Gaza Strip

Internet Service Providers (ISPs)

3 (1999)

Internet users

23,520 (1999) (includes West Bank)

Radio broadcast stations

AM 0, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998)

Radios

NA; note - most Palestinian households have radios (1999)

Telephone system

general assessment: NA domestic: rudimentary telephone services provided by an open wire system international: NA

Telephones - main lines in use

95,729 (total for Gaza Strip and West Bank) (1997)

Telephones - mobile cellular

NA

Television broadcast stations

2 (operated by the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation) (1997)

Televisions

NA; note - most Palestinian households have televisions (1997)

Agriculture - products

olives, citrus, vegetables; beef, dairy products

Budget

revenues: $1.6 billion expenditures: $1.73 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA note: includes West Bank (1999 est.)

Currency

new Israeli shekel (ILS)

Currency code

ILS

Debt - external

$108 million (1997 est.) (includes West Bank)

Economic aid - recipient

$121 million disbursed (2000) (includes West Bank)

Economy - overview

Economic output in the Gaza Strip - which comes under the responsibility of the Palestinian Authority since the Cairo Agreement of May 1994 - declined perhaps 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%. Since 1997 Israel's use of comprehensive closures has decreased 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 Palestinian violence, which triggered tight Israeli closures of Palestinian self-rule areas and a severe disruption of trade and labor movements.

Electricity - consumption

NA kWh

Electricity - exports

0 kWh (1999)

Electricity - imports

NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by Israel

Electricity - production

NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by Israel

Exchange rates

new Israeli shekels per US dollar - 4.0810 (December 2000), 4.0773 (2000), 4.1397 (1999), 3.8001 (1998), 3.4494 (1997), 3.1917 (1996)

Exports

$682 million (f.o.b., 1998 est.) (includes West Bank)

Exports - commodities

citrus, flowers

Exports - partners

Israel, Egypt, West Bank

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP

purchasing power parity - $1.11 billion (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector

agriculture: 9% industry: 28% services: 63% (1999 est., includes West Bank)

GDP - per capita

purchasing power parity - $1,000 (2000 est.)

GDP - real growth rate

-7.5% (2000 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share

lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%

Imports

$2.5 billion (c.i.f., 1998 est.) (includes West Bank)

Imports - commodities

food, consumer goods, construction materials

Imports - partners

Israel, Egypt, West Bank

Industrial production growth rate

NA%

Industries

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

3% (includes West Bank) (2000 est.)

Labor force

NA

Labor force - by occupation

services 66%, industry 21%, agriculture 13% (1996)

Population below poverty line

NA%

Unemployment rate

40% (includes West Bank) (yearend 2000)

Area

total: 360 sq km land: 360 sq km water: 0 sq km

Area - comparative

slightly more than twice the size of Washington, DC

Climate

temperate, mild winters, dry and warm to hot summers

Coastline

40 km

Elevation extremes

lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m highest point: Abu 'Awdah (Joz Abu 'Auda) 105 m

Environment - current issues

desertification; salination of fresh water; sewage treatment; water-borne disease; soil degradation

Geographic coordinates

31 25 N, 34 20 E

Geography - note

there are 25 Israeli settlements and civilian land use sites in the Gaza Strip (August 2000 est.)

Irrigated land

120 sq km (1993 est.)

Land boundaries

total: 62 km border countries: Egypt 11 km, Israel 51 km

Land use

arable land: 24% permanent crops: 39% permanent pastures: 0% forests and woodland: 11% other: 26% (1993 est.)

Location

Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Israel

Map references

Middle East

Maritime claims

Israeli-occupied with current status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent status to be determined through further negotiation

Natural hazards

droughts

Natural resources

arable land, natural gas

Terrain

flat to rolling, sand- and dune-covered coastal plain

Country name

conventional long form: none conventional short form: Gaza Strip local long form: none local short form: Qita Ghazzah

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 security and for internal security and public order of settlements and Israeli citizens. Permanent status is to be determined through direct negotiations, which resumed in September 1999 after a three-year hiatus. An intifadah broke out in September 2000; the resulting widespread violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israel's military response, and instability in the Palestinian Authority are undermining progress toward a permanent settlement.

Military branches

NA

Military expenditures - dollar figure

$NA

Military expenditures - percent of GDP

NA%

Age structure

0-14 years: 49.89% (male 301,288; female 286,481) 15-64 years: 47.32% (male 283,274; female 274,189) 65 years and over: 2.79% (male 14,121; female 18,766) (2001 est.)

Birth rate

42.48 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate

4.21 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Ethnic groups

Palestinian Arab and other 99.4%, Jewish 0.6%

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate

NA%

HIV/AIDS - deaths

NA

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS

NA

Infant mortality rate

25.37 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)

Languages

Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many Palestinians), English (widely understood)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 71.01 years male: 69.76 years female: 72.32 years (2001 est.)

Literacy

definition: NA total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA%

Nationality

noun: NA adjective: NA

Net migration rate

1.8 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Population

1,178,119 (July 2001 est.) note: in addition, there are some 6,900 Israeli settlers in the Gaza Strip (August 2000 est.)

Population growth rate

4.01% (2001 est.)

Religions

Muslim (predominantly Sunni) 98.7%, Christian 0.7%, Jewish 0.6%

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate

6.42 children born/woman (2001 est.)

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

Airports

2 note: includes Gaza International Airport that opened on 24 November 1998 as part of agreements stipulated in the September 1995 Oslo II Accord and the 23 October 1998 Wye River Memorandum (2000 est.)

Airports - with paved runways

total: 1 over 3,047 m: 1 (2000 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways

total: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.)

Highways

total: NA km paved: NA km unpaved: NA km note: small, poorly developed road network

Ports and harbors

Gaza

Railways

total: NA km; note - one line, abandoned and in disrepair, little trackage remains

Waterways

none