 Definition  Field Listing  Rank
Order
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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. Learn geography the easy way by playing ZL's Geographycards (www.geographycards.com)
|
|
Population: |
1,324,991
note: in addition, there are more than 5,000 Israeli
settlers in the Gaza Strip (July 2004 est.) |
|
Age structure: |
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.) |
|
Median age: |
total: 15.5 years
male: 15.3 years
female: 15.6 years (2004 est.) |
|
Population growth rate: |
3.83% (2004
est.) |
|
Birth rate: |
40.62
births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
|
Death rate: |
3.95
deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
|
Net migration rate: |
1.6
migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 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: 0.73 male(s)/female
total population:
1.04 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
|
Infant mortality rate: |
total:
23.54 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 24.71 deaths/1,000
live births
female: 22.31 deaths/1,000 live births (2004
est.) |
|
Life expectancy at birth: |
total
population: 71.59 years
male: 70.31 years
female: 72.94 years (2004 est.) |
|
Total fertility rate: |
6.04 children
born/woman (2004 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 Learn geography the easy way by playing ZL's Geographycards (www.geographycards.com)
|
|
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 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. |
|
GDP: |
purchasing
power parity - $768 million (2003 est.) |
|
GDP - real growth rate: |
4.5% (2003
est.) |
|
GDP - per capita: |
purchasing
power parity - $600 (2003 est.) |
|
GDP - composition by sector: |
agriculture: 9%
industry: 28%
services: 63% (includes West Bank) (2002 est.) |
|
Population below poverty line: |
60% (2003
est.) |
|
Household income or consumption by percentage
share: |
lowest
10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
|
Inflation rate (consumer prices): |
2.2%
(includes West Bank) (2001 est.) |
|
Labor force: |
NA (1997)
|
|
Labor force - by occupation: |
agriculture
13%, industry 21%, services 66% (1996) |
|
Unemployment rate: |
50% (includes
West Bank) (2003 est.) |
|
Budget: |
revenues: $676.6 million
expenditures: $1.155
billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (includes West Bank)
(2003) |
|
Agriculture - products: |
olives,
citrus, vegetables; beef, dairy products |
|
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 (2001)
|
|
Electricity - imports: |
NA kWh; note
- electricity supplied by Israel (2001) |
|
Exports: |
$603 million
f.o.b., includes West Bank |
|
Exports - commodities: |
citrus,
flowers |
|
Exports - partners: |
Israel,
Egypt, West Bank |
|
Imports: |
$1.9 billion
c.i.f., includes West Bank |
|
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
(includes West Bank) (2001 est.) |
|
Currency: |
new Israeli
shekel (ILS) |
|
Currency code: |
ILS |
|
Exchange rates: |
new Israeli
shekels per US dollar - 4.55 (2003), 4.74 (2002), 4.21 (2001), 4.08
(2000), 4.14 (1999) |
|
Fiscal year: |
calendar
year Learn geography the easy way by playing ZL's Geographycards (www.geographycards.com)
|
|
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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