CIA World Fact Book, 2004/Gaza Strip


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!| 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, which includes the Palestinian Legislative Council elected in January 1996, 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 provides that Israel will 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 that began in September 1999 after a three-year hiatus, were derailed by a second intifadah that broke out in September 2000. The resulting widespread violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israel's military response, and instability within the Palestinian Authority continue to undermine progress toward a permanent agreement. Following the death of longtime Palestinian leader Yasir ARAFAT in November 2004, the election of his successor Mahmud ABBAS in January 2005 could bring a turning point in the conflict.
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!| Location: !| Geographic coordinates: !| Map references: !| Area: water: 0 sq km land: 360 sq km !| Area - comparative: !| Land boundaries: border countries: Egypt 11 km, Israel 51 km !| Coastline: !| Maritime claims: !| Climate: !| Terrain: !| Elevation extremes: highest point: Abu 'Awdah (Joz Abu 'Auda) 105 m !| Natural resources: !| Land use: permanent crops: 21.05% other: 50% (2001) !| Irrigated land: !| Natural hazards: !| Environment - current issues: !| Geography - note:
 * Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Israel
 * 31 25 N, 34 20 E
 * Middle East
 * total: 360 sq km
 * slightly more than twice the size of Washington, DC
 * total: 62 km
 * 40 km
 * Israeli-occupied with current status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent status to be determined through further negotiation
 * temperate, mild winters, dry and warm to hot summers
 * flat to rolling, sand- and dune-covered coastal plain
 * lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m
 * arable land, natural gas
 * arable land: 28.95%
 * 120 sq km (1998 est.)
 * droughts
 * desertification; salination of fresh water; sewage treatment; water-borne disease; soil degradation; depletion and contamination of underground water resources
 * there are 25 Israeli settlements and civilian land use sites in the Gaza Strip (February 2002 est.)
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!| Population: note: in addition, there are more than 5,000 Israeli settlers in the Gaza Strip (July 2004 est.) !| Age structure: 15-64 years: 48.3% (male 326,450; female 314,098) 65 years and over: 2.7% (male 14,847; female 20,408) (2004 est.) !| Median age: male: 15.3 years female: 15.6 years (2004 est.) !| Population growth rate: !| Birth rate: !| Death rate: !| Net migration rate: !| Sex ratio: under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.73 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2004 est.) !| Infant mortality rate: female: 22.31 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) male: 24.71 deaths/1,000 live births !| Life expectancy at birth: male: 70.31 years female: 72.94 years (2004 est.) !| Total fertility rate: !| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: !| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: !| HIV/AIDS - deaths: !| Nationality: adjective: NA !| Ethnic groups: !| Religions: !| Languages: !| Literacy: total population: NA male: NA female: NA
 * 1,324,991
 * 0-14 years: 49% (male 332,582; female 316,606)
 * total: 15.5 years
 * 3.83% (2004 est.)
 * 40.62 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)
 * 3.95 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)
 * 1.6 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)
 * at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
 * total: 23.54 deaths/1,000 live births
 * total population: 71.59 years
 * 6.04 children born/woman (2004 est.)
