Gaza Strip

§1. Gaza Strip Introduction

Background:
  The Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government
  Arrangements (the DOP), signed in Washington on 13 September 1993, provided
  for a transitional period not exceeding five years of Palestinian interim
  self-government in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Under the DOP, Israel
  agreed to transfer certain powers and responsibilities to the Palestinian
  Authority, which includes the Palestinian Legislative Council elected in
  January 1996, as part of the interim self-governing arrangements in the
  West Bank and Gaza Strip. A transfer of powers and responsibilities for the
  Gaza Strip and Jericho took place pursuant to the Israel-PLO 4 May 1994
  Cairo Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area and in additional
  areas of the West Bank pursuant to the Israel-PLO 28 September 1995 Interim
  Agreement, the Israel-PLO 15 January 1997 Protocol Concerning Redeployment
  in Hebron, the Israel-PLO 23 October 1998 Wye River Memorandum, and the 4
  September 1999 Sharm el-Sheikh Agreement. The DOP provides that Israel will
  retain responsibility during the transitional period for external security
  and for internal security and public order of settlements and Israeli
  citizens. Permanent status is to be determined through direct negotiations,
  which resumed in September 1999 after a three-year hiatus. An intifadah
  broke out in September 2000; the resulting widespread violence in the West
  Bank and Gaza Strip, Israel's military response, and instability in the
  Palestinian Authority are undermining progress toward a permanent
  settlement.

§2. Gaza Strip Geography

Location:
  Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Israel

Geographic coordinates:
  31 25 N, 34 20 E

Map references:
  Middle East

Area:
  total: 360 kmē
  land: 360 kmē
  water: 0 kmē

Area - comparative:
  slightly more than twice the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries:
  total: 62 km border countries: Egypt 11 km, Israel 51 km

Coastline:
  40 km

Maritime claims:
  Israeli-occupied with current status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian
  Interim Agreement - permanent status to be determined through further
  negotiation

Climate:
  temperate, mild winters, dry and warm to hot summers

Terrain:
  flat to rolling, sand- and dune-covered coastal plain

Elevation extremes:
  lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m highest point: Abu 'Awdah (Joz Abu
    'Auda) 105 m

Natural resources:
  arable land, natural gas

Land use:
  arable land: 24%
  permanent crops: 39%
  permanent pastures: 0%
  forests and woodland: 11%
  other: 26% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land:
  120 kmē (1993 est.)

Natural hazards:
  droughts

Environment - current issues:
  desertification; salination of fresh water; sewage treatment; water-borne
  disease; soil degradation

Geography - note:
  there are 25 Israeli settlements and civilian land use sites in the Gaza
  Strip (August 2000 est.)

§3. Gaza Strip People

Population:
  1,178,119 (July 2001 est.)
  note: in addition, there are some 6,900 Israeli settlers in the Gaza Strip
    (August 2000 est.)

Age structure:
  0-14 years: 49.89% (male 301,288; female 286,481)
  15-64 years: 47.32% (male 283,274; female 274,189)
  65 years and over: 2.79% (male 14,121; female 18,766) (2001 est.)

Population growth rate:
  4.01% (2001 est.)

Birth rate:
  42.48 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate:
  4.21 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate:
  1.8 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Sex ratio:
  at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
  under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
  15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
  65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female
  total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
  25.37 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
  total population: 71.01 years male: 69.76 years
  female: 72.32 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate:
  6.42 children born/woman (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
  NA%

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
  NA

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
  NA

Nationality:
  noun: NA
  adjective: NA

Ethnic groups:
  Palestinian Arab and other 99.4%, Jewish 0.6%

Religions:
  Muslim (predominantly Sunni) 98.7%, Christian 0.7%, Jewish 0.6%

Languages:
  Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many Palestinians), English
  (widely understood)

Literacy:
  definition: NA
  total population: NA%
  male: NA%
  female: NA%

§4. Gaza Strip Government

Country name:
  conventional long form: none
  conventional short form: Gaza Strip
  local long form: none
  local short form: Qita Ghazzah

§5. Gaza Strip Economy

Economy - overview:
  Economic output in the Gaza Strip - which comes under the responsibility of
  the Palestinian Authority since the Cairo Agreement of May 1994 - declined
  perhaps one-third between 1992 and 1996. The downturn was largely the
  result of Israeli closure policies - the imposition of generalized border
  closures in response to security incidents in Israel - which disrupted
  previously established labor and commodity market relationships between
  Israel and the WBGS (West Bank and Gaza Strip). The most serious negative
  social effect of this downturn was the emergence of high unemployment;
  unemployment in the WBGS during the 1980s was generally under 5%; by 1995
  it had risen to over 20%. Since 1997 Israel's use of comprehensive closures
  has decreased and, in 1998, Israel implemented new policies to reduce the
  impact of closures and other security procedures on the movement of
  Palestinian goods and labor. These changes fueled an almost three-year long
  economic recovery in the West Bank and Gaza Strip; real GDP grew by 5% in
  1998 and 6% in 1999. Recovery was upended in the last quarter of 2000 with
  the outbreak of Palestinian violence, which triggered tight Israeli
  closures of Palestinian self-rule areas and a severe disruption of trade
  and labor movements.

