Map of West Bank | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide1989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 | 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 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. Following the death of longtime Palestinian leader Yasir ARAFAT in November 2004 the election of his successor Mahmud ABBAS in January 2005 could bring a turning point in the conflict.


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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: 16.9%
Permanent crops: 18.97%
Other: 64.13% (2001)

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 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
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.)
Growth rate: 3.21% (2004 est.)
Below poverty line: 60% (2003 est.)

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: 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.)

Dependency ratios

Median age
Total: 18 years
Male: 17.8 years
Female: 18.2 years (2004 est.)

Population growth rate: 3.21% (2004 est.)

Birth rate: 33.21 births/1000 population (2004 est.)

Death rate: 4.07 deaths/1000 population (2004 est.)

Net migration rate: 2.98 migrant(s)/1000 population (2004 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: 1.05 male/female
65 years and over: 0.75 male/female
Total population: 1.04 male/female (2004 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate
Total: 20.16 deaths/1000 live births
Male: 22.28 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 17.91 deaths/1000 live births (2004 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 72.88 years
Male: 71.14 years
Female: 74.72 years (2004 est.)

Total fertility rate: 4.52 children born/woman (2004 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: 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. In 2004 on-going border issues and the death of Yasser ARAFAT continued to complicate the economic situation.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: -22% (2002 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $800 (2002 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 agriculture: 13%
By occupation industry: 21%
By occupation services: 66% (1996)

Unemployment rate: 50% (includes Gaza Strip) (2002 est.)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line: 60% (2003 est.)

Gini index

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

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: $676.6 million
Expenditures: $1.155 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (includes Gaza Strip) (2003 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year (since 1 January 1992)

Inflation rate consumer prices: 2.2% (includes Gaza Strip) (2001 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: $603 million f.o.b. includes Gaza Strip
Commodities: olives fruit vegetables limestone
Partners: Israel Jordan Gaza Strip (2000)

Imports: $1.9 billion c.i.f. includes Gaza Strip
Commodities: food consumer goods construction materials
Partners: Israel Jordan Gaza Strip (2000)

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 - 4.5541 (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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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; some Palestinian municipalities such as Nablus and Janin generate their own electricity from small power plants
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: 301,600 (total for West Bank and Gaza Strip) (2002)
Mobile cellular: 480,000 (cellular subscribers in both West Bank and Gaza Strip) (2003)

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
Country code: .ps
Users: 145,000 (includes Gaza Strip) (2003)

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 (2003 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 (2004 est.)

Heliports

Pipelines

Railways

Roadways

Waterways

Merchant marine

Ports and terminals


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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

Refugees and internally displaced persons
Refugees country of origin: 665,246 (Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA)) (2004)

Illicit drugs