ARCHIVE // PS // 2000

Gaza Strip

2000 Edition — disputed

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Communications
Internet users (Internet Service Providers (ISPs)) [time series]
3 (1999)
Broadcast media (Radio broadcast stations) [time series]
AM 0, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998)
Radios [time series]
NA; note - most Palestinian households have radios (1999)
Telecommunication systems (Telephone system) [time series]
domestic: rudimentary telephone services provided by an open wire system international: NA
Telephones - fixed lines (Telephones - main lines in use) [time series]
95,729 (total for Gaza Strip and West Bank) (1997)
Telephones - mobile cellular [time series]
NA
Broadcast media (Television broadcast stations) [time series]
2 (operated by the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation) (1997)
Televisions [time series]
NA; note - most Palestinian households have televisions (1997)
Economy
Agricultural products (Agriculture - products) [time series]
olives, citrus, vegetables; beef, dairy products
Budget [time series]
revenues: $1.6 billion expenditures: $1.73 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA note: includes West Bank (1999 est.)
Exchange rates (Currency) [time series]
1 new Israeli shekel (NIS) = 100 new agorot
Debt - external [time series]
$108 million (includes West Bank) (1997 est.)
Economic aid (Economic aid - recipient) [time series]
$800 million pledged (includes West Bank) (1999)
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. In October 1999, Israel permitted the opening of a safe passage between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in accordance with the 1995 Interim Agreement. These changes to the conduct of economic activity have fueled a moderate economic recovery in 1998-99.
Electricity - consumption [time series]
NA kWh
Electricity - imports [time series]
NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by Israel
Electricity - production [time series]
0 kWh (1998)
Exchange rates [time series]
new Israeli shekels (NIS) per US$1 - 4.2260 (November 1999), 3.8001 (1998), 3.4494 (1997), 3.1917 (1996), 3.0113 (1995)
Exports [time series]
$682 million (includes West Bank) (f.o.b., 1998 est.)
Exports - commodities [time series]
citrus, flowers
Exports - partners [time series]
Israel, Egypt, West Bank
Fiscal year [time series]
calendar year
Real GDP (purchasing power parity) (GDP) [time series]
purchasing power parity - $1.17 billion (1999 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 - $1,060 (1999 est.)
Real GDP growth rate (GDP - real growth rate) [time series]
4.6% (1999 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share [time series]
lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%
Imports [time series]
$2.5 billion (c.i.f., 1998 est.) (includes West Bank)
Imports - commodities [time series]
food, consumer goods, construction materials
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]
5% (includes West Bank) (1999 est.)
Labor force [time series]
NA
Labor force - by occupation [time series]
services 66%, industry 21%, agriculture 13% (1996)
Population below poverty line [time series]
NA%
Unemployment rate [time series]
14.5% (includes West Bank) (1998 est.)
Geography
Area [time series]
total: 360 sq km land: 360 sq km water: 0 sq km
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 [time series]
desertification; salination of fresh water; sewage treatment
Geographic coordinates [time series]
31 25 N, 34 20 E
Geography - note [time series]
there are 24 Israeli settlements and civilian land use sites in the Gaza Strip (August 1999 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]
arable land
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. 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, 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.
Military
Military and security forces (Military branches) [time series]
NA
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: 50% (male 289,954; female 275,628) 15-64 years: 47% (male 271,365; female 263,197) 65 years and over: 3% (male 13,792; female 18,127) (2000 est.)
Birth rate [time series]
43.14 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)
Death rate [time series]
4.31 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)
Ethnic groups [time series]
Palestinian Arab and other 99.4%, Jewish 0.6%
Infant mortality rate [time series]
25.97 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)
Languages [time series]
Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many Palestinians), English (widely understood)
Life expectancy at birth [time series]
total population: 70.82 years male: 69.58 years female: 72.11 years (2000 est.)
Literacy [time series]
definition: NA total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA%
Nationality [time series]
noun: NA adjective: NA
Net migration rate [time series]
0.83 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)
Population [time series]
1,132,063 note: in addition, there are some 6,500 Israeli settlers in the Gaza Strip (July 2000 est.)
Population growth rate [time series]
3.97% (2000 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: 1.03 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2000 est.)
Total fertility rate [time series]
6.55 children born/woman (2000 est.)
Transnational Issues
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 [Country Listing] [ The World Factbook Home]
Transportation
Airports [time series]
2 (1999 est.) note: includes Gaza International Airport that opened on 24 November 1998 as part of agreements stipulated in the September 1995 Oslo II Accord and the 23 October 1998 Wye River Memorandum
Airports - with paved runways [time series]
total: 1 over 3,047 m: 1 (1999 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways [time series]
total: 1 under 914 m: 1 (1999 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