EUROPE

Over 1.5 million Jews lived in Europe at the beginning of 2002, two thirds in Western Europe and one third in Eastern Europe and the Balkan countries—including the Asian territories of the Russian Republic and Turkey (see table 4). In 2001 Europe lost 1.4 percent of its Jewish population, mainly through the continuing emigration from the European republics of the FSU.

European Union. Incorporating fifteen countries since the 1995 accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden, the European Union (EU) had an estimated combined Jewish population of 1,034,400—an increase of 0.2 percent over the previous year. Different trends affected the Jewish populations in each member country.

With the breakup of the USSR, France had the third largest Jewish population in the world, after the United States and Israel. The estimated size of French Jewry, assessed at 530,000 in the 1970s, was rather stable over the following 20 years. The Jewish community of France continued to absorb a small inflow of Jews from North Africa, its age composition being younger than in other European countries. Migration to Israel amounted to 7,500 in 1980-1989 and over 15,000 in 1990-2000. Since the 1990’s, aging tended to determine a moderate surplus of deaths over births, while intermarriage was steadily growing. In view of these trends, our French Jewish population estimate was revised to 525,000 in 1995 and 519,000 at the beginning of 2002. A new survey completed in 2002 will soon provide new insights on French Jewry.

A significant downward revision of the size of Jewish population in the United Kingdom was released in 1998 by the Community Research Unit (CRU) of the Board of Deputies of British Jews. Current compilation of Jewish birth and death records showed an excess of deaths over births in the range of about 1,000-1,500 a year. A survey of British Jews conducted in 1995 indicated a significant rise in intermarriage (38 percent of all married men, and 50 percent among Jewish men less than 30 years old), implying increasing assimilatory losses. Further attrition derived from emigration (over 7,000 emigrants to Israel in 1980-1989 and about 6,000 in 1990-2000). Allowing for a further continuation of these well-established trends we adopted an estimate of 273,500 for 2002 (fifth largest worldwide).

In 1990 Germany was politically reunited. In the former (West German Federal Republic, the 1987 population census reported 32,319 Jews. Immigration compensated for the surplus of deaths over births in this aging Jewish population. Estimates about the small Jewish population in the former (East) German Democratic Republic then ranged between 500 and 2,000. According to available reports, over 150,000 immigrants from the FSU settled in united Germany since the end of 1989, including non-Jewish family members. Detailed records of Jews affiliated with the Zentralwohlfahrtstelle der Juden in Deutschland (ZDJ) show an increase from 27,711 at the beginning of 1990 to 93,326 at the beginning of 2002. By the same community registers, were it not for steady immigration from the FSU, the number of Jews would have declined from about 28,000 in 1990 to less than 18,000 in 2002, due to the continuing excess of Jewish deaths over Jewish births. We assume that there are enough incentives for most newcomers to be willing to affiliate with the Jewish community, but allow for some time lag between immigration and registration with the organized Jewish community, and take into account a certain amount of permanent non-affiliation. Assuming the latter at about 10,000, an estimate of 103,000 core Jews (not including non-Jewish members of households) obtained for 2002, making Germany the eighth largest Jewish community worldwide.

Belgium, Italy, and the Netherlands each had Jewish populations ranging around 30,000. The tendency toward internal shrinkage of all these Jewries was partially offset by immigration. In Belgium, the size of Jewish population, estimated at 31,400, was probably quite stable owing to the comparatively strong Orthodox section in that community. In Italy, compulsory membership in Jewish communities turned to voluntary since 1987. Although most Jews reaffiliated, the new looser legal framework facilitated the ongoing attrition of the Jewish population. Recent Jewish community records for Milan indicated an affiliated Jewish population of 6,500, against over 8,000 in the 1960s, despite substantial immigration from other countries in the intervening period. These and other data on declining birthrates in most other cities prompted a reduction in our national estimate for Italy to 29,400. In the Netherlands, a recent study indicated a growing number of residents of Israeli origin, substantially offsetting the declining trends among veteran Jews. In the light of a new Jewish population survey that covered an enlarged Jewish population of 43,000-45,000, including Israeli and Russian new immigrants, we revised the core Jewish population estimate at 28,000 in 2002.

Other EU member countries had smaller and, overall, slowly declining Jewish populations. Possible exceptions are Sweden and Spain, whose Jewish populations were very tentatively estimated at 15,000 and 12,000, respectively, based on figures on affiliation in the major cities. Austria’s permanent Jewish population was estimated at 9,000. While a negative balance of births and deaths has long prevailed, connected with great aging and frequent outmarriage, immigration from the FSU tended to offset internal losses. The small Jewish populations in other Nordic countries were, on the whole, numerically rather stable. In Ireland, the 1991 census indicated 1,581 Jews. Since 1961 the Jewish population has regularly declined by 500-600 every ten years, leading to a 2002 estimate of 1,000.

Other West Europe.

Few countries remain in Western Europe which have not joined the EU. In 2002 they accounted for a combined Jewish population of 19,700. The estimate of Switzerland’s Jewish population was based on the results of the 1990 census. The official count indicated 17,577 Jews as against 18,330 in 1980—a decline of 4 percent. Allowing for undeclared Jews, and allowing for about 1,000 emigrants to Israel during the 1990s, we put the 2002 estimate at 17,700.
(See Table 4)

Former USSR (European parts).

Since 1989, the demographic situation of East European Jewry was radically transformed following the dramatic geopolitical changes in the region. Official governmental sources provide the fundamental basis of information on the number of Jews in the FSU. The Soviet Union’s censuses and subsequent data distinguish the Jews as one recognized “nationality” (ethnic groups). In a society that, until recently, left little or no space to religions, the ethnic definition criterion could be considered comprehensive and valid. Data from the last all-Soviet population census, carried out in January 1989, revealed a total of 1,450,500 Jews, confirming the declining trend shown by the previous three USSR censuses: 2,267,800 in 1959, 2,150,700 in 1970, and 1,810,900 in 1979.

Our reservation about USSR Jewish census figures in previous AJYB volumes bears repeating: some underreporting is not impossible, but it cannot be easily quantified and should not be exaggerated. The prolonged existence of a totalitarian regime produced conflicting effects on census declarations: on the one hand, it stimulated a preference for other than Jewish nationalities in the various parts of the FSU, especially in connection with mixed marriages; on the other hand, it preserved a formal Jewish identification by coercion, through the mandatory registration of nationality on official documents such as internal passports. Viewed conceptually, the census figures represent the core Jewish population in the USSR. They actually constitute a good example of a large and empirically measured core Jewish population in the Diaspora, consisting of the aggregate of self-identifying Jews. The figures of successive censuses were remarkably consistent with one another, and with the known patterns of emigration and internal demographic evolution of the Jewish population in recent decades. Our estimates reflect for each FSU republic separately all available data and estimates concerning Jewish emigration, births, deaths, and geographical mobility between republics.

