Legend:
Definition of Term
 Arranged
by Countries Field Listing
| 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. Direct negotiations to determine the permanent
status of Gaza and West Bank had begun in September 1999 after
a three-year hiatus, but have been 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. |
| Population: |
1,225,911 (July 2002 est.)
note: in addition, there are more than 5,000 Israeli settlers
in the Gaza Strip (February 2002 est.) |
| Age
structure: |
0-14 years: 49.7% (male 312,253; female 297,008)
15-64 years: 47.5% (male 296,488; female 286,393)
65 years and over: 2.8% (male 14,407; female 19,362) (2002
est.) |
| Population
growth rate: |
3.95% (2002 est.) |
| Birth
rate: |
41.85 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
| Death
rate: |
4.12 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
| Net
migration rate: |
1.73 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
| Sex
ratio: |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.74 male(s)/female
total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
| Infant
mortality rate: |
24.76 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
| Life
expectancy at birth: |
total population: 71.2 years
female: 72.52 years (2002 est.)
male: 69.95 years |
| Total
fertility rate: |
6.29 children born/woman (2002 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%
|
| Country
name: |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Gaza Strip
local long form: none
local short form: Qita Ghazzah
|
| Economy
- overview: |
Economic output in the Gaza Strip - under the responsibility of
the Palestinian Authority since the Cairo Agreement of May 1994
- declined by about 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%. Israel's use of comprehensive closures decreased
during the next few years 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, triggering tight Israeli closures of
Palestinian self-rule areas and a severe disruption of trade and
labor movements. In 2001, and even more severely in early 2002,
internal turmoil and Israeli military measures in Palestinian
Authority areas resulted in the destruction of capital plant and
administrative structure, widespread business closures, and a
sharp drop in GDP. Another major loss has been the decline in
income earned by Palestinian workers in Israel. |
| GDP: |
purchasing power parity - $750 million (2001 est.) |
| GDP
- real growth rate: |
-35% (2001 est.) |
| GDP
- per capita: |
purchasing power parity - $625 (2001 est.) |
| GDP
- composition by sector: |
agriculture: 9%
industry: 28%
services: 63% (includes West Bank) (1999 est.) |
| Population
below poverty line: |
1% 60% (2001 est.) |
| Household
income or consumption by percentage share: |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
| Inflation
rate (consumer prices): |
1% (includes West Bank) (2001 est.) |
| Labor
force: |
NA |
| Labor
force - by occupation: |
services 66%, industry 21%, agriculture 13% (1996) (1996) |
| Unemployment
rate: |
26% (includes West Bank) (2001 est.) |
| Budget: |
revenues: $930 million
note:
expenditures: $1.2 billion, including capital expenditures
of $15 million (includes West Bank) (2000 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: |
$603 million f.o.b., includes West Bank (2001 est.) |
| Exports
- commodities: |
citrus, flowers |
| Exports
- partners: |
Israel, Egypt, West Bank |
| Imports: |
$1.9 billion c.i.f., includes West Bank (2001 est.) |
| Imports
- commodities: |
food, consumer goods, construction materials |
| Imports
- partners: |
Israel, Egypt, West Bank |
| Debt
- external: |
$108 million (includes West Bank) (1997 est.) |
| Economic
aid - recipient: |
$800 million disbursed (includes West Bank) (2001 est.) |
| Currency: |
new Israeli shekel (ILS) |
| Currency
code: |
ILS |
| Exchange
rates: |
new Israeli shekels per US dollar - 4.2757 (December 2001), 4.2057
(2001), 4.0773 (2000), 4.1397 (1999), 3.8001 (1998), 3.4494 (1997)
|
| Fiscal
year: |
calendar year
|
| 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 | |
Top of Page
