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. Permanent status negotiations began on 5 May 1996, but have
not resumed since the initial meeting. Under the DOP, Israel agreed to
transfer certain powers and responsibilities to the Palestinian
Authority, which includes a Palestinian Legislative Council elected in
January 1996, 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 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 and the Israel-PLO 15 January 1997
Protocol Concerning Redeployment in Hebron. 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. Permanent status is to be determined through
direct negotiations.
@West Bank:Geography
Location: Middle East, west of Jordan
Geographic coordinates: 32 00 N, 35 15 E
Map references: Middle East
Area:
total: 5,860 sq km
land: 5,640 sq km
water: 220 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
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: NEGL
Land use:
arable land: 27%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 32%
forests and woodland: 1%
other: 40%
Irrigated land: NA sq km
Natural hazards: NA
Environment-current issues: adequacy of fresh water supply; sewage
treatment
Environment-international agreements:
party to: none of the selected agreements
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography-note: landlocked; highlands are main recharge area for
Israel's coastal aquifers; there are 207 Israeli settlements and
civilian land use sites in the West Bank and 29 in East Jerusalem
(August 1997 est.)
@West Bank:People
Population: 1,556,919 (July 1998 est.)
note: in addition, there are 155,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank
and 164,000 in East Jerusalem (August 1997 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 45% (male 359,848; female 342,173)
15-64 years: 52% (male 405,929; female 396,928)
65 years and over: 3% (male 21,853; female 30,188) (July 1998 est.)
Population growth rate: 3.71% (1998 est.)
Birth rate: 36.65 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Death rate: 4.35 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Net migration rate: 4.82 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female (1998 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 26.35 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 72.47 years
male: 70.7 years
female: 74.33 years (1998 est.)
Total fertility rate: 4.92 children born/woman (1998 est.)
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: NA
@West Bank:Government
Country name:
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: West Bank
Data code: WE
@West Bank:Economy
Economy-overview: Economic progress in the West Bank has been hampered
by tight Israeli security restrictions. Industries using advanced
technology or requiring sizable investment have been discouraged by a
lack of local capital and Israeli policies that block the movement of
goods and people. Capital investment consists largely of residential
housing, not productive assets that would enable local Palestinian
firms to compete with Israeli industry. GDP has been substantially
supplemented by workers who commute to jobs in Israel. Worker
remittances from the Persian Gulf states 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. An estimated 147,000 people were in
refugee camps in 1996.
GDP: purchasing power parity-$2.8 billion (1996 est.)
GDP-real growth rate: -6.9% (1996 est.)
GDP-per capita: purchasing power parity-$1,600 (1996 est.)
GDP-composition by sector:
agriculture: 33%
industry: 25%
services: 42% (1995 est., includes Gaza Strip)
Inflation rate-consumer price index: 8.4% (1996 est.)
Labor force: NA
by occupation: agriculture 13%, industry 13%, commerce, restaurants,
and hotels 12%, construction 8%, other services 54% (1996)
note: excluding Israeli settlers
Unemployment rate: 28% (1997 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $684 million
expenditures: $779 million, including capital expenditures of $NA
(1996)
note: includes Gaza Strip
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-capacity: NA kW
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 Nabulus and Janin, generate their own
electricity from small power plants
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 Nabulus and Janin, generate their own
electricity from small power plants
Electricity-consumption per capita: NA kWh
Agriculture-products: olives, citrus and other fruits, vegetables;
beef, dairy products
Exports:
total value: $630 million (f.o.b., 1997 est.) (includes Gaza Strip)
commodities: olives, fruit, vegetables, limestone
partners: Jordan, Israel
Imports:
total value: $1.7 billion (c.i.f., 1997 est.) (includes Gaza Strip)
commodities: food, consumer goods, construction materials
partners: Jordan, Israel
Debt-external: $51 million (1995)
Economic aid:
recipient: ODA, $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$1-3.5340 (December
1997), 3.4494 (1997), 3.1917 (1996), 3.0113 (1995), 3.0111 (1994),
2.8301 (1993); Jordanian dinars (JD) per US$1-0.7090 (January 1998),
0.7090 (1997), 0.7090 (1996), 0.7005 (1995), 0.6987 (1994), 0.6928
(1993)
Fiscal year: calendar year (since 1 January 1992)
Communications
Telephones: NA
note: 3.1% of Palestinian households have telephones
Telephone system:
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
Radios: NA; note-82% of Palestinian households have radios (1992 est.)
