West Bank
West Bank as the 2016 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, roughly 60% of the West Bank remains under Israeli military control. Israel transferred security and civilian responsibility for a number of 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, the so-called “Oslo Accords.”
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 Yassir ARAFAT's death in late 2004 and the subsequent election of Mahmoud 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, but the factions have been unable to implement details on governance and security.
In an attempt to reenergize peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians, France in June 2016 hosted a ministerial meeting that included participants from 29 countries, although not Israel or the Palestinians, to lay the groundwork for an envisioned "multilateral peace conference" later in the year.
Geography
Middle East, west of Jordan, east of Israel
18 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.)
Population - distribution
- Palestinian settlements are primarily located in the central to western half of the territory;
- Jewish colonies are found in pockets throughout, particularly in the northeast, north-central, and around Jerusalem
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
30 fieldsAge structuremale left, female right · (2016 est.)
Per 1,000 population(2016 est.)
Male · female(2016 est.)
Languages
Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many Palestinians), English (widely understood)
Religions
Muslim 80-85% (predominantly Sunni), Jewish 12-14%, Christian 1-2.5% (mainly Greek Orthodox), other, unaffiliated, unspecified <1%
note: the proportion of Christians continues to fall mainly as a result of the growth of the Muslim population but also because of migration and the declining birth rate of the Christian population (2012 est.)
Population distribution
- Palestinian settlements are primarily located in the central to western half of the territory;
- Jewish colonies are found in pockets throughout, particularly in the northeast, north-central, and around Jerusalem
Sex ratio
- at birth:
- 1.06 male(s)/female
- 0-14 years:
- 1.05 male(s)/female
- 15-24 years:
- 1.04 male(s)/female
- 25-54 years:
- 1.03 male(s)/female
- 55-64 years:
- 1.06 male(s)/female
- 65 years and over:
- 0.73 male(s)/female
- total population:
- 1.04 male(s)/female (2016 est.)
Government
1 fieldCountry name
- conventional long form:
- none
- conventional short form:
- West Bank
- etymology:
- name refers to the location of the region - occupied and administered by Jordan after 1948 - that fell on the far side (west bank) of the Jordan River in relation to Jordan proper;
- the designation was retained following the 1967 Six-Day War and the subsequent changes in government
Economy
Israeli-Palestinian violence in 2015 exacerbated challenges to economic growth in the West Bank - the larger of the two areas comprising the Palestinian Territories.
35 fieldsGDP - composition, by sector of origin(2014 est.)
By end use% of GDP
Economy - overview
Israeli-Palestinian violence in 2015 exacerbated challenges to economic growth in the West Bank - the larger of the two areas comprising the Palestinian Territories. Increased security restrictions and political instability slowed economic activity, and Israel’s four-month withholding of taxes and other fees it collects on the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) behalf caused the PA to delay salary payments to its employees, which in turn had broader effects on business activity and consumer demand.
Longstanding Israeli closure policies continue to disrupt labor and trade flows and the territory’s industrial capacity, limit imports and exports, and constrain private sector development. The PA for the foreseeable future will continue to rely heavily on donor aid for its budgetary needs and economic activity.
Gross national saving
7.8% of GDP (2014 est.) · 9.5% of GDP (2013 est.) · 5% of GDP (2012 est.) note: includes Gaza Strip country comparison to the world: 160
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: excludes Gaza Strip (2013 est.)
Unemployment rate
17.7% (2014 est.) · 18.6% (2013 est.) note: excludes Gaza Strip country comparison to the world: 164
Distribution of family income - Gini index
34.5 (2009 est.) · 38.7 (2007 est.) note: includes Gaza Strip country comparison to the world: 96
Commercial bank prime lending rate
6.8% (31 December 2015 est.) · 6.41% (31 December 2014 est.) country comparison to the world: 121
Stock of narrow money
$265.5 million (31 December 2015 est.) · $234.8 million (31 December 2014 est.) country comparison to the world: 178
Stock of broad money
$2.399 billion (31 December 2014 est.) · $2.16 billion (31 December 2013 est.) country comparison to the world: 148
Stock of domestic credit
$1.418 billion (31 December 2015 est.) · $1.147 billion (31 December 2014 est.) country comparison to the world: 153
Current account balance
-$2.149 billion (2014 est.) · -$2.383 billion (2013 est.) country comparison to the world: 152
Exports
$937.4 million (2014 est.) · $1.692 billion (2013 est.) note: excludes Gaza Strip country comparison to the world: 159
Imports
$5.683 billion (2014 est.) · $6.261 billion (2013 est.) note: data include the Gaza Strip country comparison to the world: 120
Debt - external
$1.089 billion (2014 est.) · $1.191 billion (2013 est.) note: data include the Gaza Strip country comparison to the world: 164
Exchange rates
new Israeli shekels (ILS) per US dollar - 3.8869 (2015 est.) · 3.578 (2014 est.) · 3.578 (2013 est.) · 3.86 (2012 est.) · 3.5781 (2011 est.)
Energy
24 fieldsElectrification% of population
Installed generating capacity, 100,000 kW
Carbon dioxide emissions from consumption of energy
3 million Mt (2013 est.) country comparison to the world: 142
Communications
6 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 (2010)
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
Transnational 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):
- 774,167 (Palestinian refugees) (2015)
- IDPs:
- 221,000 (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 data do not go back beyond 2006) (2015)
Cite this entry
Central Intelligence Agency. “West Bank.” The World Factbook 2016. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/west-bank/2016.