The 2001 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency
159,764 (2001 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $2.6 million (2001 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 2% (FY96/97)
Gambia, The Transnational Issues
Disputes - international: none
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@Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip Introduction
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. 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.
Gaza Strip Geography
Location: Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between
Egypt and Israel
Geographic coordinates: 31 25 N, 34 20 E
Map references: Middle East
Area: total: 360 sq km
land: 360 sq km
water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly more than twice the size of Washington,
DC
Land boundaries: total: 62 km
border countries: Egypt 11 km, Israel 51 km
Coastline: 40 km
Maritime claims: Israeli-occupied with current status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent status to be determined through further negotiation
Climate: temperate, mild winters, dry and warm to hot summers
Terrain: flat to rolling, sand- and dune-covered coastal plain
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m
highest point: Abu 'Awdah (Joz Abu 'Auda) 105 m
Natural resources: arable land, natural gas
Land use: arable land: 24%
permanent crops: 39%
permanent pastures: 0%
forests and woodland: 11%
other: 26% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 120 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: droughts
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.)
Gaza Strip People
Population: 1,178,119 (July 2001 est.)
note: in addition, there are some 6,900 Israeli settlers in the Gaza Strip (August 2000 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.)
Population growth rate: 4.01% (2001 est.)
Birth rate: 42.48 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Death rate: 4.21 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Net migration rate: 1.8 migrant(s)/1,000 population (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.)
Infant mortality rate: 25.37 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 71.01 years
male: 69.76 years
female: 72.32 years (2001 est.)
Total fertility rate: 6.42 children born/woman (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: NA%
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: NA
HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA
Nationality: noun: NA
adjective: NA
Ethnic groups: Palestinian Arab and other 99.4%, Jewish 0.6%
Religions: Muslim (predominantly Sunni) 98.7%, Christian 0.7%,
Jewish 0.6%
Languages: Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many
Palestinians), English (widely understood)
Literacy: definition: NA
total population: NA%
male: NA%
female: NA%
Gaza Strip Government
Country name: conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Gaza Strip
local long form: none
local short form: Qita Ghazzah
Gaza Strip Economy
Economy - 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: purchasing power parity - $1.11 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: −7.5% (2000 est.)
GDP