West Bank
West Bank as the 2015 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 121 fields, one of 36 editions from 1990 to 2025.
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Introduction
1 fieldBackground
From the early 16th century through 1917, the area now known as the West Bank fell under Ottoman rule. Following World War I, the Allied powers (France, UK, Russia) allocated the area to the British Mandate of Palestine. After World War II, the UN passed a resolution to establish two states within the Mandate, and designated a territory including what is now known as the West Bank as part of the proposed Arab state. Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War the area was captured by Transjordan (later renamed Jordan). Jordan annexed the West Bank in 1950.
In June 1967, Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War. With the exception of East Jerusalem and the former Israeli-Jordanian border zone, the West Bank remained under Israeli military control until Israel transferred security and civilian responsibility for many Palestinian-populated areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip to the Palestinian Authority (PA) under a series of agreements signed between 1994 and 1999.
Negotiations to determine the permanent status of the West Bank and Gaza Strip stalled after the outbreak of an intifada in mid-2000. In early 2003, the "Quartet" of the US, EU, UN, and Russia, presented a roadmap to a final peace settlement by 2005, calling for two states - Israel and a democratic Palestine. Following Palestinian leader Yasir ARAFAT's death in late 2004 and the subsequent election of Mahmud ABBAS (head of the Fatah political faction) as PA president, Israel and the Palestinians agreed to move the peace process forward.
Israel in late 2005 unilaterally withdrew all of its settlers and soldiers and dismantled its military facilities in the Gaza Strip and redeployed its military from several West Bank settlements but continues to control maritime, airspace, and other access. In early 2006, the Islamic Resistance Movement, HAMAS, won the Palestinian Legislative Council election and took control of the PA government. Attempts to form a unity government failed, and violent clashes between Fatah and HAMAS supporters ensued, culminating in HAMAS's violent seizure of all military and governmental institutions in the Gaza Strip.
Fatah and HAMAS have made several attempts at reconciliation, most recently signing an agreement in April 2014 following the collapse of US-brokered peace talks with Israel. The factions, however, have been unable to implement details on governance and security, and the status quo remains with HAMAS in de facto control of the Gaza Strip and the PA governing the West Bank.
Geography
Middle East, west of Jordan, east of Israel
17 fieldsNote
Climate
temperate; temperature and precipitation vary with altitude, warm to hot summers, cool to mild winters
Terrain
mostly rugged, dissected upland in west, flat plains descending to Jordan River valley to the east
Land use
- agricultural land:
- 43.3%;
- arable land 7.4%;
- permanent crops 11%;
- permanent pasture 24.9%
- forest:
- 1.5%
- other:
- 55.2%
note: includes Gaza Strip (2011 est.)
Geography - note
- landlocked;
- highlands are main recharge area for Israel's coastal aquifers;
- there are about 381 Israeli civilian sites, including about 212 settlements and 134 small outpost communities in the West Bank and 35 sites in East Jerusalem (2014 est.)
People and Society
28 fieldsAge structuremale left, female right · (2015 est.)
Per 1,000 population(2015 est.)
Male · female(2015 est.)
Languages
Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many Palestinians), English (widely understood)
Religions
Muslim 80.0 - 85.0% (predominantly Sunni), Jewish 12.0 - 14.0%, Christian 1.0 - 2.5% (mainly Greek Orthodox), other, unaffiliated, unspecified <1.0%
note: the proportion of Christians continues to fall mainly as a result of the growth of the Muslim population but also because of the migration and the declining birth rate of the Christian population (2012 est.)
Sex ratio
- at birth:
- 1.06 male(s)/female
- 0-14 years:
- 1.06 male(s)/female
- 15-24 years:
- 1.05 male(s)/female
- 25-54 years:
- 1.06 male(s)/female
- 55-64 years:
- 1.01 male(s)/female
- 65 years and over:
- 0.73 male(s)/female
- total population:
- 1.04 male(s)/female (2015 est.)
Government
1 fieldEconomy
Economic growth in the West Bank - the larger of the two areas comprising the Palestinian territories - has slowed since 2013, in part because of a decline in donor aid and government spending.
35 fieldsGDP - composition, by sector of origin(2014 est.)
