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Compare British Indian Ocean Territory (2002) - West Bank (2003)

Compare British Indian Ocean Territory (2002) z West Bank (2003)

 British Indian Ocean Territory (2002)West Bank (2003)
 British Indian Ocean TerritoryWest Bank
Age structure - 0-14 years: 44.1% (male 505,880; female 481,369)


15-64 years: 52.4% (male 598,992; female 572,511)


65 years and over: 3.5% (male 33,688; female 44,754) (2003 est.)
Agriculture - products - olives, citrus, vegetables; beef, dairy products
Airports 1 (2001) 3 (2002)
Airports - with paved runways total: 1


over 3,047 m: 1 (2002)
total: 3


2,438 to 3,047 m: 1


1,524 to 2,437 m: 1


under 914 m: 1 (2002)
Area total: 60 sq km


land: 60 sq km


water: 0 sq km


note: includes the entire Chagos Archipelago
total: 5,860 sq km


land: 5,640 sq km


water: 220 sq km


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
Area - comparative about 0.3 times the size of Washington, DC slightly smaller than Delaware
Background Established as a territory of the UK in 1965, a number of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) islands were transferred to the Seychelles when it attained independence in 1976. Subsequently, BIOT has consisted only of the six main island groups comprising the Chagos Archipelago. The largest and most southerly of the islands, Diego Garcia, contains a joint UK-US naval support facility. All of the remaining islands are uninhabited. Former agricultural workers, earlier residents in the islands, were relocated primarily to Mauritius but also to the Seychelles, between 1967 and 1973. In 2000, a British High Court ruling invalidated the local immigration order which had excluded them from the archipelago, but upheld the special military status of Diego Garcia. The Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements (the DOP), signed in Washington on 13 September 1993, provided for a transitional period not exceeding five years of Palestinian interim self-government in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Under the DOP, Israel agreed to transfer certain powers and responsibilities to the Palestinian Authority, which includes the Palestinian Legislative Council elected in January 1996, as part of the interim self-governing arrangements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A transfer of powers and responsibilities for the Gaza Strip and Jericho took place pursuant to the Israel-PLO 4 May 1994 Cairo Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area and in additional areas of the West Bank pursuant to the Israel-PLO 28 September 1995 Interim Agreement, the Israel-PLO 15 January 1997 Protocol Concerning Redeployment in Hebron, the Israel-PLO 23 October 1998 Wye River Memorandum, and the 4 September 1999 Sharm el-Sheikh Agreement. 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 Israeli citizens. Direct negotiations to determine the permanent status of Gaza and West Bank had begun in September 1999 after a three-year hiatus, but have been derailed by a second intifadah that broke out in September 2000. The resulting widespread violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israel's military response, and instability within the Palestinian Authority continue to undermine progress toward a permanent agreement.
Birth rate - 34.07 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Budget - revenues: $930 million


expenditures: $1.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $15 million


note: includes Gaza Strip (2000 est.)
Climate tropical marine; hot, humid, moderated by trade winds temperate; temperature and precipitation vary with altitude, warm to hot summers, cool to mild winters
Coastline 698 km 0 km (landlocked)
Country name conventional long form: British Indian Ocean Territory


conventional short form: none


abbreviation: BIOT
conventional long form: none


conventional short form: West Bank
Currency - new Israeli shekel (ILS); Jordanian dinar (JOD)
Death rate - 4.16 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Debt - external - $108 million (includes Gaza Strip) (1997 est.)
Dependency status overseas territory of the UK; administered by a commissioner, resident in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London -
Diplomatic representation from the US none (overseas territory of the UK) -
Diplomatic representation in the US none (overseas territory of the UK) -
Disputes - international Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos Archipelago and its former inhabitants, who reside chiefly in Mauritius, but in 2001 were granted UK citizenship and the right to repatriation since eviction in 1965; repatriation is complicated by the US military lease of Diego Garcia, the largest island in the chain West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli-occupied with current status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent status to be determined through further negotiation
Economic aid - recipient - $800 million (includes Gaza Strip) (2001 est.)
Economy - overview All economic activity is concentrated on the largest island of Diego Garcia, where joint UK-US defense facilities are located. Construction projects and various services needed to support the military installations are done by military and contract employees from the UK, Mauritius, the Philippines, and the US. There are no industrial or agricultural activities on the islands. When the Ilois return, they plan to reestablish sugarcane production and fishing. 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.
Electricity - consumption NA kWh NA kWh
Electricity - imports - NA kWh
Electricity - production NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by the US military NA kWh; note - 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; some Palestinian municipalities, such as Nablus and Janin, generate their own electricity from small power plants
Electricity - production by source - fossil fuel: 100%


hydro: 0%


nuclear: 0%


other: 0%
Elevation extremes lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m


highest point: unnamed location on Diego Garcia 15 m
lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m


highest point: Tall Asur 1,022 m
Environment - current issues NA adequacy of fresh water supply; sewage treatment
Ethnic groups - Palestinian Arab and other 83%, Jewish 17%
Exchange rates - new Israeli shekels per US dollar - 4.7378 (2002), 4.2057 (2001), 4.0773 (2000), 4.1397 (1999), 3.8001 (1998), 3.4494 (1997); Jordanian dinars per US dollar - fixed rate of 0.7090 (from 1996)
Executive branch chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952)


