Israel is home to a widely diverse population from many ethnic, religious, cultural, and social backgrounds. A new society with ancient roots, it is still coalescing and evolving today. Of its 7.8 million people, 75.5 percent are Jews, 20.2 percent are Arabs (mostly Muslim) and the remaining 4.3 percent comprise Druze, Circassians, and others not classified by religion. The society is relatively young and is characterized by social and religious commitment, political ideology, economic resourcefulness, and cultural creativity, all of which contribute momentum to its continuing development.​