GDP:
  purchasing power parity - $1.11 billion (2000 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
  -7.5% (2000 est.)

GDP - per capita:
  purchasing power parity - $1,000 (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
  agriculture: 9% industry: 28%
  services: 63% (1999 est., includes West Bank)

Population below poverty line:
  NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
  lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  3% (includes West Bank) (2000 est.)

Labor force:
  NA

Labor force - by occupation:
  services 66%, industry 21%, agriculture 13% (1996)

Unemployment rate:
  40% (includes West Bank) (yearend 2000)

Budget:
  revenues: $1.6 billion
  expenditures: $1.73 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
  note: includes West Bank (1999 est.)

Industries:
  generally small family businesses that produce textiles, soap, olive-wood
  carvings, and mother-of-pearl souvenirs; the Israelis have established some
  small-scale modern industries in an industrial center

Industrial production growth rate:
  NA%

Electricity - production:
  NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by Israel

Electricity - consumption:
  NA kWh

Electricity - exports:
  0 kWh (1999)

Electricity - imports:
  NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by Israel

Agriculture - products:
  olives, citrus, vegetables; beef, dairy products

Exports:
  $682 million (f.o.b., 1998 est.) (includes West Bank)

Exports - commodities:
  citrus, flowers

Exports - partners:
  Israel, Egypt, West Bank

Imports:
  $2.5 billion (c.i.f., 1998 est.) (includes West Bank)

Imports - commodities:
  food, consumer goods, construction materials

Imports - partners:
  Israel, Egypt, West Bank

Debt - external:
  $108 million (1997 est.) (includes West Bank)

Economic aid - recipient:
  $121 million disbursed (2000) (includes West Bank)

Currency:
  new Israeli shekel (ILS)

Currency code:
  ILS

Exchange rates:
  new Israeli shekels per US dollar - 4.0810 (December 2000), 4.0773 (2000),
  4.1397 (1999), 3.8001 (1998), 3.4494 (1997), 3.1917 (1996)

Fiscal year:
  calendar year

§6. Gaza Strip Communications

Telephones - main lines in use:
  95,729 (total for Gaza Strip and West Bank) (1997)

Telephones - mobile cellular:
  NA

Telephone system:
  general assessment: NA domestic: rudimentary telephone services provided by
    an open wire system
  international: NA

Radio broadcast stations:
  AM 0, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998)

Radios:
  NA; note - most Palestinian households have radios (1999)

Television broadcast stations:
  2 (operated by the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation) (1997)

Televisions:
  NA; note - most Palestinian households have televisions (1997)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
  3 (1999)

Internet users:
  23,520 (1999) (includes West Bank)

§7. Gaza Strip Transportation

Railways:
  total: NA km; note - one line, abandoned and in disrepair, little trackage
    remains

Highways:
  total: NA km
  paved: NA km
  unpaved: NA km
  note: small, poorly developed road network

Waterways:
  none

Ports and harbors:
  Gaza

Airports:
  2
  note: includes Gaza International Airport that opened on 24 November 1998
    as part of agreements stipulated in the September 1995 Oslo II Accord and
    the 23 October 1998 Wye River Memorandum (2000 est.)

Airports - with paved runways:
  total: 1 over 3,047 m: 1 (2000 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
  total: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.)

