Country List | World Factbook Home
The World Factbook
| Gaza Strip |

Introduction | Gaza Strip

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 had begun in September 1999 after a three-year hiatus, but have been 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.

Geography | Gaza Strip

Location: | Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Israel
Geographic coordinates: | 31 25 N, 34 20 E
Map references: | Middle East
Area: | total: 360 sq km water: 0 sq km land: 360 sq km
Area - comparative: | slightly more than twice the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries: | total: 62 km border countries: Egypt 11 km, Israel 51 km
Coastline: | 40 km
Maritime claims: | Israeli-occupied with current status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent status to be determined through further negotiation
Climate: | temperate, mild winters, dry and warm to hot summers
Terrain: | flat to rolling, sand- and dune-covered coastal plain
Elevation extremes: | lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m highest point: Abu 'Awdah (Joz Abu 'Auda) 105 m
Natural resources: | arable land, natural gas
Land use: | arable land: 26.32% permanent crops: 39.47% other: 34.21% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land: | 120 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: | droughts
Environment - current issues: | desertification; salination of fresh water; sewage treatment; water-borne disease; soil degradation; depletion and contamination of underground water resources
Geography - note: | there are 25 Israeli settlements and civilian land use sites in the Gaza Strip (February 2002 est.)

People | Gaza Strip

Population: | 1,274,868 (July 2002 est.) note: in addition, there are more than 5,000 Israeli settlers in the Gaza Strip (July 2003 est.)
Age structure: | 0-14 years: 49.4% (male 322,658; female 307,026) 15-64 years: 47.9% (male 310,910; female 299,724) 65 years and over: 2.7% (male 14,645; female 19,905) (2003 est.)
Median age: | total: 15.3 years male: 15.1 years female: 15.5 years (2002)
Population growth rate: | 3.89% (2003 est.)
Birth rate: | 41.23 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Death rate: | 4.03 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Net migration rate: | 1.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Sex ratio: | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.74 male(s)/female total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2003 est.)
Infant mortality rate: | total: 24.15 deaths/1,000 live births female: 22.87 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) male: 25.37 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth: | total population: 71.4 years male: 70.13 years female: 72.73 years (2003 est.)
Total fertility rate: | 6.17 children born/woman (2003 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 99.4%, Jewish 0.6%
Religions: | Muslim (predominantly Sunni) 98.7%, Christian 0.7%, Jewish 0.6%
Languages: | Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many Palestinians), English (widely understood)
Literacy: | definition: NA total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA%

Government | Gaza Strip

Country name: | conventional long form: none conventional short form: Gaza Strip local long form: none local short form: Qita Ghazzah

Economy | Gaza Strip

Economy - overview: | 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. Another major loss has been the decline in income earned by Palestinian workers in Israel. International aid of $2 billion in 2001-02 to the Gaza Strip and West Bank have prevented the complete collapse of the economy.
GDP: | purchasing power parity - $735 million (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: | -15% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita: | purchasing power parity - $600 (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: | agriculture: 9% industry: 28% services: 63% (includes West Bank)
Population below poverty line: | 60% (2002 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: | lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): | 2.2% (includes West Bank) (2001 est.)
Labor force: | NA
Labor force - by occupation: | services 66%, industry 21%, agriculture 13% (1996)
Unemployment rate: | 50% (includes West Bank) (2002 est.)
Budget: | revenues: $930 million expenditures: $1.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $15 million (includes West Bank) (2000 est.)
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
Industrial production growth rate: | NA%
Electricity - production: | NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by Israel
Electricity - consumption: | NA kWh
Electricity - exports: | 0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports: | NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by Israel (2001)
Agriculture - products: | olives, citrus, vegetables; beef, dairy products
Exports: | $603 million f.o.b., includes West Bank
Exports - commodities: | citrus, flowers
Exports - partners: | Israel, Egypt, West Bank
Imports: | $1.9 billion c.i.f., includes West Bank
Imports - commodities: | food, consumer goods, construction materials
Imports - partners: | Israel, Egypt, West Bank
Debt - external: | $108 million (includes West Bank) (1997 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: | $800 million (includes West Bank) (2001 est.)
Currency: | new Israeli shekel (ILS)
Currency code: | ILS
Exchange rates: | new Israeli shekels per US dollar - 4.7378 (2002), 4.2057 (2001), 4.0773 (2000), 4.1397 (1999), 3.8001 (1998), 3.4494 (1997)
Fiscal year: | calendar year

Communications | Gaza Strip

Telephones - main lines in use: | 95,729 (total for Gaza Strip and West Bank) (1997)
Telephones - mobile cellular: | NA
Telephone system: | general assessment: NA domestic: rudimentary telephone services provided by an open-wire system international: NA
Radio broadcast stations: | AM 0, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998)
Radios: | NA; note - most Palestinian households have radios (1999)
Television broadcast stations: | 2 (operated by the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation) (1997)
Televisions: | NA; note - most Palestinian households have televisions (1997)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): | 3 (1999)
Internet users: | 60,000 (includes West Bank) (2001)

Transportation | Gaza Strip

Railways: | total: NA km; note - one line, abandoned and in disrepair, little trackage remains (2001 est.)
Highways: | total: NA km paved: NA km unpaved: NA km note: small, poorly developed road network
Waterways: | none
Ports and harbors: | Gaza
Airports: | 2 (2001) 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 (2002)
Airports - with paved runways: | total: 1 over 3,047 m: 1 (2002)
Airports - with unpaved runways: | total: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2002)

Military | Gaza Strip

Military branches: | 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
Military expenditures - dollar figure: | $NA
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: | NA%

Transnational Issues | Gaza Strip

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

This page was last updated on 18 December, 2003