West Bank
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.

geography

location

32.0° N, 35. 15° E
Middle East, west of Jordan, east of Israel

area

5,860 sq km
land
5,640 sq km
water
220 sq km

land boundaries

478 km

coastline

0 km

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

elevation

lowest point
Dead Sea
-431
highest point
Khallat al Batrakh
1,020

natural resources

  • arable land

land use

arable land
7.4 %
permanent crops
11 %
permanent pasture
24.9 %
forest
1.5 %
other
55.2 %

population distribution

Palestinian settlements are primarily located in the central to western half of the territory; Jewish settlements are found in pockets throughout, particularly in the northeast, north-central, and around Jerusalem

people

population

  • 2,900,034
  • 139
    global rank

nationality

  • NA
    noun
  • NA
    adjective

ethnic groups

  • Palestinian Arab
  • Jewish
  • other

languages

  • Arabic
  • Hebrew
    spoken by Israeli settlers and many Palestinians
  • English
    widely understood

religions

Muslim
80 %
Jewish
12 %
Christian
1 %
other
%
unaffiliated
%
unspecified
1 %

birth rate

  • 25.2
    per 1,000 population
  • 49
    global rank

death rate

  • 3.4
    per 1,000 population
  • 223
    global rank

urban population

76.7 %

life expectancy

  • 75.9
    total population
  • 109
    global rank
73.8
male
78.1
female

government

economy

overview

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

21,220,000,000 USD
2014

agriculture products

  • olives
  • citrus fruit
  • vegetables
  • beef
  • dairy products

poverty level

18%
2011

budget

  • 1,314,000,000
    revenue (USD)
  • 1,278,000,000
    expenditures (USD)

communications

telephones

    fixed lines

  • 472,293
    total subscriptions
  • 98
    global rank

    mobile cellular

  • 4,135,363
    total subscriptions
  • 129
    global rank

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

.psnote - same as Gaza Strip
country code

    users

  • 2,673,000
    total
  • 57.4
    % of population
  • 101
    global rank

energy

electricity access

100%
2016

transportation

air transport

    airports

  • 2
    total
  • 2
    paved

roadways

4,686 km
total length

military

This entry doesn't have any available military data.