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: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 91.9%
male: 96.3%
female: 87.4% (2003 est.)
Government West Bank
Country name: conventional long form: none conventional short form: West Bank
Economy West Bank
Economy - overview:
The West Bank - the larger of the two areas under the Palestine
Authority - has experienced a general decline in economic growth and
a degradation in economic conditions made worse since the second
intifadah began in September 2000. The downturn has been largely the
result of the Israeli closure policies - the imposition of border
closures in response to security incidents in Israel - which
disrupted labor and commodity market relationships. In 2001, and
even more severely in 2002, Israeli military measures in Palestine
Authority areas resulted in the destruction of much capital plant,
the disruption of administrative structure, and widespread business
closures. Including the Gaza Strip, the UN estimates that more than
100,000 Palestinians out of the 125,000 who used to work in Israeli
settlements, or in joint industrial zones, have lost their jobs.
International aid of $2 billion to the West Bank and Gaza strip in
2004 prevented the complete collapse of the economy and allowed some
reforms in the government's financial operations. Meanwhile,
unemployment has continued at more than half the labor force.
ARAFAT's death in 2004 leaves open more political options that could
affect the economy.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$1.8 billion (2003 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
6% (2003 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $800 (2003 est.)