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Communications

Broadband - fixed subscriptions [time series]

total: 320,500 (2016 est.) | subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 14 (2016 est.) | note: includes West Bank

Broadcast media [time series]

1 TV station and about 10 radio stations; satellite TV accessible (2008)

Internet country code [time series]

.psnote - same as the West Bank

Internet users [time series]

total: 2.673 million (includes the West Bank) (July 2016 est.) | percent of population: 57.4% (July 2016 est.)

Telecommunication systems (Telephone system) [time series]

general assessment: Israel has final say in allocating frequencies in the Gaza Strip and does not permit anything beyond a 2G network (2018) | domestic: Israeli company BEZEK and the Palestinian company PALTEL are responsible for fixed-line services; the Palestinian JAWWAL company provides cellular services; a slow 2G network allows calls and limited data transmission (2018) | international: country code - 970 (2018)

Telephones - fixed lines [time series]

total subscriptions: 432,000 (includes the West Bank); (July 2016 est.) (July 2016 est.) | subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 9 (includes the West Bank); (July 2016 est.) (July 2016 est.)

Telephones - mobile cellular [time series]

total subscriptions: 3,531,000 (includes the West Bank) (July 2016 est.) | subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 76 (includes the West Bank) (July 2016 est.)

Economy

Agricultural products (Agriculture - products) [time series]

olives, fruit, vegetables, flowers; beef, dairy products

Budget [time series]

see entry for the West Bank

Commercial bank prime lending rate [time series]

see entry for the West Bank

Current account balance [time series]

-$1.444 billion (2017 est.) | -$1.348 billion (2016 est.) | note: excludes the West Bank

Debt - external [time series]

see entry for the West Bank

Economic overview (Economy - overview) [time series]

Movement and access restrictions, violent attacks, and the slow pace of post-conflict reconstruction continue to degrade economic conditions in the Gaza Strip, the smaller of the two areas comprising the Palestinian territories. Israeli controls became more restrictive after HAMAS seized control of the territory in June 2007. Under Hamas control, Gaza has suffered from rising unemployment, elevated poverty rates, and a sharp contraction of the private sector, which had relied primarily on export markets. Since April 2017, the Palestinian Authority has reduced payments for electricity supplied to Gaza and cut salaries for its employees there, exacerbating poor economic conditions. Since 2014, Egypt’s crackdown on the Gaza Strip’s extensive tunnel-based smuggling network has exacerbated fuel, construction material, and consumer goods shortages in the territory. Donor support for reconstruction following the 51-day conflict in 2014 between Israel and HAMAS and other Gaza-based militant groups has fallen short of post-conflict needs.

Exchange rates [time series]

see entry for the West Bank

Exports [time series]

$1.955 billion (2017 est.) | $1.827 billion (2016 est.)

Exports - commodities [time series]

strawberries, carnations, vegetables, fish (small and irregular shipments, as permitted to transit the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing)

Fiscal year [time series]

calendar year

GDP (official exchange rate) [time series]

$2.938 billion (2014 est.) (2014 est.) | note: excludes the West Bank

Real GDP (purchasing power parity) (GDP (purchasing power parity)) [time series]

see entry for the West Bank

GDP - composition, by end use [time series]

household consumption: 88.6% (2017 est.) | government consumption: 26.3% (2017 est.) | investment in fixed capital: 22.4% (2017 est.) | investment in inventories: 0% (2017 est.) | exports of goods and services: 18.6% (2017 est.) | imports of goods and services: -55.6% (2017 est.) | note: data exclude the West Bank

GDP - composition, by sector of origin [time series]

agriculture: 3% (2017 est.) | industry: 21.1% (2017 est.) | services: 75% (2017 est.) | note: data exclude the West Bank

Real GDP per capita (GDP - per capita (PPP)) [time series]

see entry for the the West Bank

Real GDP growth rate (GDP - real growth rate) [time series]

-15.2% (2014 est.) | 5.6% (2013 est.) | 7% (2012 est.) | note: excludes the West Bank

Imports [time series]

$8.59 billion (2018 est.) | $7.852 billion (2017 est.) | see entry for the West Bank

Imports - commodities [time series]

food, consumer goods, fuel

Industrial production growth rate [time series]

2.2% (2017 est.) | note: see entry for the West Bank

Industries [time series]

textiles, food processing, furniture

Inflation rate (consumer prices) [time series]

0.2% (2017 est.) | -0.2% (2016 est.) | note: excludes the West Bank

Labor force [time series]

1.24 million (2017 est.) | note: excludes the West Bank

Labor force - by occupation [time series]

agriculture: 5.2% | industry: 10% | services: 84.8% (2015 est.) | note: data exclude the West Bank

Population below poverty line [time series]

30% (2011 est.) | note: data exclude the West Bank

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold [time series]

$446.3 million (31 December 2017 est.) | $583 million (31 December 2015 est.)