By end use% of GDP
Economy - overview
Economic growth in the West Bank - the larger of the two areas comprising the Palestinian territories - has slowed since 2013, in part because of a decline in donor aid and government spending. Private sector development has been weak. Despite the Palestinian Authority's (PA) successful implementation of economic and security reforms and the easing of some movement and access restrictions by the Israeli government, Israeli closure policies continue to disrupt labor and trade flows, industrial capacity, and basic commerce, constraining the productive capacity of the West Bank economy.
The biggest impediments to economic improvements in the West Bank remain Palestinians' inability to access land and resources in Israeli-controlled areas, import and export restrictions, and a high-cost capital structure. The PA for the foreseeable future will continue to rely heavily on donor aid for its budgetary needs and economic activity.
Gross national saving
-12.3% of GDP (2014 est.) · -5.6% of GDP (2013 est.) · -15.2% of GDP (2012 est.) country comparison to the world: 178
Industries
small-scale manufacturing, quarrying, textiles, soap, olive-wood carvings, and mother-of-pearl souvenirs
Labor force - by occupation
- agriculture:
- 11.5%
- industry:
- 34.4%
- services:
- 54.1%
note: includes Gaza Strip (2013 est.)
Commercial bank prime lending rate
7.5% (31 December 2014 est.) · 7.5% (31 December 2013 est.) country comparison to the world: 119
Stock of narrow money
$269.2 million (31 December 2014 est.) · $220.5 million (31 December 2013 est.) country comparison to the world: 173
Stock of broad money
$2.399 billion (31 December 2014 est.) · $2.16 billion (31 December 2013 est.) country comparison to the world: 146
Stock of domestic credit
$1.341 billion (31 December 2014 est.) · $1.168 billion (31 December 2013 est.) country comparison to the world: 151
Current account balance
-$2.894 billion (2014 est.) · -$2.034 billion (2013 est.) country comparison to the world: 154
Exports
$2.107 billion (2014 est.) · $2.102 billion (2013 est.) note: includes Gaza Strip country comparison to the world: 143
Imports
$7.674 billion (2014 est.) · $6.645 billion (2013 est.) note: data include the Gaza Strip country comparison to the world: 112
Debt - external
$1.04 billion (2010 est.) · $1.3 billion (2007 est.) note: data include the Gaza Strip country comparison to the world: 161
Exchange rates
new Israeli shekels (ILS) per US dollar - 3.908 (2013 est.) · 3.611 (2013 est.) · 3.86 (2012 est.) · 3.5781 (2011 est.) · 3.739 (2010 est.)
Energy
23 fieldsInstalled generating capacity, 140,000 kW
Carbon dioxide emissions from consumption of energy
3.008 million Mt (2012 est.) country comparison to the world: 142
Communications
8 fieldsPer 100 inhabitants(includes Gaza Strip)
Telephone system
- general assessment:
- continuing political and economic instability has impeded significant liberalization of the telecommunications industry
- domestic:
- Israeli company BEZEK and the Palestinian company PALTEL are responsible for fixed-line services;
- PALTEL plans to establish a fiber-optic connection to Jordan to route domestic mobile calls;
- the Palestinian JAWWAL company and WATANIYA PALESTINE provide cellular services
- international:
- country code - 970; 1 international switch in Ramallah (2009)
Broadcast media
- the Palestinian Authority operates 1 TV and 1 radio station;
- about 20 private TV and 40 radio stations;
- both Jordanian TV and satellite TV are accessible (2013)
Transportation
4 fieldsAirports by runway lengthpaved only
Military
2 fieldsTransnational Issues
2 fieldsDisputes - international
- the current status of the West Bank is subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent status to be determined through further negotiation;
- Israel continues construction of a "seam line" separation barrier along parts of the Green Line and within the West Bank;
- Israel withdrew from Gaza and four settlements in the northern West Bank in August 2005;
- since 1948, about 350 peacekeepers from the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), headquartered in Jerusalem, monitor ceasefires, supervise armistice agreements, prevent isolated incidents from escalating, and assist other UN personnel in the region
Refugees and internally displaced persons
- refugees (country of origin):
- 762,288 (Palestinian refugees (UNRWA)) (2014)
- IDPs:
- at least 263,500 (includes persons displaced within the Gaza strip due to the intensification of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since June 2014 and other Palestinian IDPs in the Gaza Strip and West Bank who fled as long ago as 1967, although confirmed cumulative figures do not go back beyond 2006) (2015)
Cite this entry
Central Intelligence Agency. “West Bank.” The World Factbook 2015. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/west-bank/2015.