spoke Ladino for the Spaniards and Portuguese for the Jews. David Ben-Gurion's vision regarding the national language was revolutionary and was very important to the Zionist movement of the time. This vision would allow all Jews from various parts of the world to communicate with each other regardless of their dialects. Even if immigrants from other various c...... middle of paper...... to freshen up before work. Sport, as if elsewhere, is very important in Tel-Aviv, the most popular being football, which is of an induced type. Nonetheless, this game still brings all the excitement to the city like the Super Bowl brings to America. Other sports played in Israel such as tennis, basketball and rowing are also all very popular among sports enthusiasts. Works Cited Kubie, Nora Benjamin. Israel. First book, United States: New York. Revised edition, 1978, PrintSachar, Howard M. A History of Israel: From the Rise of Zionism to Our Times. United States: New York, 1976. PrintReich, Bernard. A brief history of Israel. United States: Washington DC: George Washington University, 2008. Print.Nye Library, Fort Sill, http://mylibraryus.armybiznet.com/. Web. May 28, 2014. Nye Library, Fort Sill http://www.everyculture.com/ Web. May 14 2014