§8. Gaza Strip Military

Military branches:
  NA

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
  $NA

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
  NA%

§9. Gaza Strip Transnational Issues

Disputes - international:
  West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli-occupied with current status subject
  to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent status to be
  determined through further negotiation

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

West Bank

§1. West Bank Introduction

Background:
  The Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government
  Arrangements (the DOP), signed in Washington on 13 September 1993, provided
  for a transitional period not exceeding five years of Palestinian interim
  self-government in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Under the DOP, Israel
  agreed to transfer certain powers and responsibilities to the Palestinian
  Authority, which includes the Palestinian Legislative Council elected in
  January 1996, as part of interim self-governing arrangements in the West
  Bank and Gaza Strip. A transfer of powers and responsibilities for the Gaza
  Strip and Jericho took place pursuant to the Israel-PLO 4 May 1994 Cairo
  Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area and in additional areas of
  the West Bank pursuant to the Israel-PLO 28 September 1995 Interim
  Agreement, the Israel-PLO 15 January 1997 Protocol Concerning Redeployment
  in Hebron, the Israel-PLO 23 October 1998 Wye River Memorandum, and the 4
  September 1999 Sharm el-Sheikh Agreement. The DOP provides that Israel will
  retain responsibility during the transitional period for external security
  and for internal security and public order of settlements and Israeli
  citizens. Permanent status is to be determined through direct negotiations,
  which resumed in September 1999 after a three-year hiatus. An intifadah
  broke out in September 2000; the resulting widespread violence in the West
  Bank and Gaza Strip, Israel's military response, and instability in the
  Palestinian Authority are undermining progress toward a permanent
  settlement.

§2. West Bank Geography

Location:
  Middle East, west of Jordan

Geographic coordinates:
  32 00 N, 35 15 E

Map references:
  Middle East

Area:
  total: 5,860 kmē
  land: 5,640 kmē
  water: 220 kmē
  note: includes West Bank, Latrun Salient, and the northwest quarter of the
    Dead Sea, but excludes Mt. Scopus; East Jerusalem and Jerusalem No Man's
    Land are also included only as a means of depicting the entire area
    occupied by Israel in 1967

Area - comparative:
  slightly smaller than Delaware

Land boundaries:
  total: 404 km border countries: Israel 307 km, Jordan 97 km

Coastline:
  0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims:
  none (landlocked)

Climate:
  temperate, temperature and precipitation vary with altitude, warm to hot
  summers, cool to mild winters

Terrain:
  mostly rugged dissected upland, some vegetation in west, but barren in east

Elevation extremes:
  lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m highest point: Tall Asur 1,022 m

Natural resources:
  arable land

Land use:
  arable land: 27%
  permanent crops: 0%
  permanent pastures: 32%
  forests and woodland: 1%
  other: 40%

Irrigated land:
  NA kmē

Natural hazards:
  droughts

Environment - current issues:
  adequacy of fresh water supply; sewage treatment

Geography - note:
  landlocked; highlands are main recharge area for Israel's coastal aquifers;
  there are 231 Israeli settlements and civilian land use sites in the West
  Bank and 29 in East Jerusalem (August 1999 est.)

§3. West Bank People

Population:
  2,090,713 (July 2001 est.)
  note: in addition, there are some 176,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank
    and about 173,000 in East Jerusalem (August 1999 est.)

Age structure:
  0-14 years: 44.61% (male 478,232; female 454,439)
  15-64 years: 51.8% (male 552,661; female 530,230)
  65 years and over: 3.59% (male 32,629; female 42,522) (2001 est.)

Population growth rate:
  3.48% (2001 est.)

Birth rate:
  35.83 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate:
  4.37 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate:
  3.29 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Sex ratio:
  at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
  under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
  15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
  65 years and over: 0.77 male(s)/female
  total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
  21.78 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
  total population: 72.28 years male: 70.58 years
  female: 74.07 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate:
  4.9 children born/woman (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
  NA%

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
  NA

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
  NA

Nationality:
  noun: NA
  adjective: NA

Ethnic groups:
  Palestinian Arab and other 83%, Jewish 17%

Religions:
  Muslim 75% (predominantly Sunni), Jewish 17%, Christian and other 8%

Languages:
  Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many Palestinians), English
  (widely understood)

Literacy:
  definition: NA
  total population: NA%
  male: NA%
  female: NA%

§4. West Bank Government

Country name:
  conventional long form: none
  conventional short form: West Bank

§5. West Bank Economy

Economy - overview:
  Economic output in the West Bank is governed by the Paris Economic Protocol
  of April 1994 between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Real per capita
  GDP for the West Bank and Gaza Strip (WBGS) declined by 36.1% between 1992
  and 1996 owing to the combined effect of falling aggregate incomes and
  rapid population growth. The downturn in economic activity was largely the
  result of Israeli closure policies - the imposition of border closures in
  response to security incidents in Israel - which disrupted established
  labor and commodity market relationships between Israel and the WBGS. The
  most serious social effect of this downturn was rising unemployment;
  unemployment in the WBGS during the 1980s was generally under 5%; by 1995
  it had risen to over 20%. Since 1997 Israel's use of comprehensive closures
  has decreased and, in 1998, Israel implemented new policies to reduce the
  impact of closures and other security procedures on the movement of
  Palestinian goods and labor. These changes fueled an almost three-year long
  economic recovery in the West Bank and Gaza Strip; real GDP grew by 5% in
  1998 and 6% in 1999. Recovery was upended in the last quarter of 2000 with
  the outbreak of Palestinian violence, which triggered tight Israeli
  closures of Palestinian self-rule areas and a severe disruption of trade
  and labor movements.