Television broadcast stations: about 25 low-powered stations
Televisions: NA; note-54% of Palestinian households have televisions
(1992 est.)
@West Bank:Transportation
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
Ports and harbors: none
Airports: 2 (1997 est.)
Airports-with paved runways:
total: 2
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
under 914 m: 1 (1997 est.)
@West Bank:Military
Military branches: NA
Military expenditures-dollar figure: $NA
Military expenditures-percent of GDP: NA%
@West Bank:Transnational Issues
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
______________________________________________________________________
WESTERN SAHARA
@Western Sahara:Geography
Location: Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between
Mauritania and Morocco
Geographic coordinates: 24 30 N, 13 00 W
Map references: Africa
Area:
total: 266,000 sq km
land: 266,000 sq km
water: 0 sq km
Area-comparative: about the size of Colorado
Land boundaries:
total: 2,046 km
border countries: Algeria 42 km, Mauritania 1,561 km, Morocco 443 km
Coastline: 1,110 km
Maritime claims: contingent upon resolution of sovereignty issue
Climate: hot, dry desert; rain is rare; cold offshore air currents
produce fog and heavy dew
Terrain: mostly low, flat desert with large areas of rocky or sandy
surfaces rising to small mountains in south and northeast
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Sebjet Tah -55 m
highest point: unnamed location 463 m
Natural resources: phosphates, iron ore
Land use:
arable land: 19%
permanent crops: 24%
permanent pastures: 0%
forests and woodland: 47%
other: 10% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: NA sq km
Natural hazards: hot, dry, dust/sand-laden sirocco wind can occur
during winter and spring; widespread harmattan haze exists 60% of
time, often severely restricting visibility
Environment-current issues: sparse water and arable land
Environment-international agreements:
party to: none of the selected agreements
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
@Western Sahara:People
Population: 233,730 (July 1998 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: NA
15-64 years: NA
65 years and over: NA
Population growth rate: 2.4% (1998 est.)
Birth rate: 45.78 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Death rate: 17.05 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Net migration rate: -4.78 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 139.74 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 48.41 years
male: 47.32 years
female: 49.83 years (1998 est.)
Total fertility rate: 6.75 children born/woman (1998 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Sahrawi(s), Sahraoui(s)
adjective: Sahrawian, Sahraouian
Ethnic groups: Arab, Berber
Religions: Muslim
Languages: Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic
Literacy: NA
@Western Sahara:Government
Country name:
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Western Sahara
Data code: WI
Government type: legal status of territory and question of sovereignty
unresolved; territory contested by Morocco and Polisario Front
(Popular Front for the Liberation of the Saguia el Hamra and Rio de
Oro), which in February 1976 formally proclaimed a government-in-exile
of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR); territory partitioned
between Morocco and Mauritania in April 1976, with Morocco acquiring
northern two-thirds; Mauritania, under pressure from Polisario
guerrillas, abandoned all claims to its portion in August 1979;
Morocco moved to occupy that sector shortly thereafter and has since
asserted administrative control; the Polisario's government-in-exile
was seated as an OAU member in 1984; guerrilla activities continued
sporadically, until a UN-monitored cease-fire was implemented 6
September 1991
National capital: none
Administrative divisions: none (under de facto control of Morocco)
Suffrage: none; a UN sponsored voter identification campaign has yet
to be completed
Executive branch: none
International organization participation: none
Diplomatic representation in the US: none
Diplomatic representation from the US: none
@Western Sahara:Economy
Economy-overview: Western Sahara, a territory poor in natural
resources and lacking sufficient rainfall, depends on pastoral
nomadism, fishing, and phosphate mining as the principal sources of
income for the population. Most of the food for the urban population
must be imported. All trade and other economic activities are
controlled by the Moroccan Government. Incomes and standards of living
are substantially below the Moroccan level.
GDP: purchasing power parity-$NA
GDP-real growth rate: NA%
GDP-per capita: purchasing power parity-$NA
GDP-composition by sector:
agriculture: NA%
industry: NA%
services: 40%-45% (1996 est.)
