West Bank (2005) | Zimbabwe (2005) | |
Administrative divisions | - | 8 provinces and 2 cities* with provincial status; Bulawayo*, Harare*, Manicaland, Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West, Masvingo, Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South, Midlands |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 43.4% (male 530,197/female 504,794)
15-64 years: 53.2% (male 649,610/female 619,335) 65 years and over: 3.4% (male 34,803/female 46,876) (2005 est.) |
0-14 years: 39.2% (male 2,522,609/female 2,474,131)
15-64 years: 57.1% (male 3,686,354/female 3,592,662) 65 years and over: 3.7% (male 235,478/female 235,756) (2005 est.) |
Agriculture - products | olives, citrus, vegetables; beef, dairy products | corn, cotton, tobacco, wheat, coffee, sugarcane, peanuts; sheep, goats, pigs |
Airports | 3 (2004 est.) | 404 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
total: 17
over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 8 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total: 387
1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 186 under 914 m: 196 (2004 est.) |
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: 390,580 sq km
land: 386,670 sq km water: 3,910 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Delaware | slightly larger than Montana |
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 and internal security and for public order of settlements and Israeli citizens. Direct negotiations to determine the permanent status of Gaza and West Bank that began in September 1999 after a three-year hiatus, were 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. Following the death of longtime Palestinian leader Yasir ARAFAT in November 2004, the election of his successor Mahmud ABBAS in January 2005 could bring a turning point in the conflict. | The UK annexed Southern Rhodesia from the South Africa Company in 1923. A 1961 constitution was formulated that favored whites in power. In 1965 the government unilaterally declared its independence, but the UK did not recognize the act and demanded more complete voting rights for the black African majority in the country (then called Rhodesia). UN sanctions and a guerrilla uprising finally led to free elections in 1979 and independence (as Zimbabwe) in 1980. Robert MUGABE, the nation's first prime minister, has been the country's only ruler (as president since 1987) and has dominated the country's political system since independence. His chaotic land redistribution campaign begun in 2000 caused an exodus of white farmers, crippled the economy, and ushered in widespread shortages of basic commodities. Ignoring international condemnation, MUGABE rigged the 2002 presidential election to ensure his reelection. Opposition and labor groups launched general strikes in 2003 to pressure MUGABE to retire early; security forces continued their brutal repression of regime opponents. |
Birth rate | 32.37 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 29.74 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $676.6 million
expenditures: $1.155 billion, including capital expenditures of NA; note - these budget data include Gaza Strip (2003) |
revenues: $1.325 billion
expenditures: $1.593 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.) |
Capital | - | Harare |
Climate | temperate; temperature and precipitation vary with altitude, warm to hot summers, cool to mild winters | tropical; moderated by altitude; rainy season (November to March) |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | - | 21 December 1979 |
Country name | conventional long form: none
conventional short form: West Bank |
conventional long form: Republic of Zimbabwe
conventional short form: Zimbabwe former: Southern Rhodesia, Rhodesia |
Death rate | 3.99 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 24.66 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Debt - external | $108 million (includes Gaza Strip) (1997 est.) | $4.086 billion (2004 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | - | chief of mission: Ambassador Joseph G. SULLIVAN
embassy: 172 Herbert Chitepo Avenue, Harare mailing address: P. O. Box 3340, Harare telephone: [263] (4) 250-593 and 250-594 FAX: [263] (4) 796488 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | - | chief of mission: Ambassador Simbi Veke MUBAKO
chancery: 1608 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 332-7100 FAX: [1] (202) 483-9326 |
