One day before 2021 ended and 2022 began, the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (הַלִּשְׁכָּה הַמֶּרְכָּזִית לִסְטָטִיסְטִיקָה) published, as usual, the updated data of Israel’s population.

The Hebrew name of the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics is הַלִּשְׁכָּה הַמֶּרְכָּזִית לִסְטָטִיסְטִיקָה. The Hebrew noun for bureau is לׅשְׁכָּה (pronounced as lish-ka). לׅשְׁכָּה bears two meanings: one of an actual room – an office, usually a big one that belongs to a senior officer. The other meaning is an organization, an authority, as in the above name of the Central Bureau of Statistics. The noun לׅשְׁכָּה is feminine, as indicated from its ending with the letter ה. In its construct form the letter ת replaces the letter ה, and the pronunciation changes to לׅשְׁכַּת (lish-kat): instead of ending with the sound a, it ends with at. For example:

 

הַדִּיּוּן בַּלׅשְׁכָּה הִתְחִיל, הַשַׂר טֶרֶם הִצְטָרֵף.

The discussion in the bureau has begun, the minister has not yet joined.

 

לׅשְׁכַּת רוֺאֵי הַחֶשְׁבּוֹן בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל נוֺסְדָּה בְּ-1931.

The Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Israel was founded in 1931.

 

הַמְּנַהֵל קוּדַם וְעָבַר לַלּׅשְׁכָּה הַחֲדָשָׁה.

The director was promoted and moved to the new bureau.

 

לׅשְׁכַּת הַמִּסְחָר תֵּל אָבִיב וְהַמֶּרְכָּז הׅיא אִרְגּוּן הָעֲסָקִים, וְהַמַּעֲסִיקִים הַגָּדוֺל בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל.

The Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce is the largest business and employers’ organization in Israel.

 

The Central Bureau of Statistics – usually called in abbreviation הלמ”ס, the CBS – was founded several months after the establishment of the State of Israel. It cooperates with State offices and performs statistical activities and projects regarding the State and its population, in the fields of health, wellbeing, education, economy etc. Every year it publishes the current data about Israel population.

 

The Hebrew noun for population is אֻכְלוּסִיָּה (pronounced as och-lu-si-ya). It, too, is a feminine noun and acts the same when declining in its construct state. Its ending – the letter ה and the sound a – changes. In its construct form its ends with the letter ת and the sound yat. For example:

 

אֻכְלוּסִיָּה הׅיא קְבוּצָה מוּגְדֶּרֶת שֶׁל פְּרָטִים.

A population is a distinct group of individuals.

 

קֶצֶב הַגִּדּוּל שֶׁל אֻכְלוּסׅיַּת כַּדּוּר הָאָרֶץ יוֺרֵד בְּהַתְמָדָה.

The growth rate of the earth’s population is steadily declining.

 

חָשׁוּב לְזָהוֹת אֶת צָרְכֵי הָאֻכְלוּסִיָּה.

It is important to identify the needs of the population.

 

אֻכְלוּסׅיַּת הַפִּינְגְּוִינִים בְּחֲלָקִים מֵאַנְטַרְקְטִיקָה הִצְטָמְצְמָה בְּ-75%.

The penguin population in parts of Antarctica has shrunk by 75%.

 

Since the establishment of the State of Israel, Israel’s population is constantly growing. Most of the population growth (גִּדּוּל) in the country is natural, while the rest came from immigration. When 1962 began, Israel’s population was a bit more than 2 million people. At the end of 1998, Israel’s population was already 6 million. In 2019, the country population tops 9 million for the first time. The growth rate is steady and on the 2022 eve, the CBS announced: Israel’s population stood at nearly 9.5 million.

Most of the headlines reporting the numbers were informative. The headline from the Ma’arive newspaper, for example says:

הַנְּתוּנׅים נׅחְשָׂפׅים: בְּכַמָּה גַּדְלָה אֻכְלוּסׅיַּת יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּ-2021?

The data are revealed: by how much did the population of Israel increase in 2021?

Some headlines were more positive. The Ynet website, for example, announced: הִתְעַצְּמוּת כָּחֹל-לָבָן (blue and white intensification). But some reporters were negative. An article in The Marker, for example, complains about the overload of a growing population, and the failure of Israel to deal with it: traffic jams, housing shortages, long queues for health system services, and so on.

 

Related posts:

Encouraging Birth in Israel

 

Text vocabulary

Bureau = לׅשְׁכָּה

Statistics = סְטָטִיסְטִיקָה

Population = אֻכְלוּסִיָּה

Growth = גִּדּוּל

Data = נְתוּנׅים

 

Keep Calm and Learn Hebrew

---

---