West Bank

§1. 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.

§2. West Bank Geography

Location:
  Middle East, west of Jordan

Geographic coordinates:
  32 00 N, 35 15 E

Map references:
  Middle_East

Area:
  total: 5,860 kmē
  land: 5,640 kmē
  water: 220 kmē
  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 - comparative:
  slightly smaller than Delaware

Land boundaries:
  total: 404 km
  border countries: Israel 307 km, Jordan 97 km

Coastline:
  0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims:
  none (landlocked)

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 extremes:
  lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m
  highest point: Tall Asur 1,022 m

Natural resources:
  arable land

Land use:
  arable land: 16.9%
  permanent crops: 18.97%
  other: 64.13% (2001)

Irrigated land:
  NA kmē

Natural hazards:
  droughts

Environment - current issues:
  adequacy of fresh water supply; sewage treatment

Geography - note:
  landlocked; highlands are main recharge area for 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.)

§3. West Bank 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 growth rate:
  3.06% (2006 est.)

Birth rate:
  31.67 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate:
  3.92 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate:
  2.8 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

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 mortality rate:
  total: 19.15 deaths/1,000 live births
  male: 21.12 deaths/1,000 live births
  female: 17.05 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
  total population: 73.27 years
  male: 71.5 years
  female: 75.15 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate:
  4.28 children born/woman (2006 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
  NA

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
  NA

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
  NA

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.)

§4. West Bank Government

Country name:
  conventional long form: none
  conventional short form: West Bank

§5. West Bank Economy

Economy - overview:
  The West Bank - the larger of the two areas under the 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 (purchasing power parity):
  $1.8 billion (2003 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
  NA

GDP - real growth rate:
  6.2% (2004 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):
  $1,100 (2003 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
  agriculture: 9%
  industry: 28%
  services: 63%
  note: includes Gaza Strip (2002 est.)

Labor force:
  614,000 (April-June 2005)

Labor force - by occupation:
  agriculture 18.4%, industry 24%, services 57.6% (April-June 2005)

Unemployment rate:
  19.9% (includes Gaza Strip) (January-September 2005)

Population below poverty line:
  46% including Gaza Strip (2004 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
  lowest 10%: NA%
  highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  2.2% (includes Gaza Strip) (2001 est.)

Budget:
  revenues: $964 million
  expenditures: $1.34 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA; note -
    these budget data include Gaza Strip (2004)

Agriculture - products:
  olives, citrus, vegetables; beef, dairy 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 production growth rate:
  NA%

Electricity - production:
  NA kWh; 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; some Palestinian municipalities, such as Nablus and Janin,
  generate their own electricity from small power plants

Electricity - consumption:
  NA kWh

Electricity - imports:
  NA kWh

Exports:
  $270 million f.o.b.; note - includes Gaza Strip (2003)

Exports - commodities:
  olives, fruit, vegetables, limestone

Exports - partners:
  Israel, Jordan, Gaza Strip (2004)

Imports:
  $1.952 billion c.i.f.; note - includes Gaza Strip (2003)

Imports - commodities:
  food, consumer goods, construction materials

Imports - partners:
  Israel, Jordan, Gaza Strip (2004)

Debt - external:
  $0; note - includes Gaza Strip (2002)

Economic aid - recipient:
  $2 billion; note - includes Gaza Strip (2004 est.)

Currency (code):
  new Israeli shekel (ILS); Jordanian dinar (JOD)

Exchange rates:
  new Israeli shekels per US dollar - 4.4877 (2005), 4.482 (2004), 4.5541
  (2003), 4.7378 (2002), 4.2057 (2001)

Fiscal year:
  calendar year

§6. West Bank Communications

Telephones - main lines in use:
  357,300 (total for West Bank and Gaza Strip) (2004)

Telephones - mobile cellular:
  974,300 (cellular subscribers in both West Bank and Gaza Strip) (2004)

Telephone system:
  general assessment: NA
  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 broadcast stations:
  AM 1, FM 20, shortwave 0 (2005)

Television broadcast stations:
  8 (2005)

Internet country code:
  .ps

Internet users:
  160,000 (includes Gaza Strip) (2004)

§7. West Bank Transportation

Airports:
  3 (2005)

Airports - with paved runways:
  total: 3
  2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
  1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
  under 914 m: 1 (2005)

Roadways:
  total: 4,158 km
  paved: 4,158 km
  note: includes Gaza Strip (2003)

§8. West Bank Military

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
  NA

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
  NA

§9. West Bank Transnational Issues

Disputes - international:
  West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli-occupied with 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 internally displaced persons:
  refugees (country of origin): 690,988 (Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA)) (2005)


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