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; Israel continues construction of a "seam line" separation barrier along parts of the Green Line and within the West Bank; Israel announced its intention to pull out settlers and withdraw from four settlements in the northern West Bank in 2005; since 1948, about 350 peacekeepers from the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), headquartered in Jerusalem, monitor ceasefires, supervise armistice agreements, prevent isolated incidents from escalating, and assist other UN personnel in the region | Botswana has built electric fences and South Africa has placed military along the border to stem the flow of thousands of Zimbabweans fleeing to find work and escape political persecution; Namibia has supported and in 2004 Zimbabwe dropped objections to plans between Botswana and Zambia to build a bridge over the Zambezi River, thereby de facto recognizing a short, but not clearly delimited Botswana-Zambia boundary in the river |
Economic aid - recipient | $2 billion (includes Gaza Strip) (2004 est.) | $178 million; note - the EU and the US provide food aid on humanitarian grounds (2000 est.) |
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. | The government of Zimbabwe faces a wide variety of difficult economic problems as it struggles with an unsustainable fiscal deficit, an overvalued exchange rate, soaring inflation, and bare shelves. Its 1998-2002 involvement in the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for example, drained hundreds of millions of dollars from the economy. Badly needed support from the IMF has been suspended because of the country's failure to meet budgetary goals. Inflation rose from an annual rate of 32% in 1998 to 133% at the end of 2004, while the exchange rate fell from 24 Zimbabwean dollars per US dollar to 6,200 in the same time period. The government's land reform program, characterized by chaos and violence, has badly damaged the commercial farming sector, the traditional source of exports and foreign exchange and the provider of 400,000 jobs. |
Electricity - consumption | NA kWh | 11.22 billion kWh (2002) |
Electricity - exports | - | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - imports | NA kWh | 3 billion kWh (2002) |
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; some Palestinian municipalities, such as Nablus and Janin, generate their own electricity from small power plants | 8.839 billion kWh (2002) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m
highest point: Tall Asur 1,022 m |
lowest point: junction of the Runde and Save rivers 162 m
highest point: Inyangani 2,592 m |
Environment - current issues | adequacy of fresh water supply; sewage treatment | deforestation; soil erosion; land degradation; air and water pollution; the black rhinoceros herd - once the largest concentration of the species in the world - has been significantly reduced by poaching; poor mining practices have led to toxic waste and heavy metal pollution |
Environment - international agreements | - | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | Palestinian Arab and other 83%, Jewish 17% | African 98% (Shona 82%, Ndebele 14%, other 2%), mixed and Asian 1%, white less than 1% |
Exchange rates | new Israeli shekels per US dollar - 4.482 (2004), 4.5541 (2003), 4.7378 (2002), 4.2057 (2001), 4.0773 (2000) | Zimbabwean dollars per US dollar - 4,303.28 (2004), 697.424 (2003), 55.036 (2002), 55.052 (2001), 44.418 (2000)
note: these are official exchange rates, non-official rates vary significantly |
Executive branch | - | chief of state: Executive President Robert Gabriel MUGABE (since 31 December 1987); Vice President Joyce MUJURU (since 6 December 2004); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: Executive President Robert Gabriel MUGABE (since 31 December 1987); Vice President Joyce MUJURU (since 6 December 2004); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president; responsible to the House of Assembly elections: presidential candidates nominated with a nomination paper signed by at least 10 registered voters (at least one from each province) and elected by popular vote for a 6-year term; election last held 9-11 March 2002 (next to be held March 2008); co-vice presidents appointed by the president election results: Robert Gabriel MUGABE reelected president; percent of vote - Robert Gabriel MUGABE 56.2%, Morgan TSVANGIRAI 41.9% |
Exports | $205 million f.o.b., includes Gaza Strip (2002) | NA |
Exports - commodities | olives, fruit, vegetables, limestone | cotton, tobacco, gold, ferroalloys, textiles/clothing |
Exports - partners | Israel, Jordan, Gaza Strip (2000) | South Africa 31.5%, Switzerland 7.4%, UK 7.3%, China 6.1%, Germany 4.3% (2004) |
Fiscal year | calendar year (since 1 January 1992) | calendar year |
