|
|
|
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 and internal security and for public order of
settlements and Israeli citizens. Direct negotiations to
determine the permanent status of Gaza and West Bank
that began in September 1999 after a three-year hiatus,
were derailed by a second intifadah that broke out in
September 2000. The resulting widespread violence in the
West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israel's military response,
and instability within the Palestinian Authority
continue to undermine progress toward a permanent
agreement. Following the death of longtime Palestinian
leader Yasir ARAFAT in November 2004, the election of
his successor Mahmud ABBAS in January 2005 could bring a
turning point in the conflict. |
|
Location:
|
Middle
East, west of Jordan |
|
Geographic coordinates:
|
32 00 N,
35 15 E |
|
Map references:
|
Middle
East |
|
Area:
|
total:
5,860 sq km
land: 5,640 sq km
water: 220 sq km
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: 16.9%
permanent crops: 18.97%
other: 64.13% (2001) |
|
Irrigated land:
|
NA sq km
|
|
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 244 West Bank
settlements and 29 East Jerusalem settlements in
addition to at least 20 occupied outposts (August 2003
est.) |
|
Population:
|
2,385,615
note: in addition, there are about 187,000
Israeli settlers in the West Bank and fewer than 177,000
in East Jerusalem (July 2004 est.) |
|
Age structure:
|
0-14
years: 43.4% (male 530,197/female 504,794)
15-64 years: 53.2% (male 649,610/female 619,335)
65 years and over: 3.4% (male 34,803/female
46,876) (2005 est.) |
|
Median age:
|
total:
18.14 years
male: 17.99 years
female: 18.3 years (2005 est.) |
|
Population growth rate:
|
3.13%
(2005 est.) |
|
Birth rate:
|
32.37
births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
|
Death rate:
|
3.99
deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
|
Net migration rate:
|
2.88
migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
|
Sex ratio:
|
at
birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.74 male(s)/female
total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2005 est.)
|
|
Infant mortality rate:
|
total:
19.62 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 21.66 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 17.45 deaths/1,000 live births (2005
est.) |
|
Life expectancy at birth:
|
total
population: 73.08 years
male: 71.33 years
female: 74.95 years (2005 est.) |
|
Total fertility rate:
|
4.4
children born/woman (2005 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: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 91.9%
male: 96.3%
female: 87.4% (2003 est.) |
|
Country name:
|
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: West Bank |
|
Economy - overview:
|
The West
Bank - the larger of the two areas under the Palestine
Authority - has experienced a general decline in
economic growth and a degradation in economic conditions
made worse since the second intifadah began in September
2000. The downturn has been largely the result of the
Israeli closure policies - the imposition of border
closures in response to security incidents in Israel -
which disrupted labor and commodity market
relationships. In 2001, and even more severely in 2002,
Israeli military measures in Palestine Authority areas
resulted in the destruction of much capital plant, the
disruption of administrative structure, and widespread
business closures. Including the Gaza Strip, the UN
estimates that more than 100,000 Palestinians out of the
125,000 who used to work in Israeli settlements, or in
joint industrial zones, have lost their jobs.
International aid of $2 billion to the West Bank and
Gaza strip in 2004 prevented the complete collapse of
the economy and allowed some reforms in the government's
financial operations. Meanwhile, unemployment has
continued at more than half the labor force. ARAFAT's
death in 2004 leaves open more political options that
could affect the economy. |
|
GDP (purchasing power parity):
|
$1.8
billion (2003 est.) |
|
GDP - real growth rate:
|
6% (2003
est.) |
|
GDP - per capita:
|
purchasing power parity - $800 (2003 est.) |
|
GDP - composition by sector:
|
agriculture: 9%
industry: 28%
services: 63%
note: includes Gaza Strip (2002 est.) |
|
Labor force:
|
364,000
(2004) |
|
Labor force - by occupation:
|
agriculture 15%, industry 25%, services 60% (2004 est.)
|
|
Unemployment rate:
|
27.2%
(includes Gaza Strip) (2004 est.) |
|
Population below poverty line:
|
59% (2004
est.) |
|
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
|
lowest
10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
|
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
|
2.2%
(includes Gaza Strip) (2001 est.) |
|
Budget:
|
revenues: $676.6 million
expenditures: $1.155 billion, including capital
expenditures of NA; note - these budget data include
Gaza Strip (2003) |
|
Agriculture - products:
|
olives,
citrus, vegetables; beef, dairy products |
|
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; some Palestinian
municipalities, such as Nablus and Janin, generate their
own electricity from small power plants |
|
Electricity - production by source:
|
fossil
fuel: 100%
hydro: 0%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (2001) |
|
Electricity - consumption:
|
NA kWh
|
|
Electricity - imports:
|
NA kWh
|
|
Exports:
|
$205
million f.o.b., includes Gaza Strip (2002) |
|
Exports - commodities:
|
olives,
fruit, vegetables, limestone |
|
Exports - partners:
|
Israel,
Jordan, Gaza Strip (2000) |
|
Imports:
|
$1.5
billion c.i.f., includes Gaza Strip (2002) |
|
Imports - commodities:
|
food,
consumer goods, construction materials |
|
Imports - partners:
|
Israel,
Jordan, Gaza Strip (2000) |
|
Debt - external:
|
$108
million (includes Gaza Strip) (1997 est.) |
|
Economic aid - recipient:
|
$2
billion (includes Gaza Strip) (2004 est.) |
|
Currency (code):
|
new
Israeli shekel (ILS); Jordanian dinar (JOD) |
|
Currency code:
|
ILS; JOD
|
|
Exchange rates:
|
new
Israeli shekels per US dollar - 4.482 (2004), 4.5541
(2003), 4.7378 (2002), 4.2057 (2001), 4.0773 (2000) |
|
Fiscal year:
|
calendar
year (since 1 January 1992) |
|
Telephones - main lines in use:
|
301,600
(total for West Bank and Gaza Strip) (2002) |
|
Telephones - mobile cellular:
|
480,000
(cellular subscribers in both West Bank and Gaza Strip)
(2003) |
|
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 country code:
|
.ps |
|
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
|
8 (1999)
|
|
Internet users:
|
145,000
(includes Gaza Strip) (2003) |
|
Highways:
|
total:
4,500 km
paved: 2,700 km
unpaved: 1,800 km
note: Israelis have developed many highways to
service Jewish settlements (1997 est.) |
|
Airports:
|
3 (2004
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 (2004 est.) |
|
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
|
NA |
|
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
|
NA |
|
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; Israel continues construction of a "seam
line" separation barrier along parts of the Green Line
and within the West Bank; Israel announced its intention
to pull out settlers and withdraw from four settlements
in the northern West Bank in 2005; since 1948, about 350
peacekeepers from the UN Truce Supervision Organization
(UNTSO), headquartered in Jerusalem, monitor ceasefires,
supervise armistice agreements, prevent isolated
incidents from escalating, and assist other UN personnel
in the region |
|
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
|
refugees (country of origin): 665,246 (Palestinian
Refugees (UNRWA)) (2004) |
|
This page was last updated on
20 October, 2005 |
|
|
| |
|
|
