Map of West Bank | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024 | More stats

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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 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. Permanent status is to be determined through direct negotiations which resumed in September 1999 after a three-year hiatus. An intifadah broke out in September 2000; the resulting widespread violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip Israel's military response and instability in the Palestinian Authority are undermining progress toward a permanent settlement.


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Location: Middle East west of Jordan

Geographic coordinates: 32 00 N 35 15 E

Map reference: Middle East

Area
Total: 5,860 km²
Land: 5,640 km²
Water: 220 km²
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
Comparative: slightly smaller than Delaware

Land boundaries
Total: 404 km
Border countries: (2) 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
Extremes highest point: Tall Asur 1,022 m

Natural resources: arable land

Land use
Arable land: 27%
Permanent crops: 0%
Permanent pastures: 32%
Forests and woodland: 1%
Other: 40%

Irrigated land: NA km²

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards: droughts

Geography
Note: landlocked; highlands are main recharge area for Israel's coastal aquifers; there are 231 Israeli settlements and civilian land use sites in the West Bank and 29 in East Jerusalem (August 1999 est.)


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Population
Note: in addition, there are some 176,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank and about 173,000 in East Jerusalem (August 1999 est.)
Growth rate: 3.48% (2001 est.)
Below poverty line: NA%

Nationality
Noun: NA
Adjective: NA

Ethnic groups: Palestinian Arab and other 83% Jewish 17%

Languages: Arabic Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many Palestinians) English (widely understood)

Religions: Muslim 75% (predominantly Sunni) Jewish 17% Christian and other 8%

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 44.61% (male 478,232; female 454,439)
15-64 years: 51.8% (male 552,661; female 530,230)
65 years and over: 3.59% (male 32,629; female 42,522) (2001 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 3.48% (2001 est.)

Birth rate: 35.83 births/1000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate: 4.37 deaths/1000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate: 3.29 migrant(s)/1000 population (2001 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: adequacy of fresh water supply; sewage treatment

Air pollutants

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.06 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.05 male/female
15-64 years: 1.04 male/female
65 years and over: 0.77 male/female
Total population: 1.04 male/female (2001 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 21.78 deaths/1000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 72.28 years
Male: 70.58 years
Female: 74.07 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate: 4.9 children born/woman (2001 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids
Adult prevalence rate: NA%
People living with hivaids: NA
Deaths: NA

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy
Definition: NA
Total population: NA%
Male: NA%
Female: NA%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional long form: none
Conventional short form: West Bank

Government type

Capital

Administrative divisions

Dependent areas

Independence

National holiday

Constitution

Legal system

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage

Executive branch

Legislative branch

Judicial branch

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation

Diplomatic representation

Flag description

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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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 36.1% between 1992 and 1996 owing 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 established 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%. Since 1997 Israel's use of comprehensive closures has 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 a severe disruption of trade and labor movements.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: -7.5% (2000 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $1500 (2000 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 9%
Industry: 28%
Services: 63%
Note: includes Gaza Strip (1999 est.)

Agriculture products: olives citrus vegetables; beef dairy products

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%

Labor force: NA
By occupation services: 66%
By occupation industry: 21%
By occupation agriculture: 13% (1996)

Unemployment rate: 40% (includes Gaza Strip) (yearend 2000)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line: NA%

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: NA%
Highest 10: NA%

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: $1.6 billion
Expenditures: $1.73 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
Note: includes Gaza Strip (1999 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year (since 1 January 1992)

Inflation rate consumer prices: 3% (includes Gaza Strip) (2000 est.)

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $682 million (includes Gaza Strip) (f.o.b. 1998 est.)
Commodities: olives fruit vegetables limestone
Partners: Israel Jordan Gaza Strip

Imports: $2.5 billion (includes Gaza Strip) (c.i.f. 1998 est.)
Commodities: food consumer goods construction materials
Partners: Israel Jordan Gaza Strip

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $108 million (includes Gaza Strip) (1997 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: new Israeli shekels per US dollar - 4.0810 (December 2000) 4.0773 (2000) 4.1397 (1999) 3.8001 (1998) 3.4494 (1997) 3.1917 (1996); Jordanian dinars per US dollar - fixed rate of 0.7090 (from 1996)


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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
Production by source fossil fuel: NA%
Production by source hydro: NA%
Production by source nuclear: NA%
Production by source other: NA%
Consumption: NA kWh
Imports: NA kWh

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones
Main lines in use: 95,729 (total for West Bank and Gaza Strip) (1997)
Mobile cellular: NA

Telephone system
General assessment: NA
Domestic: NA
International: NA
Note: Israeli company BEZEK and the Palestinian company PALTEL are responsible for communication services in the West Bank

Broadcast media

Internet
Service providers isps: 8 (1999)
Users: 23,520 (includes Gaza Strip) (1999)

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $NA
Percent of gdp: NA%

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 3 (2000 est.)
With paved runways total: 3
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 1
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 1
With paved runways under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.)

Heliports

Pipelines

Railways: 0 km

Roadways

Waterways: none

Merchant marine

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs