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 Match 259   DB Rec# - 7,711  Dataset-WOFACT

Title         :West Bank 
Text          : 
                                    West Bank 
 
                                     Header 
 
    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, 
    final status negotiations are to begin no later than the beginning of the 
    third year of the transitional period. 
 
                                    Geography 
 
Location: 
    Middle East, west of Jordan 
Map references: 
    Middle East 
Area: 
  total area: 
    5,860 sq km 
  land area: 


    5,640 sq km 
  comparative area: 
    slightly larger than Delaware 
  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 
Land boundaries: 
    total 404 km, Israel 307 km, Jordan 97 km 
Coastline: 
    0 km (landlocked) 
Maritime claims: 
    none; landlocked 
International disputes: 
    West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli occupied with interim status subject to
 
    Israeli/Palestinian negotiations - final status to be determined 
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 
Natural resources: 
    negligible 
Land use: 
  arable land: 
    27% 
  permanent crops: 
    0% 
  meadows and pastures: 
    32% 
  forest and woodland: 
    1% 
  other: 
    40% 
Irrigated land: 
    NA sq km 
Environment: 
  current issues: 
    NA 
  natural hazards: 
    NA 
  international agreements: 
    NA 
Note: 
    landlocked; highlands are main recharge area for Israel's coastal aquifers; 
    there are 199 Jewish settlements and civilian land use sites in the West 
    Bank and 25 in East Jerusalem (August 1994 est.) 
 
                                     People 
 
Population: 
    1,319,991 (July 1995 est.) 
  note: 
    in addition, there are 122,000 Jewish settlers in the West Bank and 149,000 
    in East Jerusalem (August 1994 est.) 
Age structure: 
  0-14 years: 


    46% (female 293,269; male 308,775) 
  15-64 years: 
    51% (female 335,193; male 337,722) 
  65 years and over: 
    3% (female 25,759; male 19,273) (July 1995 est.) 
Population growth rate: 
    3.5% (1995 est.) 
Birth rate: 
    39.83 births/1,000 population (1995 est.) 
Death rate: 
    4.84 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.) 
Net migration rate: 
    0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.) 
Infant mortality rate: 
    29.7 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.) 
Life expectancy at birth: 
  total population: 
    71.42 years 
  male: 
    69.91 years 
  female: 
    73 years (1995 est.) 
Total fertility rate: 
    5.34 children born/woman (1995 est.) 
Nationality: 
  noun: 
    NA 
  adjective: 
    NA 
Ethnic divisions: 
    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), English (widely understood) 
Literacy: 
    NA% 
Labor force: 
    NA 
  by occupation: 
    construction 28.2%, agriculture 21.8%, industry 14.5%, commerce, 
    restaurants, and hotels 12.6%, other services 22.9% (1991) 
  note: 
    excluding Jewish settlers 
 
                                   Government 
 
Note: 
    Under the Israeli-PLO Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government 
    Arragements ("the DOP"), Israel agreed to transfer certain powers and 
    responsibilities to the Palestinian Authority, and subsequently to an 
    elected Palestinian Council, 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 has taken place pursuant to the Israel-PLO 4 
    May 1994 Cairo Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area. A transfer 
    of powers and responsibilities in certain spheres for the rest of the West 
    Bank has taken place pursuant to the Israel-PLO 29 August 1994 Agreement on 
    Preparatory Transfer of Powers and Responsibilities. 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. Final status is to be determined through direct negotiations 
    within five years. 
Names: 
  conventional long form: 
    none 
  conventional short form: 
    West Bank 
Digraph: 
    WE 
 