Stock of broad money [time series]

$2.901 billion (31 December 2017 est.) | $2.538 billion (31 December 2016 est.)

Stock of domestic credit [time series]

$2.041 billion (31 December 2017 est.) | $1.712 billion (31 December 2016 est.)

Stock of narrow money [time series]

see entry for the West Bank

Unemployment rate [time series]

27.9% (2017 est.) | 27% (2016 est.) | note: data exclude the West Bank

Energy

Crude oil - proved reserves [time series]

0 bbl (1 January 2010 est.)

Electricity - consumption [time series]

202,000 kWh (2009 est.)

Electricity - exports [time series]

0 kWh (2011 est.)

Electricity - imports [time series]

193,000 kWh (2011 est.)

Electricity - production [time series]

51,000 kWh (2011 est.)

Electricity access [time series]

population without electricity: 80,930 (2012) | electrification - total population: 98% (2012) | electrification - urban areas: 99% (2012) | electrification - rural areas: 93% (2012) | note: data for Gaza Strip and West Bank combined

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 [time series]

0 m lowest point: Mediterranean Sea | 105 highest point: Abu 'Awdah (Joz Abu 'Awdah)

Environment - current issues [time series]

soil degradation; desertification; water pollution from chemicals and pesticides; salination of fresh water; improper sewage treatment; water-borne disease; depletion and contamination of underground water resources

Geographic coordinates [time series]

31 25 N, 34 20 E

Geography - note [time series]

strategic strip of land along Mideast-North African trade routes has experienced an incredibly turbulent history; the town of Gaza itself has been besieged countless times in its history; there are no Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip; the Gaza Strip settlements were evacuated in 2005

Irrigated land [time series]

240 sq km; note - includes the West Bank (2012)

Land boundaries [time series]

total: 72 km | border countries (2): Egypt 13 km, Israel 59 km

Location [time series]

Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Israel

Map references [time series]

Middle East

Maritime claims [time series]

see entry for Israel note: effective 3 January 2009, the Gaza maritime area is closed to all maritime traffic and is under blockade imposed by Israeli Navy until further notice

Natural hazards [time series]

droughts

Natural resources [time series]

arable land, natural gas

Population distribution [time series]

population concentrated in major cities, particularly Gaza City in the north

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 | etymology: named for the largest city in the region, Gaza, whose settlement can be traced back to at least the 15th century B.C. (as "Ghazzat")

Introduction

Background [time series]

Inhabited since at least the 15th century B.C., Gaza has been dominated by many different peoples and empires throughout its history; it was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in the early 16th century. Gaza fell to British forces during World War I, becoming a part of the British Mandate of Palestine. Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Egypt administered the newly formed Gaza Strip; it was captured by Israel in the Six-Day War in 1967. Under a series of agreements known as the Oslo accords signed between 1994 and 1999, Israel transferred to the newly-created Palestinian Authority (PA) security and civilian responsibility for many Palestinian-populated areas of the Gaza Strip as well as the West Bank. Negotiations to determine the permanent status of the West Bank and Gaza Strip stalled in 2001, after which the area witnessed a violent intifada or uprising. Israel by late 2005 unilaterally withdrew all of its settlers and soldiers and dismantled its military facilities in the Gaza Strip, but it continues to control the Gaza Strip’s land and maritime borders and airspace. In early 2006, the Islamic Resistance Movement (HAMAS) won a majority in the Palestinian Legislative Council election. Attempts to form a unity government between Fatah and HAMAS failed and violent clashes between their respective supporters ensued, culminating in HAMAS's violent seizure of all military and governmental institutions in the Gaza Strip in June 2007. Since HAMAS’s takeover, Israel and Egypt have enforced tight restrictions on movement and access of goods and individuals into and out of the territory. Fatah and HAMAS have since reached a series of agreements aimed at restoring political unity between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank but have struggled to effect them; a reconciliation agreement signed in October 2017 remains unimplemented. In July 2014, HAMAS and other Gaza-based militant groups engaged in a 51-day conflict with Israel — the third conflict since HAMAS’s takeover in 2007 — culminating in late August with an open-ended truce that continues to tenuously hold despite the absence of a negotiated cease-fire and periodic attacks. The UN in 2015 published a study assessing that the Gaza Strip could become uninhabitable by 2020 unless steps are taken to address Gaza’s economic and humanitarian situation. In September 2018, the UN reported that conditions were worse than when its experts made that prediction.

