ARCHIVE // PS // 1999

Gaza Strip

1999 Edition — disputed

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
View Intelligence Dossier Back to 1999 CSV Excel Print All Years
Communications
Broadcast media (Radio broadcast stations) [time series]
AM 0, FM 0, shortwave 0
Radios [time series]
NA; note--95% of Palestinian households have radios (1992 est.)
Telecommunication systems (Telephone system) [time series]
domestic: NA international: NA
Telephones - fixed lines (Telephones) [time series]
NA; 3.1% of Palestinian households have telephones
Broadcast media (Television broadcast stations) [time series]
2 (operated by the Palestinian Broadcasting Corp.) (1997)
Televisions [time series]
NA; note--59% of Palestinian households have televisions (1992 est.)
Economy
Agricultural products (Agriculture--products) [time series]
olives, citrus, vegetables; beef, dairy products
Budget [time series]
revenues: $816 million expenditures: $866 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997 est.) note: includes West Bank
Exchange rates (Currency) [time series]
1 new Israeli shekel (NIS) = 100 new agorot
Debt - external (Debt--external) [time series]
$108 million (1997 est.)
Economic aid (Economic aid--recipient) [time series]
$NA
Economic overview (Economy--overview) [time series]
Economic conditions in the Gaza Strip?under the responsibility of the Palestinian Authority since the Cairo Agreement of May 1994--have deteriorated since the early 1990s. Real per capita GDP for the West Bank and Gaza Strip (WBGS) declined 36% between 1992 and 1996 owing to the combined effect of falling aggregate incomes and robust population growth. The downturn in economic activity 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. The most serious negative social effect of this downturn has been the emergence of chronic unemployment; average unemployment rates in the WBGS during the 1980s were generally under 5%, by the mid-1990s this level 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 positive changes to the conduct of economic activity, combined with international donor pledges of over $3 billion made to the Palestinian Authority in November, may fuel a moderate economic recovery in 1999.
Electricity - consumption (Electricity--consumption) [time series]
NA kWh
Electricity - exports (Electricity--exports) [time series]
NA kWh
Electricity - imports (Electricity--imports) [time series]
NA kWh
Electricity - production (Electricity--production) [time series]
NA kWh note: electricity supplied by Israel
Electricity - production by source (Electricity--production by source) [time series]
fossil fuel: NA% hydro: NA% nuclear: NA% other: NA%
Exchange rates [time series]
new Israeli shekels (NIS) per US$1--4.2260 (November 1998), 3.4494 (1997), 3.1917 (1996), 3.0113 (1995), 3.0111 (1994)
Exports [time series]
$781 million (f.o.b., 1997 est.) (includes West Bank)
Exports - commodities (Exports--commodities) [time series]
citrus
Exports - partners (Exports--partners) [time series]
Israel, Egypt, West Bank
Fiscal year [time series]
calendar year (since 1 January 1992)
Real GDP (purchasing power parity) (GDP) [time series]
purchasing power parity--$1.1 billion (1998 est.)
GDP - composition, by sector of origin (GDP--composition by sector) [time series]
agriculture: 33% industry: 25% services: 42% (1995 est., includes West Bank)
Real GDP per capita (GDP--per capita) [time series]
purchasing power parity?$1,000 (1998 est.)
Real GDP growth rate (GDP--real growth rate) [time series]
2.2% (1998 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share [time series]
lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%
Imports [time series]
$2.1 billion (c.i.f., 1997 est.) (includes West Bank)
Imports - commodities (Imports--commodities) [time series]
food, consumer goods, construction materials
Imports - partners (Imports--partners) [time series]
Israel, Egypt, West Bank
Industrial production growth rate [time series]
NA%
Industries [time series]
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
Inflation rate (consumer prices) [time series]
8.8% (1997 est.)
Labor force [time series]
NA note: excluding Israeli settlers
Labor force - by occupation (Labor force--by occupation) [time series]
services 66%, industry 21%, agriculture 13% (1996)
Population below poverty line [time series]
NA%
Unemployment rate [time series]
26.8% (1997 est.)
Geography
Area [time series]
total: 360 sq km land: 360 sq km water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative (Area--comparative) [time series]
slightly more than twice the size of Washington, DC
Climate [time series]
temperate, mild winters, dry and warm to hot summers
Coastline [time series]
40 km
Elevation (Elevation extremes) [time series]
lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m highest point: Abu 'Awdah (Joz Abu 'Auda) 105 m
