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Background:
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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. |
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Location:
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Middle East,
bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Israel |
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Geographic coordinates:
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31 25 N, 34 20 E |
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Map references:
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Middle
East |
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Area:
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total: 360
sq km
water: 0 sq km
land: 360 sq km |
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Area - comparative:
|
slightly more
than twice the size of Washington, DC |
|
Land boundaries:
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total: 62
km
border countries: Egypt 11 km, Israel 51 km |
|
Coastline:
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40 km |
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Climate:
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temperate, mild
winters, dry and warm to hot summers |
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Terrain:
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flat to rolling,
sand- and dune-covered coastal plain |
|
Elevation extremes:
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lowest point:
Mediterranean Sea 0 m
highest point: Abu 'Awdah (Joz Abu 'Auda) 105 m |
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Natural resources:
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arable land,
natural gas |
|
Land use:
|
arable land:
26.32%
permanent crops: 39.47%
other: 34.21% (1998 est.) |
|
Irrigated land:
|
120 sq km (1998
est.) |
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Natural hazards:
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droughts |
|
Environment - current issues:
|
desertification;
salination of fresh water; sewage treatment; water-borne
disease; soil degradation; depletion and contamination of
underground water resources |
|
Geography - note:
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there are 25
Israeli settlements and civilian land use sites in the Gaza
Strip (February 2002 est.) |
|
Population:
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1,324,991
note: in addition, there are more than 5,000 Israeli
settlers in the Gaza Strip (July 2004 est.) |
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Age structure:
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0-14 years:
49% (male 332,582; female 316,606)
15-64 years: 48.3% (male 326,450; female 314,098)
65 years and over: 2.7% (male 14,847; female 20,408)
(2004 est.) |
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Median age:
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total:
15.5 years
male: 15.3 years
female: 15.6 years (2004 est.) |
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Population growth rate:
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3.83% (2004 est.) |
|
Birth rate:
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40.62
births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
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Death rate:
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3.95 deaths/1,000
population (2004 est.) |
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Net migration rate:
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1.6 migrant(s)/1,000
population (2004 est.) |
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Sex ratio:
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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: 0.73 male(s)/female
total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
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Infant mortality rate:
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total:
23.54 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 22.31 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
male: 24.71 deaths/1,000 live births |
|
Life expectancy at birth:
|
total
population: 71.59 years
male: 70.31 years
female: 72.94 years (2004 est.) |
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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
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NA% |
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Nationality:
|
noun: NA
adjective: NA |
|
Ethnic groups:
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Palestinian Arab
and other 99.4%, Jewish 0.6% |
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Religions:
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Muslim
(predominantly Sunni) 98.7%, Christian 0.7%, Jewish 0.6% |
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Languages:
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Arabic, Hebrew
(spoken by Israeli settlers and many Palestinians), English
(widely understood) |
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Literacy:
|
definition:
NA
total population: NA%
male: NA%
female: NA% |
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Country name:
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conventional
long form: none
conventional short form: Gaza Strip
local long form: none
local short form: Qita Ghazzah |
|
Economy - overview:
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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 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 2002, 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. Including West
Bank, the UN estimates that more than 100,000 Palestinians out
of the 125,000 who used to work in Israel, in Israeli
settlements, or in joint industrial zones have lost their
jobs. In addition, about 80,000 Palestinian workers inside the
Territories are losing their jobs. International aid of $2
billion in 2001-02 to the West Bank and Gaza Strip prevented
the complete collapse of the economy and allowed Finance
Minister Salam FAYYAD to implement several financial and
economic reforms. Budgetary support, however, was not as
forthcoming in 2003. |
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GDP:
|
purchasing power
parity - $768 million (2003 est.) |
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GDP - real growth rate:
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4.5% (2003 est.) |
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GDP - per capita:
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purchasing power
parity - $600 (2003 est.) |
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GDP - composition by sector:
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agriculture:
9%
industry: 28%
services: 63% (includes West Bank) (2002 est.) |
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Population below poverty line:
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60% (2003 est.) |
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Inflation rate (consumer prices):
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2.2% (includes
West Bank) (2001 est.) |
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Labor force:
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NA (1997) |
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Labor force - by occupation:
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services 66%,
industry 21%, agriculture 13% (1996) |
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Unemployment rate:
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50% (includes
West Bank) (2003 est.) |
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Budget:
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revenues:
$676.6 million
expenditures: $1.155 billion, including capital
expenditures of $NA (includes West Bank) (2003) |
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Industries:
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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 |
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Industrial production growth rate:
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NA% |
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Electricity - production:
|
NA kWh; note -
electricity supplied by Israel |
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Electricity - consumption:
|
NA kWh |
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Electricity - exports:
|
0 kWh (2001) |
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Electricity - imports:
|
NA kWh; note -
electricity supplied by Israel (2001) |
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Agriculture - products:
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olives, citrus,
vegetables; beef, dairy products |
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Exports:
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$603 million
f.o.b., includes West Bank |
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Exports - commodities:
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citrus, flowers |
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Exports - partners:
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Israel, Egypt,
West Bank |
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Imports:
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$1.9 billion
c.i.f., includes West Bank |
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Imports - commodities:
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food, consumer
goods, construction materials |
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Imports - partners:
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Israel, Egypt,
West Bank |
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Debt - external:
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$108 million
(includes West Bank) (1997 est.) |
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Economic aid - recipient:
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$2 billion
(includes West Bank) (2001-02 est.) |
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Currency:
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new Israeli
shekel (ILS) |
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Currency code:
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ILS |
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Exchange rates:
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new Israeli
shekels per US dollar - 4.55 (2003), 4.74 (2002), 4.21 (2001),
4.08 (2000), 4.14 (1999) |
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Fiscal year:
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calendar year |
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Telephones - main lines in use:
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95,729 (total for
Gaza Strip and West Bank) (1997) |
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Telephones - mobile cellular:
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320,000 (cellular
subscribers in both Gaza Strip and West Bank) (2002) |
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Telephone system:
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general
assessment: NA
domestic: rudimentary telephone services provided by an
open-wire system
international: NA |
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Radio broadcast stations:
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AM 0, FM 0,
shortwave 0 (1998) |
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Television broadcast stations:
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2 (operated by
the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation) (1997) |
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Internet users:
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60,000 (includes
West Bank) (2001) |
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Railways:
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total: NA
km; note - one line, abandoned and in disrepair, little
trackage remains (2001 est.) |
|
Highways:
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total: NA
km
paved: NA km
unpaved: NA km
note: small, poorly developed road network |
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Waterways:
|
none |
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Ports and harbors:
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Gaza |
|
Airports:
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2 (2001)
note: includes Gaza International Airport (GIA),
inaugurated on 24 November 1998 as part of agreements
stipulated in the September 1995 Oslo II Accord and the 23
October 1998 Wye River Memorandum; GIA has been largely closed
since October 2000 by Israeli orders and its runway was
destroyed by the Israeli Defense Forces in December 2001 (2003
est.) |
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Airports - with paved runways:
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total: 1
over 3,047 m: 1 (2003 est.) |
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Airports - with unpaved runways:
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total: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2003 est.) |
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Heliports:
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1 (2003 est.) |
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Military branches:
|
in accordance
with the peace agreement, the Palestinian Authority is not
permitted conventional military forces; there are, however, a
Public Security Force and a civil Police Force |
|
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
|
NA |
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Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
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NA |
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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 |
This page was last updated on 11 May, 2004
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