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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, west
of Jordan |
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Geographic coordinates:
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32 00 N, 35 15 E |
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Map references:
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Middle
East |
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Area:
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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 |
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Area - comparative:
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slightly smaller
than Delaware |
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Land boundaries:
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total: 404
km
border countries: Israel 307 km, Jordan 97 km |
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Coastline:
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0 km (landlocked) |
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Climate:
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temperate;
temperature and precipitation vary with altitude, warm to hot
summers, cool to mild winters |
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Terrain:
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mostly rugged
dissected upland, some vegetation in west, but barren in east |
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Elevation extremes:
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lowest point:
Dead Sea -408 m
highest point: Tall Asur 1,022 m |
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Natural resources:
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arable land |
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Land use:
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arable land:
NEGL%
permanent crops: 0%
other: 100% (1998 est.) |
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Irrigated land:
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NA sq km |
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Natural hazards:
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droughts |
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Environment - current issues:
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adequacy of fresh
water supply; sewage treatment |
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Geography - note:
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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.) |
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Population:
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2,311,204
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.) |
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Age structure:
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0-14 years:
43.8% (male 518,470; female 493,531)
15-64 years: 52.8% (male 623,785; female 595,376)
65 years and over: 3.5% (male 34,226; female 45,816)
(2004 est.) |
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Median age:
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total: 18
years
male: 17.8 years
female: 18.2 years (2004 est.) |
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Population growth rate:
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3.21% (2004 est.) |
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Birth rate:
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33.21
births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
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Death rate:
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4.07 deaths/1,000
population (2004 est.) |
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Net migration rate:
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2.98 migrant(s)/1,000
population (2004 est.) |
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Sex ratio:
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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: 0.75 male(s)/female
total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
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Infant mortality rate:
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total:
20.16 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 17.91 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
male: 22.28 deaths/1,000 live births |
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Life expectancy at birth:
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total
population: 72.88 years
male: 71.14 years
female: 74.72 years (2004 est.) |
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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
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NA% |
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Nationality:
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noun: NA
adjective: NA |
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Ethnic groups:
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Palestinian Arab
and other 83%, Jewish 17% |
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Religions:
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Muslim 75%
(predominantly Sunni), Jewish 17%, Christian and other 8% |
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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:
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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: West Bank |
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Economy - overview:
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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, which 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 three 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 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, Israeli military measures in Palestinian Authority areas
resulted in the destruction of much capital plant and
administrative structure, widespread business closures, and a
sharp drop in GDP. Including Gaza Strip, 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. |
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GDP:
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purchasing power
parity - $1.7 billion (2002 est.) |
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GDP - real growth rate:
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-22% (2002 est.) |
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GDP - per capita:
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purchasing power
parity - $800 (2002 est.) |
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GDP - composition by sector:
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agriculture:
9%
industry: 28%
services: 63%
note: includes Gaza Strip (1999 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
Gaza Strip) (2001 est.) |
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Labor force:
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NA |
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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
Gaza Strip) (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 Gaza Strip) (2003 est.) |
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Industries:
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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 |
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Industrial production growth rate:
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NA% |
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Electricity - production:
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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 |
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Electricity - production by source:
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fossil fuel:
100%
hydro: 0%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (2001) |
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Electricity - consumption:
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NA kWh |
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Electricity - imports:
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NA kWh |
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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 Gaza Strip |
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Exports - commodities:
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olives, fruit,
vegetables, limestone |
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Exports - partners:
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Israel, Jordan,
Gaza Strip (2000) |
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Imports:
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$1.9 billion
c.i.f., includes Gaza Strip |
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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, Jordan,
Gaza Strip (2000) |
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Debt - external:
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$108 million
(includes Gaza Strip) (1997 est.) |
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Economic aid - recipient:
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$2 billion
(includes Gaza Strip) (2001-02 est.) |
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Currency:
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new Israeli
shekel (ILS); Jordanian dinar (JOD) |
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Currency code:
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ILS; JOD |
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Exchange rates:
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new Israeli
shekels per US dollar - 4.5541 (2003), 4.7378 (2002), 4.2057
(2001), 4.0773 (2000), 4.1397 (1999); Jordanian dinars per US
dollar - fixed rate of 0.7090 (from 1996) |
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Fiscal year:
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calendar year
(since 1 January 1992) |
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Telephones - main lines in use:
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301,600 (total
for West Bank and Gaza Strip) (2002) |
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Telephones - mobile cellular:
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320,000 (cellular
subscribers in both West Bank and Gaza Strip) (2002) |
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Telephone system:
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general
assessment: NA
domestic: NA
note: Israeli company BEZEK and the Palestinian company
PALTEL are responsible for communication services in the West
Bank
international: NA |
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Radio broadcast stations:
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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) |
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Television broadcast stations:
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NA |
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Internet users:
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60,000 (includes
Gaza Strip) (2001) |
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Railways:
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0 km |
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Highways:
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total:
4,500 km
paved: 2,700 km
unpaved: 1,800 km
note: Israelis have developed many highways to service
Jewish settlements (1997 est.) |
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Waterways:
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none |
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Ports and harbors:
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none |
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Airports:
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3 (2003 est.) |
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Airports - with paved runways:
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total: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2003 est.) |
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Military expenditures - dollar figure:
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NA |
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Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
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NA |
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Disputes - international:
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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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