5,499,000 are Jews, 1,461,000 are Arabs; country's population has risen by 130,000 in a year.
By JPOST.COM STAFF
On the eve of Israel's 60th Independence Day, the country's population stands at 7,282,000, according to figures released by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).
Some 5,499,000 of the population (75.5 percent) are Jews, 1,461,000 (20.1%) are Arabs and the remaining 322,000 (4.4%) are immigrants and their offspring who are not registered as Jews by the Interior Ministry.
According to the CBS statistics, since last Independence Day, the country's population has risen by some 130,000, with most of this increase being attributed to natural growth. 156,400 new babies have been born and some 18,000 new immigrants have arrived.
When the state was established, there were only 806,000 residents, with this number reaching its first and second million in 1949 and 1958 respectively.
In 1990, Israel's population hit five million and in 1998, after the wave of immigration from the former Soviet Union, it numbered six million.
According to the CBS forecast, the population is expected to reach 10 million by 2030.