Inflation rate-consumer price index: NA%
Labor force:
total: 12,000
by occupation: animal husbandry and subsistence farming 50%
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget:
revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA
Industries: phosphate mining, handicrafts
Industrial production growth rate: NA%
Electricity-capacity: 56,000 kW (1995)
Electricity-production: 85 million kWh (1995)
Electricity-consumption per capita: 391 kWh (1995)
Agriculture-products: fruits and vegetables (grown in the few oases);
camels, sheep, goats (kept by the nomads)
Exports: $NA
commodities: phosphates 62%
partners: Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade
partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts
Imports: $NA
commodities: fuel for fishing fleet, foodstuffs
partners: Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade
partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts
Debt-external: $NA
Economic aid:
recipient: ODA, $NA
Currency: 1 Moroccan dirham (DH) = 100 centimes
Exchange rates: Moroccan dirhams (DH) per US$1-9.822 (January 1998),
9.527 (1997), 8.716 (1996), 8.540 (1995), 9.203 (1994), 9.299 (1993)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications
Telephones: 2,000
Telephone system: sparse and limited system
domestic: NA
international: tied into Morocco's system by microwave radio relay,
tropospheric scatter, and satellite; satellite earth stations-2
Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) linked to Rabat, Morocco
Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 0, shortwave 0
Radios: NA
Television broadcast stations: 2
Televisions: NA
@Western Sahara:Transportation
Railways: 0 km
Highways:
total: 6,200 km
paved: 1,350 km
unpaved: 4,850 km (1991 est.)
Ports and harbors: Ad Dakhla, Cabo Bojador, El Aaiun
Airports: 12 (1997 est.)
Airports-with paved runways:
total: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 (1997 est.)
Airports-with unpaved runways:
total: 9
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 5
under 914 m: 3 (1997 est.)
Heliports: 1 (1997 est.)
@Western Sahara:Military
Military branches: NA
Military expenditures-dollar figure: $NA
Military expenditures-percent of GDP: NA%
@Western Sahara:Transnational Issues
Disputes-international: claimed and administered by Morocco, but
sovereignty is unresolved and the UN is attempting to hold a
referendum on the issue; the UN-administered cease-fire has been in
effect since September 1991
______________________________________________________________________
WORLD
@World:Geography
Map references: World, Time Zones
Area:
total: 510.072 million sq km
land: 148.94 million sq km
water: 361.132 million sq km
note: 70.8% of the world's surface is water, 29.2% is land
Area-comparative: land area about 15 times the size of the US
Land boundaries: the land boundaries in the world total 251,480.24 km
(not counting shared boundaries twice)
Coastline: 356,000 km
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 24 nm claimed by most but can vary
continental shelf: 200-m depth claimed by most or to depth of
exploitation, others claim 200 nm or to the edge of the continental
margin
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm claimed by most but can vary
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm claimed by most but can vary
territorial sea: 12 nm claimed by most but can vary
note: boundary situations with neighboring states prevent many
countries from extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200
nm; 43 nations and other areas that are landlocked include
Afghanistan, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan,
Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic,
Chad, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Holy See (Vatican City), Hungary,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg,
Malawi, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Paraguay, Rwanda, San
Marino, Slovakia, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, The Former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, West
Bank, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Climate: two large areas of polar climates separated by two rather
narrow temperate zones from a wide equatorial band of tropical to
subtropical climates
Terrain: the greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at 10,924 m in
the Pacific Ocean
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m
highest point: Mount Everest 8,848 m
Natural resources: the rapid using up of nonrenewable mineral
resources, the depletion of forest areas and wetlands, the extinction
of animal and plant species, and the deterioration in air and water
quality (especially in Eastern Europe and the former USSR) pose
serious long-term problems that governments and peoples are only
beginning to address
Land use:
arable land: 10%
permanent crops: 1%
permanent pastures: 26%
forests and woodland: 32%
other: 31% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 2,481,250 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: large areas subject to severe weather (tropical
cyclones), natural disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis,
volcanic eruptions)
Environment-current issues: large areas subject to overpopulation,
industrial disasters, pollution (air, water, acid rain, toxic
substances), loss of vegetation (overgrazing, deforestation,
desertification), loss of wildlife, soil degradation, soil depletion,
erosion
Environment-international agreements: selected international
environmental agreements are included under the
Environment-international agreements entry for each country and in the
Selected International Environmental Agreements appendix
@World:People
Population: 5,926,466,814 (July 1998 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.3% (1998 est.)
Birth rate: 22 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Death rate: 9 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.77 male(s)/female
Infant mortality rate: 58 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 63 years
male: 61 years
female: 65 years (1998 est.)
