West Bank (2002) | Svalbard (2007) | |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 44.4% (male 492,446; female 468,321)
15-64 years: 52% (male 575,282; female 550,793) 65 years and over: 3.6% (male 33,163; female 43,662) (2002 est.) |
0-14 years: NA
15-64 years: NA 65 years and over: NA |
Agriculture - products | olives, citrus, vegetables; beef, dairy products | - |
Airports | 3 (2001) | 4 (2007) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2002) |
total: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2007) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total: 3
under 914 m: 3 (2007) |
Area | 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 |
total: 61,020 sq km
land: 61,020 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Spitsbergen and Bjornoya (Bear Island) |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Delaware | slightly smaller than West Virginia |
Background | 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. | First discovered by the Norwegians in the 12th century, the islands served as an international whaling base during the 17th and 18th centuries. Norway's sovereignty was recognized in 1920; five years later it officially took over the territory. |
Birth rate | 34.94 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | NA |
Budget | revenues: $930 million
expenditures: $1.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $15 million note: includes Gaza Strip (2000 est.) |
revenues: $25.07 million
expenditures: $NA (2004 est.) |
Capital | - | name: Longyearbyen
geographic coordinates: 78 13 N, 15 33 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October |
Climate | temperate; temperature and precipitation vary with altitude, warm to hot summers, cool to mild winters | arctic, tempered by warm North Atlantic Current; cool summers, cold winters; North Atlantic Current flows along west and north coasts of Spitsbergen, keeping water open and navigable most of the year |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 3,587 km |
Country name | conventional long form: none
conventional short form: West Bank |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Svalbard (sometimes referred to as Spitzbergen) |
Currency | new Israeli shekel (ILS); Jordanian dinar (JOD) | - |
Death rate | 4.26 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | NA |
Debt - external | $108 million (includes Gaza Strip) (1997 est.) | - |
Dependency status | - | territory of Norway; administered by the Polar Department of the Ministry of Justice, through a governor (sysselmann) residing in Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen; by treaty (9 February 1920) sovereignty was awarded to Norway |
Disputes - international | 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 | despite recent discussions, Russia and Norway dispute their maritime limits in the Barents Sea and Russia's fishing rights beyond Svalbard's territorial limits within the Svalbard Treaty zone |
Economic aid - recipient | $800 million disbursed (includes Gaza Strip) (2001 est.) | $8.2 million from Norway (1998) |
Economy - overview | Economic output in the West Bank is governed by the Paris Economic Protocol of April 1994 between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. 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 Palestinian 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, internal turmoil and 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. | Coal mining is the major economic activity on Svalbard. The treaty of 9 February 1920 gave the 41 signatories equal rights to exploit mineral deposits, subject to Norwegian regulation. Although US, UK, Dutch, and Swedish coal companies have mined in the past, the only companies still mining are Norwegian and Russian. The settlements on Svalbard are essentially company towns. The Norwegian state-owned coal company employs nearly 60% of the Norwegian population on the island, runs many of the local services, and provides most of the local infrastructure. There is also some hunting of seal, reindeer, and fox. |
Electricity - consumption | NA kWh | - |
Electricity - imports | NA kWh | - |
Electricity - production | 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; at the same time, some Palestinian municipalities, such as Nablus and Janin, generate their own electricity from small power plants | - |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: NA%
hydro: NA% nuclear: NA% other: NA% |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m
highest point: Tall Asur 1,022 m |
lowest point: Arctic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Newtontoppen 1,717 m |
Environment - current issues | adequacy of fresh water supply; sewage treatment | NA |
Ethnic groups | Palestinian Arab and other 83%, Jewish 17% | Norwegian 55.4%, Russian and Ukrainian 44.3%, other 0.3% (1998) |
Exchange rates | new Israeli shekels per US dollar - 4.2757 (December 2001), 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) | Norwegian kroner per US dollar - 6.4117 (2006), 6.4425 (2005), 6.7408 (2004), 7.0802 (2003), 7.9838 (2002) |
Executive branch | - | chief of state: King HARALD V of Norway (since 17 January 1991)
head of government: Governor Per SEFLAND (since 1 October 2005); Assistant Governor Rune Baard HANSEN (since 2003) elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor and assistant governor responsible to the Polar Department of the Ministry of Justice |
