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:
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 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, 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. International aid of $2 billion in 2001-02 to the West Bank
and Gaza Strip have prevented the complete collapse of the economy.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $1.7 billion (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
-22% (2002 est.)