Jewish emigration played the major role among demographic changes intervening since 1989. The economic and political crisis that culminated in the disintegration of the Soviet Union as a state in 1991 generated a major emigration upsurge in 1990 and 1991. Emigration continued at lower but significant levels throughout 2001. Over the whole 1990-2000 period, over 1.4 million people emigrated from the FSU defined by the enlarged Law of Return Jewish population definition. Of these, nearly 900,000 went to Israel, about 300,000 to the United States, and over 200,000 chose other countries, mainly Germany. Out of the total migrants, about 980,000 were Jewish by the core definition. Periodical declines in the volume of emigration should not be misconstrued: when compared to the fast declining Jewish population figures in the FSU, the emigration trend remained remarkably stable.

While mass emigration was an obvious factor in Jewish population decrease, a heavy deficit of internal population dynamics developed and even intensified due to the great aging which is known to have prevailed for many decades among FSU Jewry. For example, in 1993-1994, the balance of recorded vital events in Russia included 2.8 Jewish births versus 30.0 deaths per 1,000 Jewish population; in Ukraine, the respective figures were 4.2 and 35.9 per 1,000; in Belarus, 5.2 and 32.6 per 1,000; in Latvia, 3.1 and 24.5 per 1,000; in Moldova 5.9 and 34.6 per 1,000. These figures imply yearly losses of many thousands to the respective Jewish populations. Frequencies of outmarriage approached 80 percent among Jews who married in Russia in the late 1980s, and in Ukraine and Latvia in 1996. Outmarried parents generally preferred a non-Jewish nationality for their children. The significantly younger age composition of Jewish emigrants exacerbated aging in the countries of origin. As a result, Jewish population rapidly shrank. On the strength of these considerations, our estimate of the core Jewish population in the FSU (including the Asian regions) was reduced from the census figure of 1,480,000 at the beginning of 1989 (including Tats) to 890,000 in 1993, and 435,000 at the beginning of 2002. Of these, 410,000 lived in the European republics and 25,000 in the Asian republics (see below). Tentative estimates of the enlarged Jewish population including non-Jewish members of Jewish households would probably be twice as high, and higher estimated would obtain for the total of eligibles for the Law of Return.

Russia kept the largest Jewish population among the FSU republics—currently the fifth largest in the world. As against a 1989 census-based estimate of 570,000, including Tats, the February 1994 national Microcensus of the Russian republic based on a 5 percent sample revealed a Jewish population of about 400,000 plus approximately 8,000 Tats. This amounts to a total of 408,000 with a range of variation between 401,000 and 415,000 allowing for sampling errors. In 2002, on the eve of a new national census, our estimate for Russia was 265,000. In spite of decline, Russia's share of the total Jewish population of the FSU significantly increased over time due to lower emigration frequencies. Waiting for the results of the 2001 national census we estimated Jews in the Ukraine at 100,000 in 2002 versus 487,300 in 1989 reflecting continuing large-scale emigration—currently the ninth largest community worldwide. In Belarus, the 1999 census indicated a Jewish population of 27,798 (112,000 in 1989). For 2002 we estimated 24,300 Jews there. In Moldova, a survey conducted in 2000 at the request of the JDC-FSU Division and the local Jewish Community confirmed the patterns of a declining and very elderly population. We estimated the core total at 5,500 for 2002 (65,800 in 1989). Based on updated figures from the local national population registers, a combined total of 15,200 were estimated for the three Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia (versus 39,900 in 1989). The figure for Latvia includes a 1,800 upward correction based on the 2000 census.

The new population censuses conducted in parts of the FSU produced figures only barely higher than our estimates based on a yearly accountancy of known or expected vital events and international migration. Some of these inconsistencies can be explained by any combination of the following five factors: (a) migration of several thousands of Jews between the various FSU republics since 1991, especially to the Russian republic; (b) a higher proportion of non-Jews than previously assumed among the enlarged pool of Jewish emigrants from the FSU, resulting in excessively lowered estimates of the number of core Jews remaining there; (c) a Jewish identification in the most recent sources by people who declared a different national (ethnic) identification in previous censuses; (d) counting in the republics' national censuses and population registers some people as residents—according to the legal criteria of the country of origin—who have actually emigrated to Israel or other countries; (e) some returns to Russia and other republics from Israel and other countries by migrants who are still registered as residents of the latter. While it is difficult to establish the respective weight of each of these factors, their overall impact has so far been quite secondary in the assessment of Jewish population changes. Factors (d) and (e) above point to likely double counts of FSU Jews in the respective countries of origin and of emigration. Consequently our world synopsis of core Jewish populations may be overestimated by several thousands.

The respective figures for the enlarged Jewish population—including all current Jews as well as other persons of Jewish parentage and their non-Jewish household members—are substantially higher in the FSU where high intermarriage rates have prevailed for several tens of years. While a definitive estimate for the total USSR cannot be provided for lack of appropriate data, evidence for Russia and other Slavic republics indicated a high ratio of non-Jews to Jews in the enlarged Jewish population. In 1989, 570,000 Jews in Russia together with 340,000 non-Jewish household members, formed an enlarged Jewish population of 910,000; in 2001, the 275,000 core Jews and their 245,000 non-Jewish household members produced an enlarged population of 520,000. The ratio of enlarged to core therefore increased from 1.6 in 1989 to 1.9 in 2001. Due to the highly self-selective character of aliyah, non-Jews constituted a relatively smaller share of all new immigrants from the FSU than their share among the Jewish population in the countries of origin, but such share was rapidly increasing.

The wide provisions of Israel’s Law of Return apply to virtually the maximum emigration pool of self-declared Jews and close non-Jewish relatives. Any of the large figures attributed in recent years to the size of Soviet Jewry, insofar as they were based on demographic reasoning, did not relate to the core but to various (unspecified) measures of an enlarged Jewish population. The evidence also suggests that in the FSU core Jews constitute a smaller share (and the non-Jewish fringe a larger share) of the enlarged Jewish population than in some western countries, such as the United States. Just as the number of declared Jews evolved consistently between censuses, the number of persons of Jewish descent who preferred not to be identified as Jews was rather consistent too. However, the recent political developments, and especially the current emigration urge, probably led to greater readiness to acknowledge a Jewish self-identification by persons who did not describe themselves as such in past censuses. These “returnees” imply an actual net increment to the core Jewish population of the FSU, Israel, and World Jewry.

