from
CIA World Factbook 2006
West Bank
Introduction
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 (PA) 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
provided that Israel would 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 began in
September 1999 after a three-year hiatus, but were
derailed by a second intifada that broke out in
September 2000. In April 2003 the Quartet (US, EU, UN,
and Russia) presented a roadmap to a final settlement
of the conflict by 2005 based on reciprocal steps by
the two parties leading to two states, Israel and a
democratic Palestine. The proposed date for a permanent
status agreement has been postponed indefinitely due to
violence and accusations that both sides have not
followed through on their commitments. Longtime
Palestinian leader Yasir ARAFAT died in November 2004
and Mahmud ABBAS was elected PA President in January
2005, bringing hope of a turning point in the conflict.
Israel and the PA agreed in February 2005 to the Sharm
el-Sheikh Commitments, focused on security issues, in
an effort to move the peace process forward. Progress
has been slow because of different interpretations of
the verbal agreement by the two sides.
Geography
Location: Middle East, west of Jordan
Geographic 32 00 N, 35 15 E
coordinates:
Map Middle East
references:
Area: total: 5,860 sq km
land: 5,640 sq km
water: 220 sq km
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
Area - slightly smaller than Delaware
comparative:
Land total: 404 km
boundaries: border countries: Israel 307 km, Jordan 97 km
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
Maritime none (landlocked)
claims:
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 lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m
extremes: highest point: Tall Asur 1,022 m
Natural arable land
resources:
Land use: arable land: 16.9%
permanent crops: 18.97%
other: 64.13% (2001)
Irrigated 150 sq km; note - includes Gaza Strip (2003)
land:
Natural droughts
hazards:
Environment - adequacy of fresh water supply; sewage treatment
current
issues:
Geography - landlocked; highlands are main recharge area for
note: Israel's coastal aquifers; there are 242 West Bank
settlements and 29 East Jerusalem settlements in
addition to at least 20 occupied outposts (August 2005
est.)
People
Population: 2,460,492
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.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 42.9% (male 541,110/female 515,202)
15-64 years: 53.7% (male 676,427/female 644,347)
65 years and over: 3.4% (male 35,440/female 47,966)
(2006 est.)
Median age: total: 18.3 years
male: 18.2 years
female: 18.5 years (2006 est.)
Population 3.06% (2006 est.)
growth rate:
Birth rate: 31.67 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Death rate: 3.92 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Net migration 2.8 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)
rate:
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.74 male(s)/female
total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
Infant total: 19.15 deaths/1,000 live births
mortality male: 21.12 deaths/1,000 live births
rate: female: 17.05 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
Life total population: 73.27 years
expectancy at male: 71.5 years
birth: female: 75.15 years (2006 est.)
Total 4.28 children born/woman (2006 est.)
fertility
rate:
HIV/AIDS - NA
adult
prevalence
rate:
HIV/AIDS - NA
people living
with HIV/AIDS:
HIV/AIDS - NA
deaths:
Nationality: noun: NA
adjective: NA
Ethnic groups: Palestinian Arab and other 83%, Jewish 17%
Religions: Muslim 75% (predominantly Sunni), Jewish 17%, Christian
and other 8%
Languages: Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many
Palestinians), English (widely understood)
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 91.9%
male: 96.3%
female: 87.4% (2003 est.)
Government
Country name: conventional long form: none
conventional short form: West Bank
Economy
Economy - The West Bank - the larger of the two areas under the
overview: Palestinian Authority (PA)- has experienced a general
decline in economic growth and a degradation in
economic conditions made worse since the second
intifadah began in September 2000. The downturn has
been largely the result of the Israeli closure policies
- the imposition of border closures in response to
security incidents in Israel - which disrupted labor
and commodity market relationships. In 2001, and even
more severely in 2002, Israeli military measures in PA
areas resulted in the destruction of much capital
plant, the disruption of administrative structure, and
widespread business closures. Including the Gaza Strip,
the UN estimates that more than 100,000 Palestinians
out of the 125,000 who used to work in Israeli
settlements, or in joint industrial zones, have lost
their jobs. International aid of $2 billion to the West
Bank and Gaza Strip in 2004 prevented the complete
collapse of the economy and allowed some reforms in the
government's financial operations. In 2005, high
unemployment and limited trade opportunities, due to
continued closures both within the West Bank and
externally, stymied growth.
