Israel's population is over 6 million

The central bureau for statistics in occupied Jerusalem said in a statement released before the celebration of the Jewish new year which starts on Friday that Israel's population reached 6.145 million..

Jews constitute 4.847 million, representing 79% of the population, Israeli Arabs count for 922,000.

During 1998, the average population growth in Israel reached 2.4%, a rate equal to the figures of the year 1997.

The Jewish population increased by 88,000, including 63,500 foreign settlers, of whom 16% came from the former Soviet Union.

Upon the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, Israel's population was 800,000.