Other East Europe and Balkans.

A survey of Hungarian Jewry provided evidence on the size and characteristics of the largest community in Eastern Europe outside the FSU. As against an overall membership in local Jewish organizations estimated at about 20-25,000, the new data revealed a wide gap between core and enlarged Jewish population figures. The broader definition including all persons of Jewish ancestry encompassed 150-200,000 persons. On the other hand a detailed reconstruction of Jewish international migration and vital statistics based on the World Jewish Congress end-1945 estimate of about 144,000 shoah survivors, and the 1948 Hungarian census figure of 134,000 produced a total of 50-55,000 for end-2000. The number of applicants for recompensation (about 20,000 persons born before May 9, 1945 and defined according to enlarged criteria) seems consistent with these calculations. Our admittedly minimum estimate of a core Jewish population of 51,300 for 2002 reflects the clear excess of deaths over births that prevails in Hungary in general, and among Jews particularly.

The January 1992 census of Romania reported a Jewish population of 9,107. Based on the detailed Jewish community records available with the Federatia Comunitatilor Evreiesi, our estimate for the 2002 was 10,800. The Czech census of 1991 reported 1,292 Jews, but according to the Federation of Jewish Communities there were at least twice as many, reflected in our estimate of 2,800. The number of Jews in Poland and Slovakia was very tentatively estimated at 3,500 and 3,300 respectively. In Bulgaria, the December 4, 1992 census reported 3,461 Jews; our 2002 estimate, reflecting emigration, was 2,300. Crisis in the former Yugoslavia enhanced Jewish population decline. The core Jewish population for the total of five successor republics was assessed at about 3,500 at the beginning of 2002. Of these, less than 2,000 lived in Serbia and Montenegro, and 1,300 in Croatia. The Jewish population of Turkey, where a significant surplus of deaths over births has been reported for several years, was re-estimated at about 17,000.

ASIA

Israel.

At the beginning of 2002, Israel’s Jewish population was 5,025,000 —second largest in the world and 565,000 more than the number enumerated in the November 1995 census. Crossing the line of 5 million Jews in Israel during 2001 was a significant landmark in Jewish population history. Adding over 250,000 non-Jewish members of immigrant families, mostly from the FSU but also from Ethiopia and other countries, an enlarged Jewish population of 5,278,700 obtained, out of Israel's total population of 6,508,400 (without the Palestinian population of the territories).

Israel accounted for 99 percent of the over 5 million Jews in Asia, including the Asian republics of the former USSR but excluding the Asian territories of the Russian Republic and Turkey (see table 5). At the beginning of 2002, Israel Jews constituted 37.8 percent of total world Jewry. Israel’s Jewish population grew in 2001 by 72,800, or 1.5 percent. The pace of growth was slowing down after reaching growth rates of 6.2 percent in 1990, 5 percent in 1991, and 2-2.5 percent between 1992 and 1996. The number of new immigrants in 2001 (43,443) declined by 28 percent versus 2000 (60,130) which in turn represented a 22 percent decline over 1999 (76,766). About 25 percent of Jewish population growth in 2001 derived from the net migration balance, against 32 percent in 2000; most Jewish population growth derived from natural increase. Moreover, 4,000 persons underwent Orthodox conversion in Israel in 1999, and 3,500 did in 2001—most of them immigrants from Ethiopia and the FSU and their children who were previously listed as non-Jews. More than half of all new candidates to conversion to Judaism attended the Institute for Judaism Studies jointly established in Israel by the Orthodox, Conservative and Reform movements.
(see Table 5)

At the beginning of 2001, Israel's enlarged Jewish population (including non-Jewish household members) amounted at 5,180,600. Of these, 4,794,600 lived on land included in Israel before the 1967 war, 172,000 lived in Jerusalem neighborhoods incorporated since 1967, and 15,800 lived on the Golan Heights.

Former USSR (Asian parts).

The total Jewish population in the Asian republics of the former USSR was estimated at 25,000 at the beginning of 2002. Ethnic conflicts in the Caucasus area, and the fear of Muslim fundamentalism in Central Asia continued to cause concern and stimulated Jewish emigration. At the beginning of the 1990s, minimal rates of natural increase still existed among the more traditional sections of these Jewish communities, but conditions were rapidly eroding this residual surplus. Reflecting these trends, the largest community remained in Azerbaijan (8,900 according to the 1999 census and 7,900 in 2002 versus 30,800 in 1989), followed by Uzbekistan (6,000 in 2002 vs. 94,900), Georgia (5,000 vs. 24,800), Kazakhstan (6,800 according to the 1999 census and 4,500 in 2002, vs. 19,900 in 1989), and the remaining republics (1,600 overall, thereof 900 in Kyrgyzstan, vs. 24,000 in 1989).

Other countries.

It is difficult to estimate the Jewish population of Iran, last counted in the 1986 national census. Based on evidence of continuing decline, the 2002 estimate was reduced to 11,200. In other Asian countries with veteran communities the Jewish population tended to disappear. The recent reduction was more notable in Syria and Yemen after Jews were officially allowed to emigrate.

In India, the 1991 census provided a figure of 5,271 Jews, 63 percent of whom in the state of Maharahastra including the main community of Mumbay. Another 1,067 persons belonging to such religious groups as Messianic Judaism and Enoka Israel, all from Mizoram, were also counted. A survey conducted in 1995-96 by ORT India covered 3,330 individuals, fairly well educated and experiencing the customary patterns of postponed marriage, declining fertility, and aging. Our 2002 estimate was 5,300.

Very small Jewish communities, partially of a transient character, exist in several countries of Southeast Asia. After the reunion in 1997 of Hong Kong with the mainland, China’s permanent Jewish population was roughly estimated at 1,000, the same as Japan.