 * NA
 * NA
 * NA
 * noun: NA
 * Palestinian Arab and other 99.4%, Jewish 0.6%
 * Muslim (predominantly Sunni) 98.7%, Christian 0.7%, Jewish 0.6%
 * Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many Palestinians), English (widely understood)
 * definition: NA
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!| Country name: conventional short form: Gaza Strip local long form: none local short form: Qita Ghazzah
 * conventional long form: none
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!| Economy - overview: !| GDP: !| GDP - real growth rate: !| GDP - per capita: !| GDP - composition by sector: industry: 28% services: 63% (includes West Bank) (2002 est.) !| Population below poverty line: !| Household income or consumption by percentage share: highest 10%: NA !| Inflation rate (consumer prices): !| Labor force: !| Labor force - by occupation: !| Unemployment rate: !| Budget: expenditures: $1.155 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (includes West Bank) (2003) !| Agriculture - products: !| Industries: !| Industrial production growth rate: !| Electricity - production: !| Electricity - consumption: !| Electricity - exports: !| Electricity - imports: !| Exports: !| Exports - commodities: !| Exports - partners: !| Imports: !| Imports - commodities: !| Imports - partners: !| Debt - external: !| Economic aid - recipient: !| Currency: !| Currency code: !| Exchange rates: !| Fiscal year:
 * Economic output in the Gaza Strip - under the responsibility of the Palestinian Authority since the Cairo Agreement of May 1994 - declined by about one-third between 1992 and 1996. The downturn 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 (West Bank and Gaza Strip). The most serious negative social effect of this downturn was the emergence of high unemployment; unemployment in the WBGS during the 1980s was generally under 5%; by 1995 it had risen to over 20%. Israel's use of comprehensive closures decreased during the next few years 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 changes fueled an almost three-year-long economic recovery in the West Bank and Gaza Strip; real GDP grew by 5% in 1998 and 6% in 1999. Recovery was upended in the last quarter of 2000 with the outbreak of violence, triggering tight Israeli closures of Palestinian self-rule areas and a severe disruption of trade and labor movements. In 2001, and even more severely in 2002, Israeli military measures in Palestinian Authority areas resulted in the destruction of capital plant and administrative structure, widespread business closures, and a sharp drop in GDP. Including West Bank, the UN estimates that more than 100,000 Palestinians out of the 125,000 who used to work in Israel, in Israeli settlements, or in joint industrial zones have lost their jobs. In addition, about 80,000 Palestinian workers inside the Territories are losing their jobs. International aid of $2 billion in 2001-02 to the West Bank and Gaza Strip prevented the complete collapse of the economy and allowed Finance Minister Salam FAYYAD to implement several financial and economic reforms. Budgetary support, however, was not as forthcoming in 2003.
 * purchasing power parity - $768 million (2003 est.)
 * 4.5% (2003 est.)
 * purchasing power parity - $600 (2003 est.)
 * agriculture: 9%
 * 60% (2003 est.)
 * lowest 10%: NA
 * 2.2% (includes West Bank) (2001 est.)
 * NA (1997)
 * agriculture 13%, industry 21%, services 66% (1996)
 * 50% (includes West Bank) (2003 est.)
 * revenues: $676.6 million
 * olives, citrus, vegetables; beef, dairy products
 * 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
 * NA
 * NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by Israel
 * NA kWh
 * 0 kWh (2001)
 * NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by Israel (2001)
 * $603 million f.o.b., includes West Bank
 * citrus, flowers
 * Israel, Egypt, West Bank
 * $1.9 billion c.i.f., includes West Bank
 * food, consumer goods, construction materials
 * Israel, Egypt, West Bank
 * $108 million (includes West Bank) (1997 est.)
 * $800 million (includes West Bank) (2001 est.)
 * new Israeli shekel (ILS)
 * ILS
 * new Israeli shekels per US dollar - 4.55 (2003), 4.74 (2002), 4.21 (2001), 4.08 (2000), 4.14 (1999)
 * calendar year
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!| Telephones - main lines in use: !| Telephones - mobile cellular: !| Telephone system: domestic: rudimentary telephone services provided by an open-wire system international: NA !| Radio broadcast stations: !| Radios: !| Television broadcast stations: !| Televisions: !| Internet country code: !| Internet Service Providers (ISPs): !| Internet users:
 * 95,729 (total for Gaza Strip and West Bank) (1997)
 * 320,000 (cellular subscribers in both Gaza Strip and West Bank) (2002)
 * general assessment: NA
 * AM 0, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998)
 * NA; note - most Palestinian households have radios (1999)
 * 2 (operated by the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation) (1997)
 * NA; note - most Palestinian households have televisions (1997)
 * .ps
 * 3 (1999)
 * 60,000 (includes West Bank) (2001)
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!| Highways: paved: NA km unpaved: NA km note: small, poorly developed road network !| Ports and harbors: !| Airports: note: includes Gaza International Airport (GIA), inaugurated on 24 November 1998 as part of agreements stipulated in the September 1995 Oslo II Accord and the 23 October 1998 Wye River Memorandum; GIA has been largely closed since October 2000 by Israeli orders and its runway was destroyed by the Israeli Defense Forces in December 2001 (2003 est.) !| Airports - with paved runways: over 3,047 m: 1 (2004 est.) !| Airports - with unpaved runways: under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) !| Heliports:
 * total: NA km
 * Gaza
 * 2 (2001)
 * total: 1
 * total: 1
 * 1 (2003 est.)
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!| Military branches: !| Military expenditures - dollar figure: !| Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
 * in accordance with the peace agreement, the Palestinian Authority is not permitted conventional military forces; there are, however, a Public Security Force and a civil Police Force
 * NA
 * NA
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