Total fertility rate: 2.9 children born/woman (1998 est.)
@World:Government
Data code: none; there is no FIPS 10-4 country code for the World, so
the Factbook uses the "W" data code from DIAM 65-18 "Geopolitical Data
Elements and Related Features," Data Standard No. 3, March 1984,
published by the Defense Intelligence Agency; see the Cross-Reference
List of Country Data Codes appendix
Administrative divisions: 266 nations, dependent areas, other, and
miscellaneous entries
Legal system: varies by individual country; 186 (not including
Yugoslavia) are parties to the UN International Court of Justice (ICJ
or World Court)
@World:Economy
Economy-overview: Real global output-gross world product (GWP)-rose an
estimated 4.0% in 1997. And, once more, results varied widely among
regions and countries. With its solid 3.8% growth, the US again
accounted for 21% of GWP in 1997. Western Europe grew at 2.5%, not
enough to cut into its high unemployment, and accounted for another
21% of GWP. Japan's faltering economy grew at only 0.9% with its share
of GWP at 8%. The advanced countries as a whole accounted for an
estimated 53% of GWP, with overall growth at 3.0%. The 15 former
Soviet republics and the countries of Eastern Europe posted growth of
1.8%, reversing the long downturn that followed the collapse of
communism. Growth varied widely among these countries, e.g., Ukraine
at a negative 3.2%, Russia at a positive 0.4%, and the Baltic
countries at a strong 7%. The area as a whole accounted for 5% of
global output. China and India, with a combined population of 2.2
billion or 37% of the world total, grew at 8.8% and 5%, respectively.
(China's official GDP statistics probably are overstated.) The
developing countries as a whole contributed 42% to GWP with an overall
growth rate of 5.7%. Externally, the nation-state, as a bedrock
economic-political institution, is steadily losing control over
international flows of people, goods, funds, and technology.
Internally, the central government in a number of cases is losing
control over resources as separatist regional movements-typically
based on ethnicity - gain momentum, e.g., in the successor states of
the former Soviet Union, in the former Yugoslavia, in India, and in
Canada. In Western Europe, governments face the difficult political
problem of channeling resources away from welfare programs in order to
increase investment and strengthen incentives to seek employment. The
addition of more than 80 million people each year to an already
overcrowded globe is exacerbating the problems of pollution,
desertification, underemployment, epidemics, and famine. Because of
their own internal problems, the industrialized countries have
inadequate resources to deal effectively with the poorer areas of the
world, which, at least from the economic point of view, are becoming
further marginalized. Toward the end of 1997 and on into 1998, serious
financial difficulties in several high-growth East Asia countries cast
a shadow over short-term global economic prospects. The introduction
of the euro as the common currency of much of Western Europe in
January 1999 will pose serious economic risks because of varying
levels of income and cultural and political differences among the
participating nations. (For specific economic developments in each
country of the world in 1997, see the individual country entries.)
GDP: GWP (gross world product)-purchasing power parity-$38 trillion
(1997 est.)
GDP-real growth rate: 4% (1997 est.)
GDP-per capita: purchasing power parity-$6,500 (1997 est.)
GDP-composition by sector:
agriculture: NA%
industry: NA%
services: NA%
Inflation rate-consumer price index: all countries 25%; developed
countries 2% to 4% typically; developing countries 10% to 60%
typically (1997 est.)
note: national inflation rates vary widely in individual cases, from
stable prices in Japan to hyperinflation in a number of Third World
countries
Labor force:
total: 2.24 billion (1992)
by occupation: NA
Unemployment rate: 30% combined unemployment and underemployment in
many non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically
5%-12% unemployment (1997 est.)
Industries: dominated by the onrush of technology, especially in
computers, robotics, telecommunications, and medicines and medical
equipment; most of these advances take place in OECD nations; only a
small portion of non-OECD countries have succeeded in rapidly
adjusting to these technological forces; the accelerated development
of new industrial (and agricultural) technology is complicating
already grim environmental problems
Industrial production growth rate: 5% (1997 est.)
Electricity-capacity: 4 billion kW (1994)
Electricity-production: 12.34268 trillion kWh (1994)
Electricity-consumption per capita: 1,996 kWh (1995 est.)
Agriculture-products: the whole gamut of crops, livestock, forest
products, and fish