AFRICA

About 87,000 Jews were estimated to remain in Africa at the beginning of 2002, of which about 90 percent in the Republic of South Africa (see table 6). The 1980 national census counted about 118,000 Jews among South Africa’s white population. Substantial Jewish emigration since then was partially compensated by Jewish immigration and return migration of former emigrants, but an incipient negative balance of internal changes produced some further attrition. The 1991 population census did not provide a reliable new national figure on Jewish population size as only 65,406 white people answered to be Jewish to a facultative question. The results of a Jewish-sponsored survey of the Jewish population in the five major South African urban centers, completed—like the census—in 1991, confirmed ongoing demographic decline. Based on that evidence, the most likely range of Jewish population size was estimated at 92,000 to 106,000 for 1991 with a central value of 100,000. According to the 1996 census there were 55,734 white Jews, 10,449 black Jews, 1,058 "coloured" (mixed race) Jews, and 359 Indian Jews. Continuing Jewish emigration from South Africa to Israel and other Western countries (especially Australia) stimulated by personal insecurity and other fears about the future was reflected in a new survey carried out in 1998. A new estimate was suggested of 80,000 for 2000, lowered to 78,000 in 2002, making South Africa the 12th largest Jewish population worldwide.

In recent years, the Jewish community of Ethiopia was at the center of an international effort of rescue. In 1991, the overwhelming majority of Ethiopian Jews—about 20,000 people—were brought to Israel, most of them in a one-day dramatic air-lift operation. Some of these migrants were non-Jewish members of mixed households. It was assumed that only few Jews had remained in Ethiopia, but in subsequent years the small remaining core Jewish population appeared to be larger than previously estimated. Between 1992 and 2001, nearly 20,000 immigrants from Ethiopia arrived in Israel—mostly non-Jewish relatives seeking reunification with their Jewish families. Although possibly more Jews may appear asking to emigrate to Israel, and more Christian relatives of Jews already in Israel may press for emigration before Israel terminates its current family reunification program, a conservative figure of 100 Jews was tentatively suggested for 2002. Small Jewish populations remained in various African countries south of Sahara.

The remnant of Moroccan and Tunisian Jewry tended to shrink slowly through emigration, mostly to Israel, France and Canada. The 2002 estimate was 5,600 for Morocco and 1,500 for Tunisia. As some Jews had a foothold both in Morocco or Tunisia and also in France or other Western countries, their geographical attribution was uncertain.
(See Table 6)

OCEANIA

The major country of Jewish residence in Oceania (Australasia) is Australia, where 95 percent of the estimated total of 104,000 Jews live (see table 7). A total of 79,805 people in Australia described their religion as Jewish in the 1996 national census. This represented an increase of 5,419 (7.3 percent) over the 1991 census figure of 74,186 declared Jews. In Australia the question on religion is optional. In 1996, over 25 percent (and in 1991, over 23 percent) of the country’s whole population either did not specify their religion or stated explicitly that they had none. This large group must be assumed to contain persons who identify in other ways as Jews, although it is not sure whether Jews in Australia state their religion more or less often that others. In a 1991 survey in Melbourne, where roughly one half of all Australia’s Jews live, only less than 7 percent of the Jewish respondents stated they had not identified as Jews in the census. The Melbourne survey actually depicted a very stable community combining growing acculturation with moderate levels of intermarriage. Australian Jewry received migratory reinforcements during the last decade, especially from South Africa, the FSU, and Israel. At the same time, there were demographic patterns with negative effects on Jewish population size, such as declining birth cohorts and strong aging. Taking into account these various factors, our 2002 estimate was 99,000—tenth largest community worldwide—substantially more than official census returns, but less than would obtain by adding the full proportion of those who did not report any religion in the census. The 2001 census will provide an improved population baseline.

In New Zealand, according to the 1996 Census, 4,821 people indicated a Jewish religious affiliation; a total of 1,545 indicated an Israeli/Jewish/Hebrew ethnicity, of which 633 were also Jewish by religion, 609 had another religion, and 303 reported no religion. Adding the latter to those who reported a Jewish religion, a core Jewish population estimate of 5,124 obtained.
(See Table 7)

Dispersion and Concentration

COUNTRY PATTERNS

While Jews are widely dispersed throughout the world, they are also concentrated to a large extent (see table 8). In 2002, over 97 percent of world Jewry lived in the 15 countries with the largest Jewish populations; and over 80 percent lived in the two largest communities—the United States and Israel. Similarly, ten leading Diaspora countries together comprised over 92 percent of the Diaspora Jewish population; three countries (United States, France, and Canada) accounted for nearly 80 percent, and the United States alone for nearly 69 percent of total Diaspora Jewry.
(see Table 8)

Table 9 demonstrates the magnitude of Jewish dispersion. The 94 individual countries listed above as each having at least 100 Jews are scattered over six continents. In 2002, 9 countries had a Jewish population of 100,000 or more; another 4 countries had 50,000 or more; 14 countries had 10,000-50,000; 11 countries had 5,000-10,000; and 56 countries had fewer than 5,000 Jews each. In relative terms, too, the Jews were thinly scattered nearly everywhere in the Diaspora. There is not a single Diaspora country where Jews amounted to 25 per 1,000 (2.5 percent) of the total population. In most countries they constituted a far smaller fraction. Only three Diaspora countries had more than 10 per 1,000 (1 percent) Jews in their total population; and another 5 countries had more than 5 Jews per 1,000 (0.5 percent) of population. The respective 8 countries were, in descending order of the proportion, but regardless of the absolute number of their Jews: Gibraltar (24.0 per 1,000), United States (20.1), Canada (11.8), France (8.8), Uruguay (6.7), Argentina (5.3), Australia (5.2), and Hungary (5.1). Other major Diaspora communities having lower proportions of Jews per 1,000 of total population were the United Kingdom (4.6 per 1,000), Russia (1.8), Germany (1.3), Ukraine (2.0), Brazil (0.6), South Africa (1.8), Mexico (0.4), and Belgium (3.1).

In the State of Israel, by contrast, the Jewish majority amounted to 772 per 1,000 (77.2 percent) in 2002—including the 207,700 Jews but not the Arab population of the Palestinian National Authority and other administered areas. Excluding both Jews and non-Jews in the West Bank and Gaza, the proportion of Jews in Israel (with East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights) was 76.5 percent. Jews represented 8.5 percent of the total population in the West Bank and 0.6 percent in the Gaza Strip.
(see Table 9)

CONCENTRATION IN MAJOR CITIES

Intensive international and internal migrations led to the concentration of an overwhelming majority of the Jews into large urban areas. Table 10 ranks the cities where the largest Jewish populations were found in 2002. These 20 central places and their suburban and satellite areas altogether comprised over 73 percent of the whole world Jewish population. Ten of these cities were in the U.S., four in Israel, two in Canada, and one each in France, the United Kingdom, Argentina, and Russia. The ten metropolitan areas in the United States included 78 percent of the total U.S. Jewry, and the four Israeli major urban areas included 80 percent of Israel’s Jewish population.

