Israel

Israel (the State of Israel) lies in the Southern Levant region of West Asia and is bordered by Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt. It has a Mediterranean coast, its southern tip reaches the Red Sea, and to the east lies the area of the Dead Sea, the lowest point on Earth. Jerusalem is the seat of government and proclaimed capital, while Tel Aviv is the largest urban area and economic centre.

The 2026 edition of the World Happiness Report, published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at Oxford with Gallup and the UN SDSN, ranks Israel No. 8, with a life evaluation score of 7.187. It was also No. 8 in the previous edition, with 7.234.

The region was home to the ancient Canaanites and later to the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. In the 19th century the Zionist movement called for a Jewish homeland in Palestine, at that time an Ottoman region with a large Arab majority, and gained British support with the 1917 Balfour Declaration. After World War I Britain set up Mandatory Palestine, and in 1947 the UN Partition Plan proposed separate Arab and Jewish states.

Sources of this text: Wikipedia · Wellbeing Research Centre Oxford / Gallup / UN SDSN