1.
[syn: Gaza Strip, Gaza]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
Gaza Strip
n 1: a coastal region at the southeastern corner of the
Mediterranean bordering Israel and Egypt; "he is a
Palestinian from Gaza" [syn: Gaza Strip, Gaza]
CIA World Factbook 2002:
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
security and for internal security
and 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 (August 2001 est.)
People Gaza Strip
-----------------
Population: 1,225,911 (July 2002 est.)
note: in addition, there are fewer
than 7,000 Israeli settlers in the
Gaza Strip (August 2001 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 49.7% (male 312,253;
female 297,008)
15-64 years: 47.5% (male 296,488;
female 286,393)
65 years and over: 2.8% (male
14,407; female 19,362) (2002 est.)
Population growth rate: 3.95% (2002 est.)
Birth rate: 41.85 births/1,000 population (2002
est.)
Death rate: 4.12 deaths/1,000 population (2002
est.)
Net migration rate: 1.73 migrant(s)/1,000 population
(2002 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 (2002 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 24.76 deaths/1,000 live births (2002
est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 71.2 years
female: 72.52 years (2002 est.)
male: 69.95 years
Total fertility rate: 6.29 children born/woman (2002 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: NA%
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/ NA
AIDS:
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 Palestinian 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 early 2002, internal
turmoil and 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.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $750
million (2001 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: -35% (2001 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $625 (2001
est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 9%
industry: 28%
services: 63% (includes West Bank,
1999 est.)
Population below poverty line: 60% (2001 est.)
Household income or consumption by lowest 10%: NA%
percentage share: highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1% (includes West Bank) (2001 est.)
Labor force: NA
Labor force - by occupation: services 66%, industry 21%,
agriculture 13% (1996)
Unemployment rate: 26% (includes West Bank) (2001 est.)
Budget: revenues: $930 million
note:
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 (1999)
Electricity - imports: NA kWh; note - electricity supplied
by Israel
Agriculture - products: olives, citrus, vegetables; beef,
dairy products
Exports: $603 million (includes West Bank)
(f.o.b., 2001 est.)
Exports - commodities: citrus, flowers
Exports - partners: Israel, Egypt, West Bank
Imports: $1.9 billion (includes West Bank)
(c.i.f., 2001 est.)
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 disbursed (includes
West Bank) (2001 est.)
Currency: new Israeli shekel (ILS)
Currency code: ILS
Exchange rates: new Israeli shekels per US dollar -
4.2757 (December 2001), 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
Airports - with paved runways: total: 1
over 3,047 m: 1 (2001)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2001)
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 $NA
figure:
Military expenditures - percent of NA%
GDP:
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