Even more striking evidence of the extraordinary urbanization of the Jews is the fact that over one-third of all world Jewry live in the metropolitan areas of Tel Aviv and New York, and 52 percent live in only six large metropolitan areas: in and around New York (including areas in New Jersey and Connecticut), Los Angeles (including neighboring counties), and Southeastern Florida in the U.S., and in the Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem conurbations in Israel.
(see Table 10)

 

Notes

1. The previous estimates, as of 1.1.2001, were published in AJYB 2001, vol. 101, pp. 532-569. See also Sergio DellaPergola, Uzi Rebhun, Mark Tolts, "Prospecting the Jewish Future: Population Projections 2000-2080", ibid, pp. 103-146; and previous AJYB volumes for further details on earlier estimates.
2. Many of these activities are carried out by, or in coordination with, the Division of Jewish Demography and Statistics at the A. Harman Institute of Contemporary Jewry (ICJ), the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The collaboration of the many institutions and individuals in the different countries who have supplied information for this update is acknowledged with thanks.
3. For overviews of the subject matter and technical issues see Paul Ritterband, Barry A. Kosmin, Jeffrey Scheckner, “Counting Jewish Populations: Methods and Problems”, AJYB 1988, vol. 88, pp. 204-21; Sergio DellaPergola, “Modern Jewish Demography” in Jack Wertheimer (ed.) The Modern Jewish Experience (New York, 1993) pp. 275-90.
4. See Roberto Bachi, Population Trends of World Jewry (Jerusalem, 1976); U.O. Schmelz, “Jewish Survival: The Demographic Factors”, AJYB 1981, vol. 81, pp. 61-117; U.O. Schmelz, Aging of World Jewry (Jerusalem, 1984); Sergio DellaPergola, “Changing Cores and Peripheries: Fifty Years in Socio-demographic Perspective”, in Terms of Survival: The Jewish World since 1945, ed. R.S. Wistrich (London, 1995) pp. 13-43; Sergio DellaPergola, World Jewry beyond 2000: Demographic Prospects (Oxford, 1999).
5. Following the International Conference on Jewish population problems held in Jerusalem in 1987, initiated by the late Dr. Roberto Bachi of the Hebrew University and sponsored by major Jewish organizations worldwide, an International Scientific Advisory Committee (ISAC) was established. Currently chaired Dr. Sidney Goldstein of Brown University, ISAC aims to coordinate and monitor Jewish population data collection internationally. See: Sergio DellaPergola, Leah Cohen (eds.) World Jewish Population: Trends and Policies (Jerusalem, 1992).
6. The term enlarged Jewish population was initially suggested by S. DellaPergola, “The Italian Jewish Population Study: Demographic Characteristics and Trends” in U.O.Schmelz, P.Glikson, S.J.Gould (eds.) Studies in Jewish Demography; Survey for 1969-1971 (Jerusalem-London, 1975), pp. 60-97.
7. For a concise review of the rules of attribution of Jewish personal status in Rabbinic and Israeli laws, including reference to Jewish sects, isolated communities, and apostates, see: Michael Corinaldi, “Jewish Identity”, Ch. 2 in his Jewish Identity: The Case of Ethiopian Jewry (Jerusalem, 1998).
8. The term core Jewish population was initially suggested by Barry A. Kosmin, Sidney Goldstein, Joseph Waksberg, Nava Lerer, Ariela Keysar, Jeffrey Scheckner, Highlights of the CJF 1990 National Jewish Population Survey (New York, 1991).
9. Data and estimates derived from the United Nations Population Division, Population, Resources, Environment and Development Databank (New York, 2002).
10. See DellaPergola, Rebhun, Tolts, "Prospecting the Jewish Future", cit..
11. Israel, Central Bureau of Statistics, Population and Vital Statistics 1997, (Jerusalem, 1998), p. 2-8.
12. The 1989-1990 National Jewish Population Survey was conducted under the auspices of the Council of Jewish Federations with the supervision of a National Technical Advisory Committee chaired by Dr. Sidney Goldstein of Brown University. Dr. Barry Kosmin of the North American Jewish Data Bank and City University of New York Graduate School directed the study. See: Kosmin et al., cit.; Sidney Goldstein, “Profile of American Jewry: Insights from the 1990 National Jewish Population Survey”, AJYB 1992, Vol. 92, pp. 77-173.
13. See Kosmin et al., p. 39.
14. See HIAS, Annual Report (New York).
15. Statistical Abstract of Israel, vol. 49, 1998, pp. 4-3, 4-5, 5-7; Yinon Cohen, Iitchak Haberfeld, “The Number of Israeli Immigrants in the United States in 1990”, Demography, 34, 2, 1997, pp. 199-212.
16. See Goldstein, AJYB 1992; see also: U.O. Schmelz, Sergio DellaPergola, Basic Trends in U.S. Jewish Demography (New York, American Jewish Committee, 1988); Sergio DellaPergola, “New Data on Demography and Identification among Jews in the U.S.: Trends, Inconsistencies and Disagreements”, Contemporary Jewry, Vol. 12, 1991, pp. 67-97.
17. Egon Mayer, Barry Kosmin, Ariela Keysar, American Jewish Identity Survey 2001 (New York, 2001).
18. The first in a new series of yearly compilations of local U.S. Jewish population estimates appeared in Barry A. Kosmin, Paul Ritterband, Jeffrey Scheckner, “Jewish Population in the United States, 1987,” AJYB 1987, vol. 87, pp. 164-91. For 2000 see Jim Schwartz, Jeffrey Scheckner, “Jewish Population in the United States, 2000”, AJYB 2001, vol. 101, pp. 253-280. The 2001 update appears elsewhere in the present volume.
19. See Uzi Rebhun, “Changing Patterns of Internal Migration 1970-1990: A Comparative Analysis of Jews and Whites in the United States”, Demography, 34, 2, 1997, pp. 213-223.
20. The NAJDB estimate for the total U.S. Jewry in 2000 exceeds ours by 436,000 (a difference of 7.6 percent). Since 1990 we have estimated a Jewish population increase of 185,000 as against 621,000 according to NAJDB, and a decline of 175,000 according to AJIS.
21. The sum inconsistency appears in the original report: Statistics Canada, Top 25 Ethnic Origins in Canada, Showing Single and Multiple Responses, for Canada, 1996 Census (20% Sample Data) (Ottawa, 1998).