Environment - current issues (Environment--current issues) [time series]
desertification; salination of fresh water; sewage treatment
International environmental agreements (Environment--international agreements) [time series]
party to: none of the selected agreements signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geographic coordinates [time series]
31 25 N, 34 20 E
Geography - note (Geography--note) [time series]
there are 24 Israeli settlements and civilian land use sites in the Gaza Strip (August 1998 est.)
Irrigated land [time series]
120 sq km (1993 est.)
Land boundaries [time series]
total: 62 km border countries: Egypt 11 km, Israel 51 km
Land use [time series]
arable land: 24% permanent crops: 39% permanent pastures: 0% forests and woodland: 11% other: 26% (1993 est.)
Location [time series]
Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Israel
Map references [time series]
Middle East
Maritime claims [time series]
Israeli-occupied with current status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement--permanent status to be determined through further negotiation
Natural hazards [time series]
NA
Natural resources [time series]
NEGL
Terrain [time series]
flat to rolling, sand- and dune-covered coastal plain
Government
Country name [time series]
conventional long form: none conventional short form: Gaza Strip local long form: none local short form: Qita Ghazzah
Data code [time series]
GZ
Introduction
Background [time series]
The Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements ("the DOP"), signed in Washington on 13 September 1993, provides for a transitional period not exceeding five years of Palestinian interim self-government in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Permanent status negotiations began on 5 May 1996, but have not resumed since the initial meeting. Under the DOP, Israel agreed to transfer certain powers and responsibilities to the Palestinian Authority, which includes a 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, and the Israel-PLO 23 October 1998 Wye River Memorandum. 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 Israelis. Permanent status is to be determined through direct negotiations.
Military
Military and security forces (Military branches) [time series]
NA
Military expenditures - dollar figure (Military expenditures--dollar figure) [time series]
$NA
Military expenditures (Military expenditures--percent of GDP) [time series]
NA%
People
Age structure [time series]
0-14 years: 52% (male 294,196; female 280,017) 15-64 years: 46% (male 255,209; female 251,317) 65 years and over: 2% (male 13,475; female 18,440) (1999 est.)
Birth rate [time series]
48.24 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Death rate [time series]
3.8 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Ethnic groups [time series]
Palestinian Arab and other 99.4%, Jewish 0.6%
Infant mortality rate [time series]
22.92 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)
Languages [time series]
Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many Palestinians), English (widely understood)
Life expectancy at birth [time series]
total population: 73.44 years male: 72.01 years female: 74.95 years (1999 est.)
Literacy [time series]
NA
Nationality [time series]
noun: NA adjective: NA
Net migration rate [time series]
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Population [time series]
1,112,654 (July 1999 est.) note: in addition, there are some 6,000 Israeli settlers in the Gaza Strip (August 1998 est.)
Population growth rate [time series]
4.44% (1999 est.)
Religions [time series]
Muslim (predominantly Sunni) 98.7%, Christian 0.7%, Jewish 0.6%
Sex ratio [time series]
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.73 male(s)/female total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (1999 est.)
Total fertility rate [time series]
7.46 children born/woman (1999 est.)
Transnational Issues
Disputes - international (Disputes--international) [time series]
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
Transportation
Airports [time series]
2 (1998 est.) note: includes Gaza International Airport that opened on 24 November 1998 as part of agreements stipulated in the 23 October 1998 Wye River Memorandum
Airports - with paved runways (Airports--with paved runways) [time series]
total: 1 over 3,047 m: 1 (1998 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways (Airports--with unpaved runways) [time series]
total: 1 under 914 m: 1 (1998 est.)
Roadways (Highways) [time series]
total: NA km paved: NA km unpaved: NA km note: small, poorly developed road network
Ports (Ports and harbors) [time series]
Gaza
Railways [time series]
total: NA km; note--one line, abandoned and in disrepair, little trackage remains