GDP:
  purchasing power parity - $3.1 billion (2000 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
  -7.5% (2000 est.)

GDP - per capita:
  purchasing power parity - $1,500 (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
  agriculture: 9% industry: 28%
  services: 63%
  note: includes Gaza Strip (1999 est.)

Population below poverty line:
  NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
  lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  3% (includes Gaza Strip) (2000 est.)

Labor force:
  NA

Labor force - by occupation:
  services 66%, industry 21%, agriculture 13% (1996)

Unemployment rate:
  40% (includes Gaza Strip) (yearend 2000)

Budget:
  revenues: $1.6 billion
  expenditures: $1.73 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
  note: includes Gaza Strip (1999 est.)

Industries:
  generally small family businesses that produce cement, textiles, soap,
  olive-wood carvings, and mother-of-pearl souvenirs; the Israelis have
  established some small-scale, modern industries in the settlements and
  industrial centers

Industrial production growth rate:
  NA%

Electricity - production:
  NA kWh; note - most electricity imported from Israel; East Jerusalem
  Electric Company buys and distributes electricity to Palestinians in East
  Jerusalem and its concession in the West Bank; the Israel Electric Company
  directly supplies electricity to most Jewish residents and military
  facilities; at the same time, some Palestinian municipalities, such as
  Nablus and Janin, generate their own electricity from small power plants

Electricity - production by source:
  fossil fuel: NA% hydro: NA%
  nuclear: NA%
  other: NA%

Electricity - consumption:
  NA kWh

Electricity - imports:
  NA kWh

Agriculture - products:
  olives, citrus, vegetables; beef, dairy products

Exports:
  $682 million (includes Gaza Strip) (f.o.b., 1998 est.)

Exports - commodities:
  olives, fruit, vegetables, limestone

Exports - partners:
  Israel, Jordan, Gaza Strip

Imports:
  $2.5 billion (includes Gaza Strip) (c.i.f., 1998 est.)

Imports - commodities:
  food, consumer goods, construction materials

Imports - partners:
  Israel, Jordan, Gaza Strip

Debt - external:
  $108 million (includes Gaza Strip) (1997 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:
  $121 million disbursed (includes Gaza Strip) (2000)

Currency:
  new Israeli shekel (ILS); Jordanian dinar (JOD)

Currency code:
  ILS; JOD

Exchange rates:
  new Israeli shekels per US dollar - 4.0810 (December 2000), 4.0773 (2000),
  4.1397 (1999), 3.8001 (1998), 3.4494 (1997), 3.1917 (1996); Jordanian
  dinars per US dollar - fixed rate of 0.7090 (from 1996)

Fiscal year:
  calendar year (since 1 January 1992)

§6. West Bank Communications

Telephones - main lines in use:
  95,729 (total for West Bank and Gaza Strip) (1997)

Telephones - mobile cellular:
  NA

Telephone system:
  general assessment: NA domestic: NA
  international: NA
  note: Israeli company BEZEK and the Palestinian company PALTEL are
    responsible for communication services in the West Bank

Radio broadcast stations:
  AM 1, FM 0, shortwave 0 note: the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation
    broadcasts from an AM station in Ramallah on 675 kHz; numerous local,
    private stations are reported to be in operation (2000)

Radios:
  NA; note - most Palestinian households have radios (1999)

Television broadcast stations:
  NA

Televisions:
  NA; note - many Palestinian households have televisions (1999)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
  8 (1999)

Internet users:
  23,520 (includes Gaza Strip) (1999)

§7. West Bank Transportation

Railways:
  0 km

Highways:
  total: 4,500 km
  paved: 2,700 km
  unpaved: 1,800 km (1997 est.)
  note: Israelis have developed many highways to service Jewish settlements

Waterways:
  none

Ports and harbors:
  none

Airports:
  3 (2000 est.)

Airports - with paved runways:
  total: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
  1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
  under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.)

§8. West Bank Military

Military branches:
  NA

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
  $NA

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
  NA%

§9. West Bank Transnational Issues

Disputes - international:
  West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli-occupied with current status subject
  to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent status to be
  determined through further negotiation