22. Statistics Canada, Religions in Canada—1991 Census (Ottawa, 1993); Jim L. Torczyner, Shari L. Brotman, Kathy Viragh, Gustave J. Goldmann, Demographic Challenges Facing Canadian Jewry; Initial Findings from the 1991 Census (Montreal, 1993); Jim L. Torczyner, Shari L. Brotman, “The Jews of Canada: A Profile from the Census,” AJYB 1995, vol. 95, pp. 227-260. See also Leo Davids, “The Jewish Population of Canada, 1991” in Sergio DellaPergola, Judith Even (eds.), Papers in Jewish Demography 1993 in Memory of U.O. Schmelz (Jerusalem, 1997) pp. 311-323.
23. Sergio DellaPergola, Susana Lerner, La población judía de México: Perfil demográfico, social y cultural (México-Jerusalén, 1995). The project, conducted in cooperation between the Centro de Estudios Urbanos y de Desarrollo Urbano (CEDDU), El Colegio de Mexico, and the Division of Jewish Demography and Statistics of the A. Harman Institute of Contemporary Jewry, The Hebrew University, was sponsored by the Asociación Mexicana de Amigos de la Universidad Hebrea de Jerusalén.
24. Carlos Tapiero, The Jewish Community of Guatemala: Sociodemographic Profile and Cultural and Religious Identity (Jerusalem, 2001, unpublished M.A. Thesis, Hebrew and Spanish).
25. For a more detailed discussion of the region’s Jewish population trends, see U.O. Schmelz, Sergio DellaPergola, “The Demography of Latin American Jewry”, AJYB 1985, vol. 85, pp. 51-102; Sergio DellaPergola, “Demographic Trends of Latin American Jewry”, in J. Laikin Elkin, G.W. Merks (eds.) The Jewish Presence in Latin America (Boston, 1987), pp. 85-133.
26. Rosa N. Geldstein, Censo de la Poblacion Judia de la ciudad de Salta, 1986; Informe final (Buenos Aires, 1988); Yacov Rubel, Los Judios de Villa Crespo y Almagro: Perfil Socio-demográfico (Buenos Aires, 1989); Yacov Rubel, Mario Toer, Censo de la Población Judía de Rosario, 1990 (Buenos Aires, 1992); Centro Union Israelita de Cordoba, First Sociodemographic Study of Jewish Population; Cordoba 1993 (Cordoba, 1995).
27. See a brief overview of the problems in Laura Golbert, Norma Lew, Alejandro Rofman, La nueva pobreza judía (Buenos Aires, 1997).
28. IBGE, Censo demográfico do Brazil (Rio de Janeiro, 1997).
29. Henrique Rattner, Recenseamento e pesquisa sociológica da comunidad judaica de São Paulo, 1968, in Henrique Rattner (ed.) Nos caminhos da diáspora (São Paulo, 1972); Claudia Milnitzky, ed., Apendice estatistico da comunidade judaica do estado de São Paulo (São Paulo, 1980); Egon and Frieda Wolff, Documentos V; Os recenseamentos demograficos oficiais do seculo XX (Rio de Janeiro, 1993-1994).
30. Anita Brumer, Identidade em mudança; Pesquisa sociológica sobre os judeus do Rio Grande do Sul (Porto Alegre, 1994).
31. Rene D. Decol Imigrações urbanas para o Brasil: o caso dos Judeus. (Campinas, University of Campinas, 1999, unpublished Ph.D. dissertation); Daniel Sasson, A comunidade judaica do Rio de Janeiro; Metodologia da pesquisa (Rio de Janeiro, 1997).
32. Gabriel Berger et al., Estudio Socio-Demográfico de la Comunidad Judía de Chile (Santiago- Buenos Aires, 1995).
33. Sergio DellaPergola, Salomon Benzaquen, Tony Beker de Weinraub, Perfil sociodemográfico y cutural de la comunidad judía de Caracas (Caracas, 2000). The survey was sponsored by the two main local Jewish community organizations, the Asociación Israelita de Venezuela and the Union Israelita de Caracas, and by the Asociación de Amigos de la Universidad Hebrea de Jerusalén.
34. Local observers had expected quicker reduction of Jewish population size. See: Leon Trahtemberg Siederer, Demografia judía del Peru (Lima, 1988).
35. See Sergio DellaPergola, “Jews in the European Community: Sociodemographic Trends and Challenges”, AJYB 1993, Vol. 93, pp. 25-82.
36. Doris Bensimon, Sergio DellaPergola, La population juive de France: socio-démographie et identité (Jerusalem-Paris, 1984).
37. Erik H. Cohen, L’Etude et l’éducation juive en France ou l’avenir d’une communauté (Paris, 1991).
38. Marlena Schmool, Frances Cohen, A Profile of British Jewry: Patterns and Trends at the Turn of the Century (London, 1998)
39. Steven Haberman, Barry A. Kosmin, Caren Levy, “Mortality Patterns of British Jews 1975-79: Insights and Applications for the Size and Structure of British Jewry”, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, A, 146, pt. 3, 1983, pp. 294-310; Steven Haberman, Marlena Schmool, “Estimates of British Jewish Population 1984-88”, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, A, 158, pt. 3, 1995, pp. 547-562; Stanley Waterman, Barry Kosmin, British Jewry in the Eighties: A Statistical and Geographical Guide (London, 1986); Marlena Schmool, Report on Community Statistics (London, yearly publication).
40. Marlena Schmool, Frances Cohen, British Synagogue Membership in 1990 (London, 1991); Stephen Miller, Marlena Schmool, Antony Lerman, Social and Political Attitudes of British Jews: Some Key Findings of the JPR Survey (London, 1996).
41. Statistisches Bundesamt, Bevölkerung und Erwerbstätigkeit, Volkszählung vom 25 Mai 1987, Heft 6 (Stuttgart, 1990).
42. See Madeleine Tress, “Welfare state type, labour markets and refugees: a comparison of Jews from the former Soviet Union in the United States and the Federal Republic of Germany”, Ethnic and Racial Studies, 21,1, 1998, 116-137.
43. Zentralwohlfartsstelle der Juden in Deutschland, Mitgliederstatistik; Der Einzelnen Jüdischen Gemeinden und Landesverbände in Deutschland (Frankfurt, yearly).
44. For an overview see Sergio DellaPergola, “La popolazione ebraica in Italia nel contesto ebraico globale” in Corrado Vivanti (ed.) Storia d’Italia, Ebrei in Italia (Torino, 1997), Vol.2, pp. 895-936.
45. C. Kooyman, J. Almagor, Israelis in Holland: A Socio-demographic Study of Israelis and Former Israelis in Holland (Amsterdam, 1996); Philip van Praag, “Between Speculation and Reality”, Studia Rosenthaliana, special issue published together with vol. 23, 2, 1989, pp. 175-179.
