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Economy

Overview: Economic progress in the West Bank has been hampered by Israeli military occupation and the effects of the Palestinian uprising. Industries using advanced technology or requiring sizable financial resources have been discouraged by a lack of financial resources and Israeli policy. Capital investment has largely gone into residential housing, not into productive assets that could compete with Israeli industry. A major share of GNP is derived from remittances of workers employed in Israel and neighboring Gulf states. Israeli reprisals against Palestinian unrest in the West Bank since 1987 have pushed unemployment up and lowered living standards.

GNP: $1.0 billion, per capita $1,000; real growth rate -15% (1988 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA%

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget: revenues $47.4 million; expenditures $45.7 million, including capital expenditures of NA (FY86)

Exports: $150 million (f.o.b., 1988 est.); commodities—NA; partners—Jordan, Israel

Imports: $410 million (c.i.f., 1988 est.); commodities—NA; partners—Jordan, Israel

External debt: $NA

Industrial production: growth rate NA%

Electricity: power supplied by Israel

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

Aid: none

Currency: new Israeli shekel (plural—shekels) and Jordanian dinar (plural—dinars); 1 new Israeli shekel (NIS) = 100 new agorot and 1 Jordanian dinar (JD) = 1.000 fils

Exchange rates: new Israeli shekels (NIS) per US$1—1.9450 (January 1990), 1.9164 (1989), 1.5992 (1988), 1.5946 (1987), 1.4878 (1986), 1.1788 (1985); Jordanian dinars (JD) per US$1—0.6557 (January 1990), 0.5704 (1989), 0.3715 (1988), 0.3387 (1987), 0.3499 (1986), 0.3940 (1985)

Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March

Communications

Highways: small indigenous road network, Israelis developing east-west axial highways

Airports: 2 total, 2 usable; 2 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 2,439 m; 1 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Telecommunications: open-wire telephone system currently being upgraded; stations—no AM, no FM, no TV

Defense Forces

Branches: NA

Military manpower: NA

Defense expenditures: NA  Western Sahara



Geography

Total area: 266,000 km²; land area: 266,000 km²

Comparative area: slightly smaller than Colorado

Land boundaries: 2,046 km total; Algeria 42 km, Mauritania 1,561 km, Morocco 443 km

Coastline: 1,110 km

Maritime claims: contingent upon resolution of sovereignty issue

Disputes: claimed and administered by Morocco, but sovereignty is unresolved and guerrilla fighting continues in the area

Climate: hot, dry desert; rain is rare; cold offshore currents produce fog and heavy dew

Terrain: mostly low, flat desert with large areas of rocky or sandy surfaces rising to small mountains in south and northeast

Natural resources: phosphates, iron ore

Land use: NEGL% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 19% meadows and pastures; 0% forest and woodland; 81% other

Environment: hot, dry, dust/sand-laden sirocco wind can occur during winter and spring; widespread harmattan haze exists 60% of time, often severely restricting visibility; sparse water and arable land

People

Population: 191,707 (July 1990), growth rate 2.7% (1990)

Birth rate: 48 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate: 23 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: 2 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Infant mortality rate: 177 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 39 years male, 41 years female (1990)  337