head of government: Commissioner Alan HUCKLE (since 2001); Administrator Louise SAVILL (since NA); note - both reside in the UK


cabinet: NA


elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; commissioner and administrator appointed by the monarch
-
Exports - $603 million f.o.b., includes Gaza Strip
Exports - commodities - olives, fruit, vegetables, limestone
Exports - partners - Israel, Jordan, Gaza Strip (2000)
Fiscal year - calendar year (since 1 January 1992)
Flag description white with six blue wavy horizontal stripes; the flag of the UK is in the upper hoist-side quadrant; the striped section bears a palm tree and yellow crown centered on the outer half of the flag -
GDP - purchasing power parity - $1.7 billion (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector - agriculture: 9%


industry: 28%


services: 63%


note: includes Gaza Strip (1999 est.)
GDP - per capita - purchasing power parity - $800 (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate - -22% (2002 est.)
Geographic coordinates 6 00 S, 71 30 E 32 00 N, 35 15 E
Geography - note archipelago of 2,300 islands; Diego Garcia, largest and southernmost island, occupies strategic location in central Indian Ocean; island is site of joint US-UK military facility landlocked; highlands are main recharge area for Israel's coastal aquifers; there are 242 Israeli settlements and civilian land use sites in the West Bank and 29 in East Jerusalem (February 2002 est.)
Highways total: NA km


paved: short stretch of paved road of NA km between port and airfield on Diego Garcia


unpaved: NA km
total: 4,500 km


paved: 2,700 km


unpaved: 1,800 km


note: Israelis have developed many highways to service Jewish settlements (1997 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share - lowest 10%: NA%


highest 10%: NA%
Imports - $1.9 billion c.i.f., includes Gaza Strip
Imports - commodities - food, consumer goods, construction materials
Imports - partners - Israel, Jordan, Gaza Strip (2000)
Industrial production growth rate - NA%
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
Infant mortality rate - total: 20.68 deaths/1,000 live births


male: 22.86 deaths/1,000 live births


female: 18.37 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) - 2.2% (includes Gaza Strip) (2001 est.)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) 1 (2000) 8 (1999)
Irrigated land 0 sq km (1998 est.) NA sq km
Labor force - NA
Labor force - by occupation - services 66%, industry 21%, agriculture 13% (1996)
Land boundaries 0 km total: 404 km


border countries: Israel 307 km, Jordan 97 km
Land use arable land: NEGL


permanent crops: 0%


other: 100% (1998 est.)
arable land: NEGL%


permanent crops: 0%


other: 100% (1998 est.)
Languages - Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many Palestinians), English (widely understood)
Legal system the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply -
Life expectancy at birth - total population: 72.68 years


male: 70.95 years


female: 74.51 years (2003 est.)
Literacy - definition: NA


total population: NA%


male: NA%


female: NA%
Location Southern Asia, archipelago in the Indian Ocean, about one-half the way from Africa to Indonesia Middle East, west of Jordan
Map references Political Map of the World Middle East
Maritime claims exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM


territorial sea: 3 NM
none (landlocked)
Military - note defense is the responsibility of the UK; the US lease on Diego Garcia expires in 2016 -
Military expenditures - dollar figure - $NA
Military expenditures - percent of GDP - NA%
Nationality - noun: NA


adjective: NA
Natural hazards NA droughts
Natural resources coconuts, fish, sugarcane arable land
Net migration rate - 3.07 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Population no indigenous inhabitants


note: approximately 1,200 former agricultural workers resident in the Chagos Archipelago, often referred to as Chagossians or Ilois, were relocated to Mauritius and the Seychelles around the time of the construction of UK-US military facilities; in 2001, there were approximately 1,500 UK and US military personnel and 2,000 civilian contractors living on the island of Diego Garcia (July 2002 est.)
2,237,194 (July 2002 est.)


note: in addition, there are about 187,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank and fewer than 177,000 in East Jerusalem (February 2002 est.) (July 2003 est.)
Population below poverty line - 60% (2002 est.)
Population growth rate - 3.3% (2003 est.)
Ports and harbors Diego Garcia none
Radio broadcast stations AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998) AM 1, FM 0, shortwave 0


note: the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation broadcasts from an AM station in Ramallah on 675 kHz; numerous local, private stations are reported to be in operation (2000)
Radios NA -
Railways - 0 km
Religions - Muslim 75% (predominantly Sunni), Jewish 17%, Christian and other 8%
Sex ratio - at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female


under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female


15-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female


65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female


total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2003 est.)
Telephone system general assessment: separate facilities for military and public needs are available


domestic: all commercial telephone services are available, including connection to the Internet


international: international telephone service is carried by satellite (2000)
general assessment: NA


domestic: NA


international: NA


note: Israeli company BEZEK and the Palestinian company PALTEL are responsible for communication services in the West Bank
Telephones - main lines in use NA 95,729 (total for West Bank and Gaza Strip) (1997)
Telephones - mobile cellular - NA
Television broadcast stations 1 (1997) NA
Terrain flat and low (most areas do not exceed four meters in elevation) mostly rugged dissected upland, some vegetation in west, but barren in east
Total fertility rate - 4.65 children born/woman (2003 est.)
Unemployment rate - 50% (includes Gaza Strip) (2002 est.)
Waterways none none
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