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 244 West Bank settlements and 29 East Jerusalem
settlements in addition to at least 20 occupied outposts (August
2003 est.)

People West Bank

Population:
2,385,615
note: in addition, there are about 187,000 Israeli settlers in the
West Bank and fewer than 177,000 in East Jerusalem (July 2004 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 43.4% (male 530,197/female 504,794)
15-64 years: 53.2% (male 649,610/female 619,335)
65 years and over: 3.4% (male 34,803/female 46,876) (2005 est.)

Median age:
total: 18.14 years
male: 17.99 years
female: 18.3 years (2005 est.)

Population growth rate:
3.13% (2005 est.)

Birth rate:
32.37 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Death rate:
3.99 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)