46. Personal communication by Dr. Chris Kooyman, Stichting Joods Maatschappelijk Werk, Amsterdam.
47. Bundesamt für Statistik, Wohnbevölkerung nach Konfession und Geschlecht, 1980 und 1990 (Bern, 1993).
48. For the historical demographic background see U.O. Schmelz, “New Evidence on Basic Issues in the Demography of Soviet Jews”, The Jewish Journal of Sociology, 16, no. 2, 1974, pp. 209-23; Mordechai Altshuler, Soviet Jewry since the Second World War: Population and Social Structure (Westport, 1987); Mordechai Altshuler, Soviet Jewry on the Eve of the Holocaust: A Social and Demographic Profile (Jerusalem, 1998).
49. Dr. Mark Tolts of the A. Harman Institute of Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University, actively contributed to the preparation of FSU Jewish population estimates. See: Mark Tolts, "Main Demographic Trends of the Jews in Russia and the FSU" (Jerusalem, 2001).
50. Goskomstat SSSR, Vestnik Statistiki, 10 (1990), pp. 69-71. This figure does not include about 30,000 Tats who were in fact Mountain Jews—a group mostly concentrated in the Caucasus area that enjoys fully Jewish status and the prerogatives granted by Israel’s Law of Return.
51. Yearly migration estimates can be compiled according to (ex-)Soviet, Israeli, American, German and other sources, especially Israel Central Bureau of Statistics and HIAS yearly reports. See also: Mark Tolts, “Demography of the Jews in the Former Soviet Union: Yesterday and Today”, Paper presented at the Conference Jewish Life after the USSR: A Community in Transition, Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass., 1999); Yoel Florsheim, “Emigration of Jews from the Soviet Union in 1989”, Jews and Jewish Topics in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, 2 (12), 1990, pp. 22-31; Sidney Heitman, “Soviet Emigration in 1990”, Berichte des Bundesinstitut fur Ostwissenschaftliche und internationale studien, vol. 33, 1991; Zentralwohlfahrtsstelle..., cit.; M. Tress, cit..
52. Mark Tolts, “The Jewish Population of Russia, 1989-1995”, Jews in Eastern Europe, 3 (31), 1996; Mark Tolts, “Demography of the Jews in the Former Soviet Union: Yesterday and Today”, cit..
53. Mark Tolts, “Some Basic Trends in Soviet Jewish Demography” in U.O. Schmelz, S. DellaPergola (eds.) Papers in Jewish Demography 1989 (Jeruslem, 1993) pp. 237-243; Viacheslav Konstantinov, “Jewish Population of the USSR on the Eve of the Great Exodus”, Jews and Jewish Topics in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe 3 (16), 1991, pp. 5-23; Mordechai Altshuler, “Socio-demographic Profile of Moscow Jews”, ibid., pp. 24-40; Mark Tolts, “The Balance of Births and Deaths Among Soviet Jewry”, Jews and Jewish Topics in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe 2 (18), 1992, pp. 13-26; Leonid E. Darsky, “Fertility in the USSR; Basic Trends” (paper presented at European Population Conference, Paris, 1991); Mark Tolts, “Jewish Marriages in the USSR: A Demographic Analysis”, East European Jewish Affairs 22 (2) (London, 1992); Sidney and Alice Goldstein, Lithuanian Jewry 1993: A Demographic and Sociocultural Profile (Jerusalem, 1997).
54. Age structures of the Jewish population in the Russian Federal Republic were reported in: Goskomstat SSSR, Itogi vsesoiuznoi perepisi naseleniia 1970 goda, Vol. 4, Tab. 33 (Moscow, 1973); Goskomstat SSSR, Itogi vsesoiuznoi perepisi naseleniia 1979 goda, Vol. 4, Part 2, Tab. 2 (Moscow, 1989); Goskomstat SSSR, Itogi vsesoiuznoi perepisi naseleniia 1989 goda (Moscow, 1991). Age structures of recent Jewish migrants from the USSR to the United States and to Israel appear, respectively, in: HIAS, Statistical Report (New York, yearly publication) and unpublished annual data kindly communicated to the author; Israel, Central Bureau of Statistics, Immigration to Israel, Special Series, (Jerusalem, yearly publication); Yoel Florsheim, “Immigration to Israel and the United States from the former Soviet Union, 1992”, Jews in Eastern Europe, 3 (22), 1993, pp. 31-39; Mark Tolts, “Trends in Soviet Jewish Demography since the Second World War” in Jews and Jewish Life in Russia and the Soviet Union, ed. Ya’acov Ro’i (London, 1995) pp. 365-82; Mark Tolts, “Demography of the Jews in the Former Soviet Union: Yestarday and Today”, cit..
55. Mark Tolts, “Demographic Trends of the Jews in the Three Slavic Republics of the Former USSR: A Comparative Abalysis” in S. DellaPergola, J. Even (eds.), Papers in Jewish Demography 1993 (Jerusalem, 1997), pp. 147-175; Mark Tolts, “The Interrelationship between Emigration and the Sociodemographic Trends of Russian Jewry” in N. Levin Epstein, Y. Ro’i, P. Ritterband (eds.) Russian Jews on Three Continents (London, 1997), pp. 147-176.
56. See V. Aleksandrova, “Mikroperepisis’ naseleniia Rossiiskoi Federatsii,” Voprosy Statistiki, 1994 (1), p. 37 (Moscow, 1994). See also Mark Tolts, “The Interrelationship Between Emigration and the Socio-Demographic Profile of Russian Jewry”, in Russian Jews on Three Continents, ed. Noah Levin-Epstein, Paul Ritterband, Yaakov Ro’i (London, 1996) pp. 147-176.
57. Ministry of Statistics and Analysis of the Republic of Belarus, Population of the Republic of Belarus: Results of the 1999 Population Census Conducted in the Republic of Belarus (Minsk, 2000).
58. Malka Korazim, Ester Katz, Vladimir Bruter, Survey of the Jewish Population in Moldova. (Jerusalem, 2002).
59. Goldstein, Lithuanian Jewry 1993, cit.; Lithuanian Department of Statistics, Demographic Yearbook 1996 (Vilnius, 1997); Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia, Demographic Yearbook of Latvia 1997 (Riga, 1997); Anna Stroi, “Latvia v chelovecheskom izmerenii: etnicheskii aspekt”, Diena (Riga, 1997).
60. Council of Europe, Recent Demographic Developments in Europe, 2000 (Strasbourg, 2000).