                                     Economy 
 
Overview: 
    Economic progress in the West Bank has been hampered by Israeli military 
    administration and the effects of the Palestinian uprising (intifadah). 
    Industries using advanced technology or requiring sizable investment have 
    been discouraged by a lack of local capital and restrictive Israeli 
    policies. Capital investment consists largely of residential housing, not 
    productive assets that would enable local Palestinian firms to compete with 
    Israeli industry. GDP has been substantially supplemented by remittances of 
    workers employed in Israel and Persian Gulf states. Such transfers from the 
    Gulf dropped after Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990. In the wake of the 
    Persian Gulf crisis, many Palestinians have returned to the West Bank, 
    increasing unemployment, and export revenues have dropped because of the 
    decline of markets in Jordan and the Gulf states. Israeli measures to 
    curtail the intifadah also have added to unemployment and lowered living 
    standards. The area's economic situation has worsened since Israel's partial
 
    closure of the territories in 1993. 
National product: 
    GDP - purchasing power parity - $4 billion (1994 est.) 
National product real growth rate: 
    NA% 
National product per capita: 
    $2,800 (1994 est.) 
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 
    6.8% (1993) 
Unemployment rate: 
    35% (1994 est.) 
Budget: 
  revenues: 
    $43.4 million 
  expenditures: 
    $43.7 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY89/90) 
Exports: 
    $217 million (f.o.b., 1992) 
  commodities: 
    olives, fruit, vegetables 
  partners: 
    Jordan, Israel 
Imports: 
    $867 million (c.i.f., 1992) 
  commodities: 
    food, consumer goods, construction materials 
  partners: 
    Jordan, Israel 
External debt: 
    $NA 
Industrial production: 
    growth rate NA% 


Electricity: 
  capacity: 
    NA kW 
  production: 
    NA kWh 
  consumption per capita: 
    NA kWh 
 
                                     Economy 
  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; at the same 
    time, some Palestinian municipalities, such as Nabulus and Janin, generate 
    their own electricity from small power plants 
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 
Agriculture: 
    olives, citrus and other fruits, vegetables, beef, and dairy products 
Economic aid: 
    $NA 
Currency: 
    1 new Israeli shekel (NIS) = 100 new agorot; 1 Jordanian dinar (JD) = 1,000 
    fils 
Exchange rates: 
    new Israeli shekels (NIS) per US$1 - 3.0270 (December 1994), 3.0111 (1994), 
    2.8301 (1993), 2.4591 (1992), 2.2791 (1991), 2.0162 (1990); Jordanian dinars
 
    (JD) per US$1 - 0.6995 (January 1995), 0.6987 (1994), 0.6928 (1993), 0.6797 
    (1992), 0.6808 (1991), 0.6636 (1990) 
Fiscal year: 
    calendar year (since 1 January 1992) 
 
                                 Transportation 
 
Railroads: 
    0 km 
Highways: 
  total: 
    NA 
  paved: 
    NA 
  unpaved: 
    NA 
  note: 
    small road network; Israelis have developed many highways to service Jewish 
    settlements 
Ports: 
    none 
Airports: 
  total: 
    2 
  with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m: 
    1 
  with paved runways under 914 m: 
    1 


 
                                 Communications 
 
Telephone system: 
    NA telephones; note - 8% of Palestinian households have telephones (1992 
    est.) 
  local: 
    NA 
  intercity: 
    NA 
  international: 
    NA 
  note: 
    Israeli company BEZEK is responsible for communication services in the West 
    Bank 
Radio: 
  broadcast stations: 
    AM 1, FM 0, shortwave 0 
  radios: 
    NA; note - 82% of Palestinian households have radios (1992 est.) 
Television: 
  broadcast stations: 
    0; note - 1 planned for Jericho 
  televisions: 
    NA; note - 54% of Palestinian households have televisions (1992 est.) 
 
                                 Defense Forces 
 
Branches: 
    NA 
Defense expenditures: 
    $NA, NA% of GDP 

This publication is also available online from the CIA (http://www.odci.gov/cia) as 1995 World Factbook (http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/95fact/index.html).

The printed version of this item can be found under the title:
The World Factbook 1995,
SuDoc No: PREX 3.15:995

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Updated: March 12, 1996