Military and Security

Military and security forces (Military branches) [time series]

HAMAS does not have a conventional military in the Gaza Strip but maintains security forces in addition to its military wing, the 'Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades; the military wing reports to the Hamas Political Bureau leadership (2018)

People and Society

Age structure [time series]

0-14 years: 44.1% (male 415,746 /female 394,195) | 15-24 years: 21.34% (male 197,797 /female 194,112) | 25-54 years: 28.5% (male 256,103 /female 267,285) | 55-64 years: 3.48% (male 33,413 /female 30,592) | 65 years and over: 2.58% (male 24,863 /female 22,607) (2018 est.) | population pyramid: The World Factbook Field Image Modal × Middle East :: Gaza Strip Print Image Description This is the population pyramid for Gaza Strip. A population pyramid illustrates the age and sex structure of a country's population and may provide insights about political and social stability, as well as economic development. The population is distributed along the horizontal axis, with males shown on the left and females on the right. The male and female populations are broken down into 5-year age groups represented as horizontal bars along the vertical axis, with the youngest age groups at the bottom and the oldest at the top. The shape of the population pyramid gradually evolves over time based on fertility, mortality, and international migration trends. For additional information, please see the entry for Population pyramid on the Definitions and Notes page under the References tab.

Birth rate [time series]

30.5 births/1,000 population (2018 est.)

Children under the age of 5 years underweight [time series]

1.4% (2014) | note: estimate is for Gaza Strip and the West Bank

Contraceptive prevalence rate [time series]

57.2% (includes Gaza Strip and the West Bank) (2014)

Death rate [time series]

3 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.)

Dependency ratios [time series]

total dependency ratio: 75.8 (2015 est.) | youth dependency ratio: 70.5 (2015 est.) | elderly dependency ratio: 5.2 (2015 est.) | potential support ratio: 19.1 (2015 est.) | note: data represent Gaza Strip and the West Bank

Drinking water source [time series]

Education expenditure (Education expenditures) [time series]

5.7% of GDP (2016) | note: includes Gaza Strip and the West Bank

Ethnic groups [time series]

Palestinian Arab

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate [time series]

HIV/AIDS - deaths [time series]

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS [time series]

Hospital bed density [time series]

1.32 beds/1,000 population (2015)

Infant mortality rate [time series]

total: 16 deaths/1,000 live births (2018 est.) | male: 17.1 deaths/1,000 live births (2018 est.) | female: 14.9 deaths/1,000 live births (2018 est.)

Languages [time series]

Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by many Palestinians), English (widely understood)

Life expectancy at birth [time series]

total population: 74.4 years (2018 est.) | male: 72.7 years (2018 est.) | female: 76.2 years (2018 est.)

Literacy [time series]

definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2016 est.) | total population: 96.9% (2016 est.) | male: 98.6% (2016 est.) | female: 95.2% (2016 est.) | note: estimates are for Gaza and the West Bank

Maternal mortality ratio (Maternal mortality rate) [time series]

45 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.) | note: data represent Gaza Strip and the West Bank

Median age [time series]

total: 17.4 years | male: 17.1 years | female: 17.8 years (2018 est.)

Nationality [time series]

noun: NA | adjective: NA

Net migration rate [time series]

-5.1 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.)

Physician density (Physicians density) [time series]

2.2 physicians/1,000 population (2014)

Population [time series]

1,836,713 (July 2018 est.)

Population distribution [time series]

population concentrated in major cities, particularly Gaza City in the north

Population growth rate [time series]

2.25% (2018 est.)

Religions [time series]

Muslim 98.0 - 99.0% (predominantly Sunni), Christian <1.0%, other, unaffiliated, unspecified <1.0% (2012 est.) | note: dismantlement of Israeli settlements was completed in September 2005; Gaza has had no Jewish population since then

Sanitation facility access [time series]

improved: urban: 93% of population (2015 est.) | rural: 90.2% of population (2015 est.) | total: 92.3% of population (2015 est.) | unimproved: urban: 7% of population (2015 est.) | rural: 9.8% of population (2015 est.) | total: 7.7% of population (2015 est.) | note: note includes Gaza Strip and the West Bank

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education) [time series]

total: 13 years (2015) | male: 12 years (2015) | female: 14 years (2015) | note: data represent Gaza Strip and the West Bank

Sex ratio [time series]

at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female (2017 est.) | 0-14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female (2017 est.) | 15-24 years: 1.01 male(s)/female (2017 est.) | 25-54 years: 0.96 male(s)/female (2017 est.) | 55-64 years: 1.1 male(s)/female (2017 est.) | 65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female (2017 est.) | total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

Total fertility rate [time series]

3.97 children born/woman (2018 est.)