61. Mark Tolts, “Jews in the Russian Republic since the Second World War: the Dynamics of Demographic Erosion”, in International Union for the Scientific Study of Population, International Population Conference (Montreal, 1993) Vol. 3, pp. 99-111; Evgeni Andreev, “Jews in Russia's Households (Based on the 1994 Microcensus)”, in S. DellaPergola, J.Even (eds.) Papers in Jewish Demography 1997 (Jerusalem, 2001), pp. 141-159; Tolts, "Main Demographic Trends and Characteristics…", cit.
62. Israel’s Ministry of Interior records the religion-nationality of each person, including new immigrants. Such attribution is made on the basis of documentary evidence supplied by the immigrants themselves and checked by competent authorities in Israel. According to data available from the Interior Ministry’s Central Population Register, 90.3 percent of all new immigrants from the USSR during the period October 1989-August 1992 were recorded as Jewish. In 1994, the percent had declined to 71.6, in 1998 it was less than 60 percent, and in 2000 less than 50 percent. See: Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, Immigration to Israel 1998 (Jerusalem, 2000) and unpublished data. See also: Sergio DellaPergola, “The Demographic Context of the Soviet Aliya”, Jews and Jewish Topics in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, 3 (16), 1991, pp. 41-56.
63. The survey was directed by Prof. Andras Kovacs of the Central European University in Budapest. Publication is forthcoming.
64. Tamás Stark, "Hungarian Jewry during the Holocaust and after Liberation", in S. DellaPergola, J.Even (eds.) Papers in Jewish Demography 1993 in memory of U.O. Schmelz (Jerusalem, 1997), pp. 139-145.
65. Statistical Yearbook (Sofia, 1992).
66. For an overview see Melita Svob, Jews in Croatia: Migration and Changes in Jewish Population (Zagreb, 1997).
67. Shaul Tuval, The Jewish Community of Istanbul, 1948-1992: A Study in Cultural, Economic and Social Processes (Jerusalem, 1999, unpublished Ph. D. dissertation), and personal communication.
68. Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, Population and Vital Statistics (Jerusalem, 2002); Monthly Bulletin of Statistics (Jerusalem, 2002).
69. The Israel Central Bureau of Statistics refers to such enlarged population as "Jews and others".
70. We thank the staff of Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics for facilitating compilation of published and unpublished data. For a comprehensive review of sociodemographic changes in Israel, see U.O. Schmelz, Sergio DellaPergola, Uri Avner, “Ethnic Differences among Israeli Jews: A New Look”, AJYB 1990, vol. 90, pp. 3-204. See also: Sergio DellaPergola, “Demographic Changes in Israel in the Early 1990s”, in: Y. Kop (ed.) Israel’s Social Services 1992-93 (Jerusalem, 1993), pp. 57-115.
71. Data released by Rabbinical Courts and special Conversion Courts. See Ha’aretz, 24 December 2000.
72. Sergio DellaPergola, "Demography in Israel/Palestine: Trends, Prospects, Policy Implications", Paper presented at IUSSP XXIV General Population Conference (Salvador de Bahia, 2001).
73. Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, Immigration to Israel 1998 (Jerusalem, 2000); Ministry of Immigrants Absorption, Division of Data Systems, Selected Data on Aliyah, 2000 (Jerusalem, 2001); Jewish Agency for Israel, Division of Aliyah and Absorption, Data on Aliyah by Continents and Selected Countries (Jerusalem, 2001).
74. Tolts, “The Balance...”, cit.
75. Not including the Jewish portion of the Tat group.
76. Statistical Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Natsionaln'nyi sostav naseleniia Respubliki Kazakhstan: Itogi perepisi naseleniia 1999 goda v Respublike Kazakhstan, Vol. 1 (Almaty, 2000).
77. Data kindly provided by Dr. Mehdi Bozorgmehr, Von Grunebaum Center for Near Eastern Studies, University of California-UCLA, Los Angeles.
78. Asha A. Bhende, Prakash Fulpagare, Demographic and Socio-Economic Characteristics of the Jews in India (Mumbai, 1997).
79. Sergio DellaPergola, Allie A. Dubb, “South African Jewry: A Sociodemographic Profile”, AJYB 1988, vol. 88, pp. 59-140.
80. The study was directed by Dr. Allie A. Dubb and supported by the Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies, University of Cape Town. See Allie A. Dubb, The Jewish Population of South Africa; The 1991 Sociodemographic Survey (Cape Town, 1994).
81. Barry A. Kosmin, Jaqueline Goldberg, Milton Shain, Shirley Bruk, Jews of the New South Africa': highlights of the 1998 national survey of South African Jews (London, 1999).
82. See George E. Gruen, “Jews in the Middle East and North Africa”, AJYB 1994, Vol. 94, pp. 438-464; and data communicated by Jewish organizations.
83. William D. Rubinstein, “Jews in the 1996 Australian Census”, Australian Jewish Historical Society Journal, 14, 3, 1998, pp. 495-507.
84. Bill Rubinstein, “Census total for Jews Up by 7.7 Percent; Big Gains in Smaller States”, unpublished report (Geelong, Victoria, 1993).
85. John Goldlust, The Jews of Melbourne; A Report of the Findings of the Jewish Community Survey, 1991 (Melbourne, 1993).
86. Sol Encel, Nathan Moss, Sydney Jewish Community; Demographic Profile (Sydney, 1995).
87. Statistics New Zealand, 1996 Census of Population and Dwellings, Ethnic Groups (Wellington, 1997).
88. Definitions of metropolitan statistical areas vary across countries. Estimates reported here reflect the criteria and updates adopted in each place. For U.S. estimates, see Schwartz and Scheckner, cit., AJYB 1998; for Canadian estimates see Torczyner and Brotman, cit.; for other diaspora estimates, A. Harman Institute of Contemporary Jewry; for Israeli estimates see Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, Population and Vital Statistics 1999, cit.; Monthly Bulletin, cit. Following the 1995 population census in Israel, major metropolitan urban areas were redefined. Netanya and Ashdod, each with a Jewish population exceeding 100,000, were included in the outer ring of the Greater Tel Aviv area. A Metropolitan Area for Beer Sheva was newly established in 2001, covering a Jewish population nearly double of that of the central city.