GDP $1.8 billion (2003 est.)
(purchasing
power parity):
GDP (official $3.45 billion
exchange
rate):
GDP - real 6.2% (2004 est.)
growth rate:
GDP - per $1,100 (2003 est.)
capita (PPP):
GDP - agriculture: 9%
composition by industry: 28%
sector: services: 63%
note: includes Gaza Strip (2002 est.)
Labor force: 614,000 (April-June 2005)
Labor force - agriculture: 18.4%
by occupation: industry: 24%
services: 57.6% (April-June 2005)
Unemployment 19.9% (includes Gaza Strip) (January-September 2005)
rate:
Population 46% including Gaza Strip (2004 est.)
below poverty
line:
Household lowest 10%: NA%
income or highest 10%: NA%
consumption by
percentage
share:
Inflation rate 7% (includes Gaza Strip) (2003 est.)
(consumer
prices):
Budget: revenues: $964 million
expenditures: $1.34 billion; including capital
expenditures of $NA; note - these budget data include
Gaza Strip (2004)
Agriculture - olives, citrus, vegetables; beef, dairy products
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 NA%
production
growth rate:
Electricity - NA kWh; note - most electricity imported from Israel;
production: 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
Electricity - fossil fuel: 100%
production by hydro: 0%
source: nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (2001)
Electricity - NA kWh
consumption:
Electricity - NA kWh
imports:
Exports: $270 million f.o.b.; note - includes Gaza Strip (2003)
Exports - olives, fruit, vegetables, limestone
commodities:
Exports - Israel, Jordan, Gaza Strip (2004)
partners:
Imports: $1.952 billion c.i.f.; note - includes Gaza Strip
(2003)
Imports - food, consumer goods, construction materials
commodities:
Imports - Israel, Jordan, Gaza Strip (2004)
partners:
Debt - $0; note - includes Gaza Strip (2002)
external:
Economic aid - $1.14 billion; note - includes Gaza Strip (2004 est.)
recipient:
Currency new Israeli shekel (ILS); Jordanian dinar (JOD)
(code):
Currency code: ILS; JOD
Exchange new Israeli shekels per US dollar - 4.4877 (2005),
rates: 4.482 (2004), 4.5541 (2003), 4.7378 (2002), 4.2057
(2001)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications
Telephones - 357,300 (includes Gaza Strip) (2004)
main lines in
use:
Telephones - 1.095 million (includes Gaza Strip) (2005)
mobile
cellular:
Telephone general assessment: NA
system: domestic: Israeli company BEZEK and the Palestinian
company PALTEL are responsible for fixed line services
in the Gaza Strip; the Palestinian JAWAL company
provides cellular services
international: country code - 970
Radio AM 1, FM 20, shortwave 0 (2005)
broadcast
stations:
Radios: NA; note - most Palestinian households have radios
(1999)
Television 8 (2005)
broadcast
stations:
Televisions: NA; note - many Palestinian households have televisions
(1999)
Internet .ps
country code:
Internet 8 (1999)
Service
Providers
(ISPs):
Internet 243,000 (includes Gaza Strip) (2005)
users:
Transportation
Airports: 3 (2006)
Airports - total: 3
with paved 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
runways: 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2006)
Roadways: total: 4,158 km
paved: 4,158 km
note: includes Gaza Strip (2003)
Military
Military NA
expenditures -
dollar figure:
Military NA
expenditures -
percent of
GDP:
Transnational
Issues
Disputes - West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli-occupied with
international: current status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian
Interim Agreement - permanent status to be determined
through further negotiation; Israel continues
construction of a "seam line" separation barrier along
parts of the Green Line and within the West Bank;
Israel withdrew from four settlements in the northern
West Bank in August 2005; since 1948, about 350
peacekeepers from the UN Truce Supervision Organization
(UNTSO), headquartered in Jerusalem, monitor
ceasefires, supervise armistice agreements, prevent
isolated incidents from escalating, and assist other UN
personnel in the region
Refugees and refugees (country of origin): 699,817 (Palestinian
internally Refugees (UNRWA)) (2005)
displaced
persons: