Gaza Strip
none conventional short form: Gaza Strip local long form: none local short form: Qita Ghazzah
Gaza Strip as the 2001 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 88 fields, one of 36 editions from 1990 to 2025.
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Introduction
1 fieldBackground
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.
Geography
Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Israel
17 fieldsElevation extremes
lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m highest point: Abu 'Awdah (Joz Abu 'Auda) 105 m
Land use
arable land: 24% permanent crops: 39% permanent pastures: 0% forests and woodland: 11% other: 26% (1993 est.)
Environment - current issues
- desertification;
- salination of fresh water;
- sewage treatment;
- water-borne disease;
- soil degradation
Geography - note
there are 25 Israeli settlements and civilian land use sites in the Gaza Strip (August 2000 est.)
People
18 fieldsPer 1,000 population(2001 est.)
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.)
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.)
Life expectancy at birth
total population: 71.01 years male: 69.76 years female: 72.32 years (2001 est.)
Languages
Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many Palestinians), English (widely understood)
Government
1 fieldCountry name
conventional long form: none conventional short form: Gaza Strip local long form: none local short form: Qita Ghazzah
Economy
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.
31 fieldsEconomy - 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.
GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 9% industry: 28% services: 63% (1999 est., includes West Bank)
Budget
revenues: $1.6 billion expenditures: $1.73 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA note: includes West Bank (1999 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
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)
Communications
9 fieldsTelephone system
general assessment: NA domestic: rudimentary telephone services provided by an open wire system international: NA
Transportation
7 fieldsAirports
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.)
Military
NA
3 fieldsTransnational Issues
1 fieldDisputes - 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
Cite this entry
Central Intelligence Agency. “Gaza Strip.” The World Factbook 2001. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/gaza-strip/2001.