Flag description | - | seven equal horizontal bands of green, yellow, red, black, red, yellow, and green with a white isosceles triangle edged in black with its base on the hoist side; a yellow Zimbabwe bird representing the long history of the country is superimposed on a red five-pointed star in the center of the triangle, which symbolizes peace; green symbolizes agriculture, yellow - mineral wealth, red - blood shed to achieve independence, and black stands for the native people |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 9%
industry: 28% services: 63% note: includes Gaza Strip (2002 est.) |
agriculture: 18.1%
industry: 24.3% services: 57.7% (2004 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $800 (2003 est.) | purchasing power parity - $1,900 (2004 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 6% (2003 est.) | -8.2% (2004 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 32 00 N, 35 15 E | 20 00 S, 30 00 E |
Geography - note | landlocked; highlands are main recharge area for Israel's coastal aquifers; there are 244 West Bank settlements and 29 East Jerusalem settlements in addition to at least 20 occupied outposts (August 2003 est.) | landlocked; the Zambezi forms a natural riverine boundary with Zambia; in full flood (February-April) the massive Victoria Falls on the river forms the world's largest curtain of falling water |
Highways | total: 4,500 km
paved: 2,700 km unpaved: 1,800 km note: Israelis have developed many highways to service Jewish settlements (1997 est.) |
total: 18,338 km
paved: 8,692 km unpaved: 9,646 km (1999 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
lowest 10%: 1.97%
highest 10%: 40.42% (1995) |
Illicit drugs | - | transit point for African cannabis and South Asian heroin, mandrax, and methamphetamines destined for the South African and European markets |
Imports | $1.5 billion c.i.f., includes Gaza Strip (2002) | NA |
Imports - commodities | food, consumer goods, construction materials | machinery and transport equipment, other manufactures, chemicals, fuels |
Imports - partners | Israel, Jordan, Gaza Strip (2000) | South Africa 46.9%, Botswana 3.6%, UK 3.4% (2004) |
Independence | - | 18 April 1980 (from UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA | -7.8% (2004 est.) |
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 | mining (coal, gold, platinum, copper, nickel, tin, clay, numerous metallic and nonmetallic ores), steel, wood products, cement, chemicals, fertilizer, clothing and footwear, foodstuffs, beverages |
Infant mortality rate | total: 19.62 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 21.66 deaths/1,000 live births female: 17.45 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
total: 67.69 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 70.32 deaths/1,000 live births female: 64.98 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2.2% (includes Gaza Strip) (2001 est.) | 133% (2004 est.) |
International organization participation | - | ACP, AfDB, AU, FAO, G-15, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, PCA, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIK, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 1,170 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | - | Supreme Court; High Court |
Labor force | 364,000 (2004) | 4.23 million (2004 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 15%, industry 25%, services 60% (2004 est.) | agriculture 66%, industry 10%, services 24% (1996) |
Land boundaries | total: 404 km
border countries: Israel 307 km, Jordan 97 km |
total: 3,066 km
border countries: Botswana 813 km, Mozambique 1,231 km, South Africa 225 km, Zambia 797 km |
Land use | arable land: 16.9%
permanent crops: 18.97% other: 64.13% (2001) |
arable land: 8.32%
permanent crops: 0.34% other: 91.34% (2001) |
Languages | Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many Palestinians), English (widely understood) | English (official), Shona, Sindebele (the language of the Ndebele, sometimes called Ndebele), numerous but minor tribal dialects |
Legal system | - | mixture of Roman-Dutch and English common law |
Legislative branch | - | unicameral House of Assembly (150 seats - 120 elected by popular vote for five-year terms, 12 nominated by the president, 10 occupied by traditional chiefs chosen by their peers, and 8 occupied by provincial governors appointed by the president)
elections: last held 31 March 2005 (next to be held NA 2010) election results: percent of vote by party - ZANU-PF 59.6%, MDC 39.5%, other 0.9%; seats by party - ZANU-PF 78, MDC 41, Independents 1 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 73.08 years
male: 71.33 years female: 74.95 years (2005 est.) |
total population: 39.13 years
