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. |
| Location: |
Middle East, west of Jordan |
| Geographic
coordinates: |
32 00 N, 35 15 E |
| Map
references: |
Middle East |
| Area: |
total: 5,860 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
water: 220 sq km
land: 5,640 sq km |
| 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: NEGL%
permanent crops: 0%
other: 100% (1998 est.) |
| 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 242 Israeli settlements and civilian land
use sites in the West Bank and 29 in East Jerusalem (February
2002 est.)
|
| Population: |
2,163,667 (July 2002 est.)
note: in addition, there are about 187,000 Israeli settlers
in the West Bank and fewer than 177,000 in East Jerusalem (February
2002 est.) |
| Age
structure: |
0-14 years: 44.4% (male 492,446; female 468,321)
15-64 years: 52% (male 575,282; female 550,793)
65 years and over: 3.6% (male 33,163; female 43,662) (2002
est.) |
| Population
growth rate: |
3.39% (2002 est.) |
| Birth
rate: |
34.94 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
| Death
rate: |
4.26 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
| Net
migration rate: |
3.18 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 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: 0.76 male(s)/female
total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
| Infant
mortality rate: |
21.24 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
| Life
expectancy at birth: |
total population: 72.47 years
female: 74.29 years (2002 est.)
male: 70.76 years |
| Total
fertility rate: |
4.77 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 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%
|
| Country
name: |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: West Bank
|
| 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 about one-third between 1992 and 1996 due 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 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%. Israel's use of comprehensive closures
during the next five years 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 severely disrupted
trade and labor movements. In 2001, and even more severely in
2002, internal turmoil and Israeli military measures in Palestinian
Authority areas have resulted in the destruction of much capital
plant and administrative structure, widespread business closures,
and a sharp drop in GDP. Another major loss has been the decline
in earnings of Palestinian workers in Israel. |
| GDP: |
purchasing power parity - $2.1 billion (2001 est.) |
| GDP
- real growth rate: |
-35% (2001 est.) |
| GDP
- per capita: |
purchasing power parity - $1,000 (2001 est.) |
| GDP
- composition by sector: |
agriculture: 9%
industry: 28%
services: 63%
note: includes Gaza Strip (1999 est.) |
| Population
below poverty line: |
50% (2001 est.) |
| Household
income or consumption by percentage share: |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
| Inflation
rate (consumer prices): |
1% (includes Gaza Strip) (2001 est.) |
| Labor
force: |
NA |
| Labor
force - by occupation: |
services 66%, industry 21%, agriculture 13% (1996) |
| Unemployment
rate: |
26% (includes Gaza Strip) (2001 est.) |
| Budget: |
revenues: $930 million
note: includes Gaza Strip (2000 est.)
expenditures: $1.2 billion, including capital expenditures
of $15 million |
| 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: |
$603 million f.o.b., includes Gaza Strip (2001 est.) |
| Exports
- commodities: |
olives, fruit, vegetables, limestone |
| Exports
- partners: |
Israel, Jordan, Gaza Strip |
| Imports: |
$1.9 billion c.i.f., includes Gaza Strip (2001 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: |
$800 million disbursed (includes Gaza Strip) (2001 est.) |
| Currency: |
new Israeli shekel (ILS); Jordanian dinar (JOD) |
| Currency
code: |
ILS; JOD |
| 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);
Jordanian dinars per US dollar - fixed rate of 0.7090 (from 1996)
|
| Fiscal
year: |
calendar year (since 1 January 1992)
|
| 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 | |
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