West Bank

From Imakoopedia

This is an article about the former West Bank of Jordan, now part of the Palestinian Authority and under Israeli occupation. Another West Bank exists in the Middle East: the West Bank of Luxor in Egypt.

The West Bank is a Palestinian enclave in the Middle East between Israel and Jordan, to the north of the Dead Sea. It is known as the West Bank because it lies on the western bank of the Jordan River.

This part of the world is steeped in biblical history and contains sites of religious and archaeological significance to Jews, Christians and Muslims.

Table of contents

1 Regions 2 Cities 3 Other destinations 4 Understand 4.1 Climate 4.2 Terrain 4.3 History 5 Get in 5.1 By plane 5.2 By train 5.3 By car 5.4 By bus 5.5 By boat 6 Get around 7 Talk 8 Buy 9 Eat 10 Drink 11 Sleep 12 Learn 13 Work 14 Stay safe 15 Stay healthy 16 Respect 17 Contact 18 External links 19 Geography 20 People 21 Economy 22 Communications 23 Transportation 24 Transnational Issues

Regions

Cities

• East Jerusalem
• Janin
• Nablus
• Ramallah
• Jericho
• Bethlehem
• Hebron

Other destinations

Understand

Sometimes known as the Occupied Territories, because Israel invaded this land in 1967, the West Bank remains disputed territory that has become a refuge for the Palestinian people who have been displaced from other parts of Israel. Some Israelis see the West Bank territories as historically Jewish land and seek to reoccupy it by building settlements. Israel is also building a security barrier within the West Bank, restricting movement of the population and further isolating Palestinians from their traditional farmlands.

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.

• lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m
• highest point: Tall Asur 1,022 m

History

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.

Get in

By plane

By train

By car

By bus

By boat

Get around

Talk

Buy

Eat

Drink

Sleep

Learn

Work

Stay safe

Stay healthy

Respect

Contact

External links

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Geography

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

Natural resources 

arable land

Land use 

arable land: NEGL%
permanent crops: 0%
other: 100% (1998 est.)

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 242 Israeli settlements and civilian land use sites in the West Bank and 29 in East Jerusalem (February 2002 est.)

People

Population 

2,163,667 (July 2002 est.)
note: in addition, there are about 187,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank and fewer than 177,000 in East Jerusalem (February 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.)

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

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)

Economy

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.

Population below poverty line 

50% (2001 est.)

Labor force - by occupation 

services 66%, industry 21%, agriculture 13% (1996)

Unemployment rate 

26% (includes Gaza Strip) (2001 est.)

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

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

Agriculture - products 

olives, citrus, vegetables; beef, dairy products

Exports - commodities 

olives, fruit, vegetables, limestone

Imports - commodities 

food, consumer goods, construction materials

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

Telephones - main lines in use 

95,729 (total for West Bank and Gaza Strip) (1997)

Telephone system 

note: Israeli company BEZEK and the Palestinian company PALTEL are responsible for communication services in the West Bank

Radio broadcast stations 

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)

Televisions 

NA; note - many Palestinian households have televisions (1999)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) 

8 (1999)

Internet users 

60,000 (includes Gaza Strip) (2001)

Transportation

Highways 

total: 4,500 km
paved: 2,700 km
unpaved: 1,800 km (1997 est.)
note: Israeli have developed highways to service Jewish settlements

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 (2002)

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