West Bank etymology Population: 2,900,034
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| History | |
| Inhabited since at least the 15th century B.C., the West Bank has been dominated by many different peoples throughout its history; it was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in the early 16th century. The West Bank fell to British forces during World War I, becoming part of the British Mandate of Palestine. Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the West Bank was captured by Transjordan (later renamed Jordan), which annexed the West Bank in 1950; it was captured by Israel in the Six-Day War in 1967. Under a series of agreements known as the Oslo accords signed between 1993 and 1999, Israel transferred to the newly created Palestinian Authority (PA) security and civilian responsibility for many Palestinian-populated areas of the West Bank as well as the Gaza Strip. In 2000, a violent intifada or uprising began, and in 2001 negotiations to determine the permanent status of the West Bank and Gaza Strip stalled. Subsequent attempts to re-start direct negotiations have not resulted in progress toward determining final status of the area. Roughly 60% of the West Bank, remains under Israeli civil and military control. In early 2006, the Islamic Resistance Movement (HAMAS) won a majority in the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) election. Attempts to form a unity government between Fatah, the dominant Palestinian political faction in the West Bank, and HAMAS failed, leading to violent clashed between their respective supporters and HAMAS's violent siezure of all military and governmental institutions in the Gaza Strip in June 2007. Since 2007, the PA has administered parts of the West Bank under its control, mainly the major Palestinian population centers and areas immediately surrounding them. Fatah and HAMAS have made several attempts at reconciliation, but the factions have been unable to implement agreements including the latest agreement signed in October 2017. In December 2018, the Palestinian Constitutional Court dissolved the PLC. In 2019, PA President ABBAS renewed his calls for PLC elections. |
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| Geography | |
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| Location: | Middle East, west of Jordan, east of Israel |
| Geographic coordinates: | 32 00 N, 35 15 E |
| 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 Size comparison: slightly smaller than Delaware |
| Land Boundaries: | total: 478 km border countries (2): Israel 330 km, Jordan 148 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 in west, flat plains descending to Jordan River Valley to the east |
| Natural resources: | arable land |
| Land use: | agricultural land: 43.3% (2011 est.) arable land: 7.4% (2011 est.) permanent crops: 11% (2011 est.) permanent pasture: 24.9% (2011 est.) forest: 1.5% (2011 est.) other: 55.2% (2011 est.) note: includes Gaza Strip |
| Irrigated land: | 240 sq km; note - includes Gaza Strip (2012) |
| Natural hazards: | droughts |
| Current Environment Issues: | adequacy of freshwater supply; sewage treatment |
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| People | |
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| Nationality: | noun: NA adjective: NA |
| Ethnic groups: | Palestinian Arab, Jewish, other |
| 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% (2012 est.) |
| Population: | 2,900,034 (July 2020 est.) note: approximately 418,600 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank (2018); approximately 215,900 Israeli settlers live in East Jerusalem (2014) |
| Age structure: | 0-14 years: 35.31% (male 525,645/female 498,458) 15-24 years: 20.75% (male 307,420/female 294,469) 25-54 years: 35.19% (male 516,758/female 503,626) 55-64 years: 5.12% (male 76,615/female 72,006) 65 years and over: 3.62% (male 48,387/female 56,650) (2020 est.) |
| Dependency ratios: | total dependency ratio: 71.2 youth dependency ratio: 65.7 elderly dependency ratio: 5.5 potential support ratio: 18.2 (2020 est.) note: data represent Gaza Strip and the West Bank |
| Median age: | total: 21.9 years male: 21.7 years female: 22.2 years (2020 est.) |
| Population growth rate: | 1.77% (2020 est.) |
| Birth rate: | 25.2 births/1,000 population (2020 est.) |
| Death rate: | 3.4 deaths/1,000 population (2020 est.) |
| Net migration rate: | -4.2 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2020 est.) |
| Urbanization: | urban population: 76.7% of total population (2020) rate of urbanization: 3% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.) note: data represent Gaza Strip and the West Bank |
