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1. WordNet® 3.0 (2006)
West Bank
    n 1: an area between Israel and Jordan on the west bank of the
         Jordan river; populated largely by Palestinians

2. CIA World Factbook 2002
West Bank

   Introduction West Bank
   ----------------------
                            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 West Bank
   -------------------
                              Location: Middle East, west of Jordan
                Geographic coordinates: 32 00 N, 35 15 E
                        Map references: Middle East
                                  Area: total: 5,860 sq km
                                        note: includes West Bank, Latrun
                                        Salient, and the northwest quarter
                                        of the Dead Sea, but excludes Mt.
                                        Scopus; East Jerusalem and Jerusalem
                                        No Man's Land are also included only
                                        as a means of depicting the entire
                                        area occupied by Israel in 1967
                                        water: 220 sq km
                                        land: 5,640 sq km
                    Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Delaware
                       Land boundaries: total: 404 km
                                        border countries: Israel 307 km,
                                        Jordan 97 km
                             Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
                       Maritime claims: none (landlocked)
                               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
                    Elevation extremes: lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m
                                        highest point: Tall Asur 1,022 m
                     Natural resources: arable land
                              Land use: arable land: NEGL%
                                        permanent crops: 0%
                                        other: 100% (1998 est.)
                        Irrigated land: NA sq km
                       Natural hazards: droughts
          Environment - current issues: adequacy of fresh water supply;
                                        sewage treatment
                      Geography - note: landlocked; highlands are main
                                        recharge area for Israel's coastal
                                        aquifers; there are 231 Israeli
                                        settlements and civilian land use
                                        sites in the West Bank and 29 in
                                        East Jerusalem (August 2001 est.)
  
   People West Bank
   ----------------
                            Population: 2,163,667 (July 2002 est.)
                                        note: in addition, there are about
                                        182,000 Israeli settlers in the West
                                        Bank and about 176,000 in East
                                        Jerusalem (August 2001 est.)
                         Age structure: 0-14 years: 44.4% (male 492,446;
                                        female 468,321)
                                        15-64 years: 52% (male 575,282;
                                        female 550,793)
                                        65 years and over: 3.6% (male
                                        33,163; female 43,662) (2002 est.)
                Population growth rate: 3.39% (2002 est.)
                            Birth rate: 34.94 births/1,000 population (2002
                                        est.)
                            Death rate: 4.26 deaths/1,000 population (2002
                                        est.)
                    Net migration rate: 3.18 migrant(s)/1,000 population
                                        (2002 est.)
                             Sex ratio: at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
                                        under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
                                        15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
                                        65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/
                                        female
                                        total population: 1.04 male(s)/
                                        female (2002 est.)
                 Infant mortality rate: 21.24 deaths/1,000 live births (2002
                                        est.)
              Life expectancy at birth: total population: 72.47 years
                                        female: 74.29 years (2002 est.)
                                        male: 70.76 years
                  Total fertility rate: 4.77 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 83%,
                                        Jewish 17%
                             Religions: Muslim 75% (predominantly Sunni),
                                        Jewish 17%, Christian and other 8%
                             Languages: Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli
                                        settlers and many Palestinians),
                                        English (widely understood)
                              Literacy: definition: NA
                                        total population: NA%
                                        male: NA%
                                        female: NA%
  
   Government West Bank
   --------------------
                            Country name: conventional long form: none
                                          conventional short form: West Bank
  
