Twenty Facts About Israel's Economy, Contributions to Science, Technology

Via Strategy Page, here's an interesting list of twenty facts you didn't know about Israel, the 100th smallest country with less than 1/1000th of the world's population:

1. Israel leads the world in the number of scientists and technicians in the workforce, with 145 per 10,000, as opposed to 85 in the U.S., over 70 in Japan, and less than 60 in Germany. With over 25% of its work force employed in technical professions, Israel places first in this category as well.
2. Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees to the population in the world.
3. Israel has the highest per capita ratio of scientific publications in the world by a large margin, as well as one of the highest per capita rates of patents filed.
4. In proportion to its population, Israel has the largest number of startup companies in the world. In absolute terms, Israel has the largest number of startup companies than any other country in the world, except the U.S. (3,500 companies mostly in hi-tech).
5. Israel is ranked #2 in the world for VC funds right behind the U.S.
6. Israel has the highest percentage in the world of home computers per capita.
7. Outside the U.S. and Canada, Israel has the largest number of NASDAQ listed companies.
8. Israel has the highest average living standards in the Middle East. The per capita income in 2000 is over $17,500, exceeding that of Britain.
9. With more than 3,000 high-tech companies and start-ups, Israel has the highest concentration of hi-tech companies in the world apart from the Silicon Valley.
10. With an aerial arsenal of over 250 F-16s, Israel has the largest fleet of the aircraft outside of the U.S.
11. Israel's $100 billion economy is larger than all of its immediate neighbors combined.
12. The cell phone was developed in Israel by Motorola-Israel. Motorola built its largest development center worldwide in Israel.
13. Windows NT software was developed by Microsoft-Israel.
14. The Pentium MMX Chip technology was designed in Israel at Intel.
15. Voice mail technology was developed in Israel.
16. AOL's instant message program was designed by an Israeli software company.
17. Both Microsoft and Cisco built their only R&D facilities outside the U.S. in Israel.
18. On a per capita basis, Israel has the largest number of biotech start-ups.
19. Israel has the largest raptor migration in the world, with hundreds of thousands of African birds of prey crossing as they fan out into Asia.
20. Some 24% of Israel's workforce holds university degrees -- ranking third in the industrialized world, after the U.S. and Holland -- and 12% hold advanced degrees.