| 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: 0.85 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2020 est.) |
| Maternal mortality rate: | 27 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.) note: data represent Gaza Strip and the West Bank |
| Infant mortality rate: | total: 12.8 deaths/1,000 live births male: 14.4 deaths/1,000 live births female: 11.1 deaths/1,000 live births (2020 est.) |
| Life expectancy at birth: | total population: 75.9 years male: 73.8 years female: 78.1 years (2020 est.) |
| Total fertility rate: | 3.07 children born/woman (2020 est.) |
| Contraceptive prevalence rate: | 57.2% (2014) note: includes Gaza Strip and the West Bank |
| Physicians density: | 1.45 physicians/1,000 population (2017) |
| Hospital bed density: | 1.3 beds/1,000 population (2018) |
| Drinking water source: | improved: urban: 97.1% of population rural: 97.1% of population total: 96.8% of population unimproved: urban: 2.9% of population rural: 2.9% of population total: 3.2% of population (2017 est.) note: includes Gaza Strip and the West Bank |
| Sanitation facility access: | improved: urban: 100% of population rural: 99.3% of population total: 99.8% of population unimproved: urban: 0% of population rural: 0.7% of population total: 0.2% of population (2017 est.) note: note includes Gaza Strip and the West Bank |
| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: | n/a |
| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: | n/a |
| HIV/AIDS - deaths: | n/a |
| Children under the age of 5 years underweight: | 1.4% (2014) note: estimate is for Gaza Strip and the West Bank |
| Education expenditures: | 5.3% of GDP (2017) note: includes Gaza Strip and the West Bank |
| Literacy: | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 97.2% male: 98.7% female: 95.7% (2018) note: estimates are for Gaza and the West Bank |
| School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education): | total: 13 years male: 12 years female: 14 years (2017) note: data represent Gaza Strip and the West Bank Unemployment, youth ages 15-24: total: 42.2% male: 37% female: 69.4% (2018 est.) note: includes Gaza Strip |
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| Government | |
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| Country 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 |
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| Economy | |
In 2017, the economic outlook in the West Bank - the larger of the two areas comprising the Palestinian Territories – remained fragile, as security concerns and political friction slowed economic growth. Unemployment in the West Bank remained high at 19.0% in the third quarter of 2017, only slightly better than 19.6% at the same point the previous year, while the labor force participation rate remained flat, year-on-year. Longstanding Israeli restrictions on imports, exports, and movement of goods and people continue to disrupt labor and trade flows and the territory’s industrial capacity, and constrain private sector development. The PA’s budget benefited from an effort to improve tax collection, coupled with lower spending in 2017, but the PA for the foreseeable future will continue to rely heavily on donor aid for its budgetary needs and infrastructure development. | |
| GDP (purchasing power parity): | $21.22 billion (2014 est.) $20.15 billion (2013 est.) $19.95 billion (2012 est.) note: data are in 2014 US dollars; includes Gaza Strip |
| GDP (official exchange rate): | $9.828 billion (2014 est.) note: excludes Gaza Strip |
| GDP - real growth rate: | 5.3% (2014 est.) 1% (2013 est.) 6% (2012 est.) note: excludes Gaza Strip |
| GDP - per capita (PPP): | $4,300 (2014 est.) $4,400 (2013 est.) $4,600 (2012 est.) note: includes Gaza Strip |
| Gross national saving: | 7.8% of GDP (2014 est.) 9.5% of GDP (2013 est.) 5% of GDP (2012 est.) note: includes Gaza Strip GDP - composition, by end use: household consumption: 91.3% (2017 est.) government consumption: 26.7% (2017 est.) investment in fixed capital: 23% (2017 est.) investment in inventories: 0% (2017 est.) exports of goods and services: 20% (2017 est.) imports of goods and services: -61% (2017 est.) note: excludes Gaza Strip GDP - composition, by sector of origin: agriculture: 2.9% (2017 est.) industry: 19.5% (2017 est.) services: 77.6% (2017 est.) note: excludes Gaza Strip |
| Agriculture - products: | olives, citrus fruit, vegetables; beef, dairy products |
| Industries: | small-scale manufacturing, quarrying, textiles, soap, olive-wood carvings, and mother-of-pearl souvenirs |
| Industrial production growth rate: | 2.2% (2017 est.) note: includes Gaza Strip |
| Labor force: | 1.24 million (2017 est.) note: excludes Gaza Strip |
| Labor force - by occupation: | agriculture: 11.5% industry: 34.4% services: 54.1% (2013 est.) note: excludes Gaza Strip |
