Israel’s Population Placed at 4.3 Million
Israel’s population at the end of 1986 was estimated at 4,330,000, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported Thursday.
The government agency said that 82.2% of the population, or 3,560,000, were Jews. It said there were 600,000 Muslims, or 13.8% of the population, and 100,000 Christians, or 2.1%.
Most of the remaining 74,000 people were Druze, a mystical sect whose roots are in the Muslim faith.
The population grew by 67,000 people, or 1.5%, compared to 1985, the report said.
The birthrate dropped from 3.1 to 3.0 because of the continued decline in childbirth among Arab women, the report said. The Jewish birthrate remained steady at 2.8.
The number of immigrants in 1986 dropped from 10,600 the year before to 9,300, according to the report.
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