male: 40.2 years female: 38.03 years (2005 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 91.9% male: 96.3% female: 87.4% (2003 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write English
total population: 90.7% male: 94.2% female: 87.2% (2003 est.) |
Location | Middle East, west of Jordan | Southern Africa, between South Africa and Zambia |
Map references | Middle East | Africa |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | none (landlocked) |
Military branches | - | Zimbabwe Defense Forces (ZDF): Zimbabwe National Army, Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ), Zimbabwe Republic Police (2005) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | NA | $217 million (2004) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA | 4.3% (2004) |
National holiday | - | Independence Day, 18 April (1980) |
Nationality | noun: NA
adjective: NA |
noun: Zimbabwean(s)
adjective: Zimbabwean |
Natural hazards | droughts | recurring droughts; floods and severe storms are rare |
Natural resources | arable land | coal, chromium ore, asbestos, gold, nickel, copper, iron ore, vanadium, lithium, tin, platinum group metals |
Net migration rate | 2.88 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population negligible migrant(s)/1,000 population
note: there is an increasing flow of Zimbabweans into South Africa and Botswana in search of better economic opportunities (2005 est.) |
Pipelines | - | refined products 261 km (2004) |
Political parties and leaders | - | Movement for Democratic Change or MDC [Morgan TSVANGIRAI]; National Alliance for Good Governance or NAGG [Shakespeare MAYA]; United Parties [Abel MUZOREWA]; Zimbabwe African National Union-Ndonga or ZANU-Ndonga [Wilson KUMBULA]; Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front or ZANU-PF [Robert Gabriel MUGABE]; Zimbabwe African Peoples Union or ZAPU [Agrippa MADLELA] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | - | National Constitutional Assembly or NCA [Lovemore MADHUKU]; Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition [Brian KAGORO]; Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions or ZCTU [Lovemore MATOMBO] |
Population | 2,385,615
note: in addition, there are about 187,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank and fewer than 177,000 in East Jerusalem (July 2004 est.) |
12,746,990
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2005 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 59% (2004 est.) | 70% (2002 est.) |
Population growth rate | 3.13% (2005 est.) | 0.51% (2005 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | Binga, Kariba |
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 7, FM 20 (plus 17 repeater stations), shortwave 1 (1998) |
Railways | - | total: 3,077 km
narrow gauge: 3,077 km 1.067-m gauge (313 km electrified) (2004) |
Religions | Muslim 75% (predominantly Sunni), Jewish 17%, Christian and other 8% | syncretic (part Christian, part indigenous beliefs) 50%, Christian 25%, indigenous beliefs 24%, Muslim and other 1% |
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: 0.74 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1 male(s)/female total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
Suffrage | - | 18 years of age; universal |
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: system was once one of the best in Africa, but now suffers from poor maintenance; more than 100,000 outstanding requests for connection despite an equally large number of installed but unused main lines
domestic: consists of microwave radio relay links, open-wire lines, radiotelephone communication stations, fixed wireless local loop installations, and a substantial mobile cellular network; Internet connection is available in Harare and planned for all major towns and for some of the smaller ones international: country code - 263; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat; two international digital gateway exchanges (in Harare and Gweru) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 301,600 (total for West Bank and Gaza Strip) (2002) | 300,900 (2003) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 480,000 (cellular subscribers in both West Bank and Gaza Strip) (2003) | 379,100 (2003) |
Television broadcast stations | NA | 16 (1997) |
Terrain | mostly rugged dissected upland, some vegetation in west, but barren in east | mostly high plateau with higher central plateau (high veld); mountains in east |
Total fertility rate | 4.4 children born/woman (2005 est.) | 3.54 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 27.2% (includes Gaza Strip) (2004 est.) | 70% (2002 est.) |
Waterways | - | on Lake Kariba, length small (2003) |