West Bank




                                  Header


     The war between Israel and Egypt, Syria, and Jordan in June 1967 ended
     with Israel in control of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza
     Strip, the Sinai Peninsula, and the Golan Heights. Israel withdrew
     from the Sinai Peninsula pursuant to a 1979 peace treaty with Egypt.
     The Israeli-PLO Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government
     Arrangements ("the DOP"), signed in Washington on 13 September 1993,
     provides for a transitional period not exceeding five years of
     Palestinian interim self-government in the Gaza Strip and the West
     Bank. Under the DOP, final status negotiations are to begin no later
     than the beginning of the third year of the transitional period.


                                 Geography


Location:
     Middle East, between Jordan and Israel
Map references:
     Middle East
Area:
total area:
     5,860 sq km
land area:
     5,640 sq km
comparative area:
     slightly larger than Delaware
note:
     includes West Bank, East Jerusalem, Latrun Salient, Jerusalem No Man's
     Land, and the northwest quarter of the Dead Sea, but excludes Mt.
     Scopus
Land boundaries:
     total 404 km, Israel 307 km, Jordan 97 km
Coastline:
     0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims:
     none; landlocked
International disputes:
     West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli occupied with interim status
     subject to Israeli/Palestinian negotiations - final status to be
     determined
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
Natural resources:
     negligible
Land use:
arable land:
     27%
permanent crops:
     0%




meadows and pastures:
     32%
forest and woodland:
     1%
other:
     40%
Irrigated land:
     NA sq km
Environment:
current issues:
     NA
natural hazards:
     NA
international agreements:
     NA
Note:
     landlocked; highlands are main recharge area for Israel's coastal
     aquifers; there are 200 Jewish settlements and civilian land use sites
     in the West Bank and 25 in East Jerusalem (April 1994)


                                  People


Population:
     1,443,790 (July 1994 est.)
note:
     in addition, there are 110,500 Jewish settlers in the West Bank and
     144,100 in East Jerusalem (1994 est.)
Population growth rate:
     2.68% (1994 est.)
Birth rate:
     32.48 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Death rate:
     5.11 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Net migration rate:
     -0.59 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
     33.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
     70.39 years
male:
     68.88 years
female:
     71.98 years (1994 est.)
Total fertility rate:
     4.2 children born/woman (1994 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
     NA
adjective:
     NA
Ethnic divisions:
     Palestinian Arab and other 88%, Jewish 12%
Religions:
     Muslim 80% (predominantly Sunni), Jewish 12%, Christian and other 8%




Languages:
     Arabic, Hebrew spoken by Israeli settlers, English widely understood
Literacy:
total population:
     NA%
male:
     NA%
female:
     NA%
Labor force:
     NA
by occupation:
     construction 28.2%, agriculture 21.8%, industry 14.5%, commerce,
     restaurants, and hotels 12.6%, other services 22.9% (1991)
note:
     excluding Jewish settlers


                                Government


Note:
     Under the Israeli-PLO Declaration of Principles on Interim
     Self-Government Arragements ("the DOP"), Israel agreed to transfer
     certain powers and responsibilities to the Palestinian Authority, and
     subsequently to an elected Palestinian Council, as part of interim
     self-governing arrangements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A
     transfer of powers and responsibilities for the Gaza Strip and Jericho
     has taken place pursuant to the Israel-PLO 4 May 1994 Cairo Agreement
     on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area. 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
     Israelis. Final status is to be determined through direct negotiations
     within five years.
Names:
conventional long form:
     none
conventional short form:
Digraph:
     WE


                                  Economy




Overview:
     Economic progress in the West Bank has been hampered by Israeli
     military administration and the effects of the Palestinian uprising
     (intifadah). Industries using advanced technology or requiring sizable
     investment have been discouraged by a lack of local capital and
     restrictive Israeli policies. Capital investment consists largely of
     residential housing, not productive assets that would enable local
     Palestinian firms to compete with Israeli industry. A major share of
     GNP has traditionally been derived from remittances of workers
     employed in Israel and Persian Gulf states. Such transfers from the
     Gulf dropped after Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990. In the wake of
     the Persian Gulf crisis, many Palestinians have returned to the West
     Bank, increasing unemployment, and export revenues have dropped
     because of the decline of markets in Jordan and the Gulf states.
     Israeli measures to curtail the intifadah also have added to
     unemployment and lowered living standards. The area's economic
     situation has worsened since Israel's partial closure of the
     territories in 1993.
National product:
     GNP - exchange rate conversion - $2 billion (1991 est.)
National product real growth rate:
     -7% (1991 est.)
National product per capita:
     $2,050 (1991 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
     12% (1991 est.)
Unemployment rate:
     15% (1991 est.)
Budget:
revenues:
     $43.4 million
expenditures:
     $43.7 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY90)
Exports:
     $175 million (f.o.b., 1991 est.)
commodities:
     olives, fruit, vegetables
partners:
     Jordan, Israel
Imports:
     $775 million (c.i.f., 1991 est.)
commodities:
     food, consumer goods, construction materials
partners:
     Jordan, Israel
External debt:
     $NA
Industrial production:
     growth rate -1% (1991); accounts for about 6% of GNP
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:
     accounts for about 23% of GNP; olives, citrus and other fruits,
     vegetables, beef, and dairy products
Economic aid:
     $NA
Currency:
     1 new Israeli shekel (NIS) = 100 new agorot; 1 Jordanian dinar (JD) =
     1,000 fils
Exchange rates:
     new Israeli shekels (NIS) per US$1 - 2.9760 (February 1994), 2.8301
     (1993), 2.4591 (1992), 2.2791 (1991), 2.0162 (1990), 1.9164 (1989);
     Jordanian dinars (JD) per US$1 - 0.7019 (February 1994), 0.6928
     (1993), 0.6797 (1992), 0.6808 (1991), 0.6636 (1990), 0.5704 (1989)
Fiscal year:
     calendar year (since 1 January 1992)


                              Communications


Highways:
total:
     NA
paved:
     NA
unpaved:
     NA
note:
     small road network, Israelis developing east-west axial highways to
     service new settlements
Airports:
total:
     2
usable:
     2
with permanent-surface runways:
     2
with runways over 3,659 m:
     0
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
     0
with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
     1
Telecommunications:
     open-wire telephone system currently being upgraded; broadcast
     stations - no AM, no FM, no TV


                              Defense Forces


Branches:
     NA




Defense expenditures:
     $NA, NA% of GDP