| Unemployment rate: | 27.9% (2017 est.) 27% (2016 est.) note: excludes Gaza Strip |
| Population below poverty line: | 18% (2011 est.) |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share: | lowest 10%: 3.2% highest 10%: 28.2% (2009 est.) note: includes Gaza Strip |
| Budget: | revenues: 1.314 billion (2017 est.) expenditures: 1.278 billion (2017 est.) note: includes Palestinian Authority expenditures in the Gaza Strip |
| Taxes and other revenues: | 13.4% (of GDP) (2017 est.) Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-): 0.4% (of GDP) (2017 est.) |
| Public debt: | 24.4% of GDP (2014 est.) 23.8% of GDP (2013 est.) |
| Fiscal year: | calendar year |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices): | 0.2% (2017 est.) -0.2% (2016 est.) note: excludes Gaza Strip |
| Current account balance: | -$1.444 billion (2017 est.) -$1.348 billion (2016 est.) |
| Exports: | $2.126 billion (2017 est.) $1.827 billion (2016 est.) note: excludes Gaza Strip |
| Exports - commodities: | stone, olives, fruit, vegetables, limestone |
| Imports: | $6.565 billion (2017 est.) $6.207 billion (2016 est.) note: data include the Gaza Strip |
| Imports - commodities: | food, consumer goods, construction materials, petroleum, chemicals |
| Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: | $0 (31 December 2017 est.) $583 million (31 December 2015 est.) |
| Debt - external: | $1.662 billion (31 March 2016 est.) $1.467 billion (31 March 2015 est.) note: data include the Gaza Strip |
| Exchange rates: | new Israeli shekels (ILS) per US dollar - 3.606 (2017 est.) 3.841 (2016 est.) 3.841 (2015 est.) 3.8869 (2014 est.) 3.5779 (2013 est.) |
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| Energy | |
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| Electricity - production: | 1.093 billion kWh (2016 est.) |
| Electricity - consumption: | 6.489 billion kWh (2016 est.) |
| Electricity - exports: | 0 kWh (2016) |
| Electricity - imports: | 5.473 billion kWh (2016 est.) |
| Electricity - installed generating capacity: | 170,000 kW (2016 est.) note: includes Gaza Strip |
| Electricity - from fossil fuels: | 78% of total installed capacity (2016 est.) |
| Electricity - from nuclear fuels: | 0% of total installed capacity (2017 est.) |
| Electricity - from hydroelectric plants: | 0% of total installed capacity (2017 est.) |
| Electricity - from other renewable sources: | 22% of total installed capacity (2017 est.) |
| Crude oil - production: | 0 bbl/day (2018 est.) |
| Crude oil - exports: | 0 bbl/day (2015 est.) |
| Crude oil - imports: | 0 bbl/day (2015 est.) |
| Crude oil - proved reserves: | 0 bbl (1 January 2018) |
| Refined petroleum products - production: | 0 bbl/day (2015 est.) |
| Refined petroleum products - consumption: | 24,000 bbl/day (2016 est.) |
| Refined petroleum products - exports: | 19 bbl/day (2015 est.) |
| Refined petroleum products - imports: | 22,740 bbl/day (2015 est.) |
| Natural gas - production: | 0 cu m (2017 est.) |
| Natural gas - consumption: | 0 cu m (2017 est.) |
| Natural gas - exports: | 0 cu m (2017 est.) |
| Natural gas - imports: | 0 cu m (2017 est.) |
| Natural gas - proved reserves: | 0 cu m (1 January 2014 est.) |
| Carbon dioxide emissions from consumption of energy: | 3.113 million Mt (2017 est.) |
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| Communications | |
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| Cellular Phones in use: | total subscriptions: 4,135,363 (includes Gaza Strip) (2017 est.) subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 76 (includes Gaza Strip) (2017 est.) |
| 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 |
| Internet country code: | .psnote - same as Gaza Strip |
| Internet users: | total: 2.673 million (includes Gaza Strip) percent of population: 57.4% (July 2016 est.) |
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| Transportation | |
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| Airports: | 2 (2013) |
| Airports (paved runways): | total 2 (2013) 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2013) under 914 m: 1 (2013) |
| Heliports: | 1 (2013) |
| Roadways: | total 4,686 km (2010) paved: 4,686 km (2010) note: includes Gaza Strip |
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| Military | |
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| Transnational Issues | |
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| Disputes - 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): 858,758 (Palestinian refugees) (2020) IDPs: 243,000 (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) (2019) |
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Source: CIA - The World Factbook