Israel | Facts, History
The State of Israel is the only Jewish nation in the modern period, and the region that now falls within its borders has a lengthy and rich history that dates from prebiblical times. The area was a part of the Roman Empire and, later, the Byzantina Empire before falling under the control of the fledgling Islamic caliphate in the 7th century CE. Although the object of dispute during the Crusaders, the region, then generally known as Palestine, remained under the sway of successive Islamic dynasties until the collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I, when it was placed under British mandate from the League of Nations.
Jewish immigration in the 20th century greatly altered the settlement pattern of the country. The first modern-day Jewish settlers established themselves on the coastal plain in the 1880s. Later they also moved into the valleys of the interior and into parts of the hill districts, as well as into the Negev. Small cities such as Haifa and Jerusalem grew in size, and the port of Jaffa (Yafo) sprouted a suburb, Tel Aviv, which grew into one of the largest cities in Israel. Jewish immigrants also settled those areas of the coastal plain.
Jews constitute about three-fourths of the total population of Israel. More than one-fifth of the population consists of Arabs, almost all of whom are Palestinians from Sunni Muslim (roughly three-fourths) or Christian communities. Druze and other ethnic Arabs who do not consider themselves Palestinians make up a small fraction of the total population.
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