Interesting facts about Israel| all the most interesting about the country

Israel. The Promised Land for the Jews and the Bethlehem Cradle of Christianity. It is difficult to find a person who has not heard about the shrines and sights of this blessed country. And yet you can try to find some amazing and interesting facts about Israel.

Hoopoe is a small but proud bird

The youngest state of Israel on the planet, which is only 66 years old, has an area half the size of Lake Michigan, and a population approximately equal to the number of inhabitants of a major world metropolis, for example, Mexico City. However, this does not prevent the country from actively developing in all spheres of political and social life.

How to get to Israel on your own – read our article.

Interestingly, the country's 100 billion dollar economy exceeds the combined economies of neighboring more “adult” states. Its air force is considered the fourth largest in the world after the US, Russian and Chinese air forces. Israel is a space power, as it is one of nine countries in the world that launch their own satellites into space.

The national hoopoe bird symbolizes the wisdom of the Jewish people, and without wisdom, of course, it is impossible to become such a successful state as Israel is today.

Letters to God

Every year about 1000 letters addressed to God come to Jerusalem. Letters with this address are sorted by the undeliverable correspondence department of the Israeli postal service and once every few months are laid by the rabbi in the cracks of the sacred Western Wall (Wailing Wall), the only one left after the destruction of Solomon's Temple.

Methuselah Palm

In 1963, during the excavations of Masada, the fortress of King Herod, date palm seeds were discovered. In 2005, they were germinated under the supervision of specialists, and the tree, whose contemporaries died out more than 1800 years ago, sprouted. In 2011, when it reached a height of 2.5 m, it was transplanted into open ground in Kibbutz Ketura, which specializes in growing dates.

Below the sea

The two seas of Israel, the Sea of ​​Galilee and the Dead Sea, are located below sea level. The Sea of ​​Galilee, in fact, is a lake (Lake Tiberias is its second name), and is considered the lowest freshwater body of water on Earth. The Dead Sea is one of the saltiest bodies of water, and its coast is the lowest piece of land on the planet. The fresh and salt seas, as the alpha and omega of the biblical history of Israel, are symbolically located at the beginning and end of the Jordan Valley, a tectonic depression formed millions of years ago.

City of 2000 monuments and its restless visitors

Jerusalem is a city with more than 2,000 archaeological sites and artifacts. The streets and walls saturated with history, the religious mood and exaltation of pilgrims, an attempt to cover all the sights of this place at once leads to the fact that some tourists develop a mental disorder called Jerusalem syndrome.

Fortunately, according to statistics, out of 3 million people who visit the city every year, approximately 100 people are affected by this disorder. Therefore, if you see someone who, wrapped in a hotel sheet, went to preach in the square, then the Holy Land has touched the soul of another person.

Burial upstairs

The oldest cemetery in the world, which is used continuously by all generations living here, is located on the Mount of Olives near the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. He is about 2500 years old. There are 150 thousand graves here, some of which belong to characters described on the pages of the Old Testament. Even today, prominent sons and daughters of the people of Israel find their last refuge in this cemetery.

Both physicists and lyricists

During the short period of its existence, the State of Israel has made a significant contribution to the development of science and technology, including computer technology. The first antivirus program was created here in 1979. Israel has the highest number of scientists, technicians, and engineers per capita in the world, and the Weizmann Research Institute in Rehovot has been ranked the best for scientific research among other similar institutions in the world. In addition, it is generally recognized that in terms of the number of orchestras per inhabitant, Israel is far ahead of other countries.

Also read 10 places to visit in Israel.