Exports | $603 million f.o.b., includes Gaza Strip (2001 est.) | $197.6 million (2004) |
Exports - commodities | olives, fruit, vegetables, limestone | - |
Exports - partners | Israel, Jordan, Gaza Strip | - |
Fiscal year | calendar year (since 1 January 1992) | - |
Flag description | - | the flag of Norway is used |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $2.1 billion (2001 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 9%
industry: 28% services: 63% note: includes Gaza Strip (1999 est.) |
- |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,000 (2001 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | -35% (2001 est.) | NA% |
Geographic coordinates | 32 00 N, 35 15 E | 78 00 N, 20 00 E |
Geography - note | 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.) | northernmost part of the Kingdom of Norway; consists of nine main islands; glaciers and snowfields cover 60% of the total area; site of future seed repository under construction by the Global Crop Diversity Trust and the Norwegian Government |
Heliports | - | 1 (2007) |
Highways | total: 4,500 km
paved: 2,700 km unpaved: 1,800 km (1997 est.) note: Israelis have developed many highways to service Jewish settlements |
- |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
- |
Imports | $1.9 billion c.i.f., includes Gaza Strip (2001 est.) | $NA |
Imports - commodities | food, consumer goods, construction materials | - |
Imports - partners | Israel, Jordan, Gaza Strip | - |
Independence | - | none (territory of Norway) |
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 | 21.24 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | total: NA
male: NA female: NA |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 1% (includes Gaza Strip) (2001 est.) | - |
International organization participation | - | none |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 8 (1999) | - |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | NA |
Labor force | NA | NA |
Labor force - by occupation | services 66%, industry 21%, agriculture 13% (1996) | - |
Land boundaries | total: 404 km
border countries: Israel 307 km, Jordan 97 km |
0 km |
Land use | arable land: NEGL%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (no trees; the only bushes are crowberry and cloudberry) (2005) |
Languages | Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many Palestinians), English (widely understood) | Norwegian, Russian |
Legal system | - | the laws of Norway, where applicable, apply |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 72.47 years
male: 70.76 years female: 74.29 years (2002 est.) |
total population: NA
male: NA female: NA |
Literacy | definition: NA
total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
NA |
Location | Middle East, west of Jordan | Northern Europe, islands between the Arctic Ocean, Barents Sea, Greenland Sea, and Norwegian Sea, north of Norway |
Map references | Middle East | Arctic Region |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | territorial sea: 4 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm unilaterally claimed by Norway but not recognized by Russia |
Military - note | - | demilitarized by treaty on 9 February 1920 |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $NA | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA% | - |
Nationality | noun: NA
adjective: NA |
- |
Natural hazards | droughts | ice floes often block the entrance to Bellsund (a transit point for coal export) on the west coast and occasionally make parts of the northeastern coast inaccessible to maritime traffic |
Natural resources | arable land | coal, iron ore, copper, zinc, phosphate, wildlife, fish |
Net migration rate | 3.18 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | NA |
Population | 2,163,667 (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.) |
2,214 (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 50% (2001 est.) | - |
Population growth rate | 3.39% (2002 est.) | -0.007% (2007 est.) |
Ports and harbors | none | - |
Radio broadcast stations | 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) |
AM 1, FM 1 (plus 2 repeaters), shortwave 0 (1998) |
Radios | NA; note - most Palestinian households have radios (1999) | - |
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: 1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
NA (2007 est.) |
Telephone system | 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 |
general assessment: probably adequate
domestic: local telephone service international: country code - 47-790; satellite earth station - 1 of unknown type (for communication with Norwegian mainland only) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 95,729 (total for West Bank and Gaza Strip) (1997) | NA |
Telephones - mobile cellular | NA | - |
Television broadcast stations | NA | NA |
Terrain | mostly rugged dissected upland, some vegetation in west, but barren in east | wild, rugged mountains; much of high land ice covered; west coast clear of ice about one-half of the year; fjords along west and north coasts |
Total fertility rate | 4.77 children born/woman (2002 est.) | NA |
Unemployment rate | 26% (includes Gaza Strip) (2001 est.) | - |
Waterways | none | - |