   Economy West Bank
   -----------------
                    Economy - overview: Economic output in the West Bank is
                                        governed by the Paris Economic
                                        Protocol of April 1994 between
                                        Israel and the Palestinian
                                        Authority. Real per capita GDP for
                                        the West Bank and Gaza Strip (WBGS)
                                        declined by about one-third between
                                        1992 and 1996 due to the combined
                                        effect of falling aggregate incomes
                                        and rapid population growth. The
                                        downturn in economic activity was
                                        largely the result of Israeli
                                        closure policies - the imposition of
                                        border closures in response to
                                        security incidents in Israel - which
                                        disrupted labor and commodity market
                                        relationships between Israel and the
                                        WBGS. The most serious social effect
                                        of this downturn was rising
                                        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 during the
                                        next five years 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
                                        severely disrupted trade and labor
                                        movements. In 2001, and even more
                                        severely in 2002, internal turmoil
                                        and Israeli military measures in
                                        Palestinian Authority areas have
                                        resulted in the destruction of much
                                        capital plant and administrative
                                        structure, widespread business
                                        closures, and a sharp drop in GDP.
                                        Another major loss has been the
                                        decline in earnings of Palestinian
                                        workers in Israel.
                                   GDP: purchasing power parity - $2.1
                                        billion (2001 est.)
                GDP - real growth rate: -35% (2001 est.)
                      GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1,000
                                        (2001 est.)
           GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 9%
                                        industry: 28%
                                        services: 63%
                                        note: includes Gaza Strip (1999
                                        est.)
         Population below poverty line: 50% (2001 est.)
     Household income or consumption by lowest 10%: NA%
                      percentage share: highest 10%: NA%
      Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1% (includes Gaza Strip) (2001 est.)
                           Labor force: NA
           Labor force - by occupation: services 66%, industry 21%,
                                        agriculture 13% (1996)
                     Unemployment rate: 26% (includes Gaza Strip) (2001
                                        est.)
                                Budget: revenues: $930 million
                                        note: includes Gaza Strip (2000
                                        est.)
                                        expenditures: $1.2 billion,
                                        including capital expenditures of
                                        $15 million
                            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
     Industrial production growth rate: NA%
              Electricity - production: NA kWh; note - most electricity
                                        imported from Israel; East Jerusalem
                                        Electric Company buys and
                                        distributes electricity to
                                        Palestinians in East Jerusalem and
                                        its concession in the West Bank; the
                                        Israel Electric Company directly
                                        supplies electricity to most Jewish
                                        residents and military facilities;
                                        at the same time, some Palestinian
                                        municipalities, such as Nablus and
                                        Janin, generate their own
                                        electricity from small power plants
    Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: NA%
                                        hydro: NA%
                                        nuclear: NA%
                                        other: NA%
             Electricity - consumption: NA kWh
                 Electricity - imports: NA kWh
                Agriculture - products: olives, citrus, vegetables; beef,
                                        dairy products
                               Exports: $603 million (includes Gaza Strip)
                                        (f.o.b., 2001 est.)
                 Exports - commodities: olives, fruit, vegetables, limestone
                    Exports - partners: Israel, Jordan, Gaza Strip
                               Imports: $1.9 billion (includes Gaza Strip)
                                        (c.i.f., 2001 est.)
                 Imports - commodities: food, consumer goods, construction
                                        materials
                    Imports - partners: Israel, Jordan, Gaza Strip
                       Debt - external: $108 million (includes Gaza Strip)
                                        (1997 est.)
              Economic aid - recipient: $800 million disbursed (includes
                                        Gaza Strip) (2001 est.)
                              Currency: new Israeli shekel (ILS); Jordanian
                                        dinar (JOD)
                         Currency code: ILS; JOD
                        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); Jordanian dinars per US
                                        dollar - fixed rate of 0.7090 (from
                                        1996)
                           Fiscal year: calendar year (since 1 January 1992)
  
   Communications West Bank
   ------------------------
        Telephones - main lines in use: 95,729 (total for West Bank and Gaza
                                        Strip) (1997)
          Telephones - mobile cellular: NA
                      Telephone system: general assessment: NA
                                        domestic: NA
                                        international: NA
                                        note: Israeli company BEZEK and the
                                        Palestinian company PALTEL are
                                        responsible for communication
                                        services in the West Bank
              Radio broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 0, shortwave 0
                                        note: the Palestinian Broadcasting
                                        Corporation broadcasts from an AM
                                        station in Ramallah on 675 kHz;
                                        numerous local, private stations are
                                        reported to be in operation (2000)
                                Radios: NA; note - most Palestinian
                                        households have radios (1999)
         Television broadcast stations: NA
                           Televisions: NA; note - many Palestinian
                                        households have televisions (1999)
     Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 8 (1999)
                        Internet users: 60,000 (includes Gaza Strip) (2001)
  
   Transportation West Bank
   ------------------------
                               Railways: 0 km
                               Highways: total: 4,500 km
                                         paved: 2,700 km
                                         unpaved: 1,800 km (1997 est.)
                                         note: Israelis have developed many
                                         highways to service Jewish
                                         settlements
                              Waterways: none
                      Ports and harbors: none
                               Airports: 3 (2001)
          Airports - with paved runways: total: 3
                                         2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
                                         1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
                                         under 914 m: 1 (2001)
  
   Military West Bank
   ------------------
                                  Military expenditures - dollar figure: $NA
                                 Military expenditures - percent of GDP: NA%
  
   Transnational Issues West Bank
   ------------------------------
              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
  
                                       



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