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Palestine - Trade & Marketing Information
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ALIGN="RIGHT" SRC="/cgtd/global/mideast/palestin.gif"> Palestine - key economic data 

 Gaza (more info) 


    The Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government
    Arrangements ("the DOP"), signed in Washington on 13 September 1993,
    provides for a transitional period not exceeding five years of Palestinian
    interim self-government in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Under the DOP,
    final status negotiations are to begin no later than the beginning of the
    third year of the transitional period.

    The new conservative government, however, is behaving rather fanatically 
    and may spoil the momentam created by the previous govt.

Location:
    Middle East, west of Jordan
Map references:
    Middle East
Area:
  total area:
    5,860 sq km
  land area:
    5,640 sq km
  comparative area:
    slightly larger than Delaware
  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
Land boundaries:
    total 404 km, Israel 307 km, Jordan 97 km
Coastline:
    0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims:
    none; landlocked
International disputes:
    West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli occupied with interim status subject to
    Israeli/Palestinian negotiations - final status to be determined
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
Natural resources:
    negligible
Land use:
  arable land:
    27%
  permanent crops:
    0%
  meadows and pastures:
    32%
  forest and woodland:
    1%
  other:
    40%
Irrigated land:
    NA sq km
Note:
    landlocked; highlands are main recharge area for Israel's coastal aquifers;
    there are 199 Jewish settlements and civilian land use sites in the West
    Bank and 25 in East Jerusalem (August 1994 est.)


Population:
    1,319,991 (July 1995 est.)
  note:
    in addition, there are 122,000 Jewish settlers in the West Bank and 149,000
    in East Jerusalem (August 1994 est.)
Ethnic divisions:
    Palestinian Arab and other 83%, Jewish 17%
Languages:
    Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers), English (widely understood)
  by occupation:
    construction 28.2%, agriculture 21.8%, industry 14.5%, commerce,
    restaurants, and hotels 12.6%, other services 22.9% (1991)
  note:     excluding Jewish settlers

Note:
    Under the Israeli-PLO Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government
    Arragements ("the DOP"), Israel agreed to transfer certain powers and
    responsibilities to the Palestinian Authority, and subsequently to an
    elected Palestinian Council, as part of interim self-governing arrangements
    in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A transfer of powers and responsibilities
    for the Gaza Strip and Jericho has taken place pursuant to the Israel-PLO 4
    May 1994 Cairo Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area. A transfer
    of powers and responsibilities in certain spheres for the rest of the West
    Bank has taken place pursuant to the Israel-PLO 29 August 1994 Agreement on
    Preparatory Transfer of Powers and Responsibilities. 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 Israelis. Final status is to be determined through direct negotiations
    within five years.


Economy Overview:

    Economic progress in the West Bank has been hampered by Israeli military
    administration and the effects of the Palestinian uprising (intifadah).
    Industries using advanced technology or requiring sizable investment have
    been discouraged by a lack of local capital and restrictive Israeli
    policies. Capital investment consists largely of residential housing, not
    productive assets that would enable local Palestinian firms to compete with
    Israeli industry. GDP has been substantially supplemented by remittances of
    workers employed in Israel and Persian Gulf states. Such transfers from the
    Gulf dropped after Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990. In the wake of the
    Persian Gulf crisis, many Palestinians have returned to the West Bank,
    increasing unemployment, and export revenues have dropped because of the
    decline of markets in Jordan and the Gulf states. Israeli measures to
    curtail the intifadah also have added to unemployment and lowered living
    standards. The area's economic situation has worsened since Israel's partial
    closure of the territories in 1993.


National product:
    GDP - purchasing power parity - $4 billion (1994 est.)
National product real growth rate:
    NA%
National product per capita:
    $2,800 (1994 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
    6.8% (1993)
Unemployment rate:
    35% (1994 est.)
Budget:
  revenues:
    $43.4 million
  expenditures:
    $43.7 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY89/90)



Industrial production:


The local industry is in a pre-mature stage. Some cottage industries are coming up.
Most of the small industry consist of agro-industrial units.

Electricity:
    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 Nabulus and Janin, generate
    their own electricity from small power plants



Economic Activity


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

Agriculture:
    olives, citrus and other fruits, vegetables, beef, and dairy products
Palestine - key foreign trade data 



Exports:

    $217 million (f.o.b., 1992)
  Commodities:
    olives, fruit, vegetables
   Major Trade Partners::
    Jordan, Israel



Imports:

    $867 million (c.i.f., 1992)
  Commodities:
    food, consumer goods, construction materials
   Major Trade Partners::
    Jordan, Israel
Palestine - Trade, Industry & Marketing information

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