Youth unemployment rate (ages 15-24) (Unemployment, youth ages 15-24) [time series]

total: 40.7% (2015 est.) | male: 36.4% (2015 est.) | female: 60.8% (2015 est.) | note: includes the West Bank

Urbanization [time series]

urban population: 76.2% of total population (2018) | rate of urbanization: 3% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.) | note: data represent Gaza Strip and the West Bank

Terrorism

Terrorist group(s) (Terrorist groups - foreign based) [time series]

Abdallah Azzam Brigades (AAB): aim(s): bolster its staging capabilities in the Gaza Strip against Israel to continue its attempts to disrupt Israel's economy and its efforts to establish security area(s) of operation: launches homemade rockets from the Gaza Strip into populated Israeli territory, primarily the cities of Nahariya and Ashkelon (April 2018) | al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade (AAMB): aim(s): bolster its staging capabilities in the Gaza Strip against Israel and, ultimately, establish a Palestinian state comprising the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Jerusalem area(s) of operation: stages attacks from the Gaza Strip against Israeli soldiers and civilians inside Israel, including launching rockets and missiles (April 2018) | Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS)-Sinai: aim(s): bolster its staging capabilities in the Gaza Strip against Israel and, ultimately, establish a regional Islamic caliphate area(s) of operation: stages attacks against Egyptian forces along the Gaza Strip-Egypt border and launches rockets into southern Israel from the border closest to Israel note: formerly known as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (April 2018)

Terrorist group(s) (Terrorist groups - home based) [time series]

Army of Islam (AOI): aim(s): stage attacks against Israel and Egypt from the Gaza Strip and, ultimately, establish an Islamic emirate in the region area(s) of operation: headquartered in Gaza; heaviest presence and operational activity is in the Gaza Strip note: operatives have a history of launching low-impact rockets into Israeli and Egyptian territory; the Army of Islam (Jaish al-Islam, JAI) in Syria is unrelated to AOI (April 2018) | HAMAS: aim(s): maintain control of the Gaza Strip to facilitate Palestinian nationalist aims area(s) of operation: headquartered in Gaza (April 2018) | Mujahidin Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem (MSC): aim(s): bolster its staging capabilities in the Gaza Strip against Israel and, ultimately, destroy the state of Israel area(s) of operation: headquartered in Gaza, although present in Egypt, Libya, Syria, and Israel (April 2018) | Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ): aim(s): enhance its staging capabilities in the Gaza Strip to launch attacks against Israel area(s) of operation: stages rocket attacks against civilians and military personnel primarily in southern Israel (April 2018) | Palestine Liberation Front (PLF): aim(s): bolster its staging capabilities in the Gaza Strip against Israel and, ultimately, destroy the state of Israel in order to establish a secular, Marxist Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital area(s) of operation: based in Gaza; maintains a recruitment and paramilitary training presence in most of the refugee camps across the Gaza Strip (April 2018) | PFLP-General Command (PFLP-GC): aim(s): bolster its staging capabilities to prepare fighters for deployment to Syria and to launch occasional attacks inside Israel; ultimately, seeks to establish a Palestinian state area(s) of operation: headquartered in Gaza; as a longtime supporter of the Syrian Government, the group trains and deploys fighters to Syria to fight on behalf of President Bashar al-ASAD; stages occasional small-scale attacks inside Israel (April 2018) | Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP): aim(s): destroy the state of Israel and, ultimately, establish a secular, Marxist Palestinian state area(s) of operation: headquartered in Gaza, recruiting and training fighters; stages limited attacks against Israel (April 2018)

Transnational Issues

Disputes - international [time series]

the status of the Gaza Strip is a final status issue to be resolved through negotiationsIsrael removed settlers and military personnel from Gaza Strip in September 2005

Refugees and internally displaced persons [time series]

refugees (country of origin): 1,348,536 (Palestinian refugees) (2017) | IDPs: 231,000 (includes persons displaced within the Gaza Strip due to the intensification of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since June 2014 and other Palestinian IDPs in the Gaza Strip and West Bank who fled as long ago as 1967, although confirmed cumulative data do not go back beyond 2006) (2017)

Transportation

Airports [time series]

1 (2013)

Airports - with paved runways [time series]

total: 1 (2017) | over 3,047 m: 1 (2017)

Heliports [time series]

1 (2013)

Ports (Ports and terminals) [time series]

major seaport(s): Gaza

Roadways [time series]

note: see entry for the West Bank