1BluePlanet West Bank

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1BluePlanet West Bank

west bank

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Introduction: WEST BANK

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.

GEOGRAPHY
Country name:	conventional long form: none conventional short form: West Bank
Capital:
Location:	Middle East, west of Jordan
Geographic Coordinates:	32 00 N, 35 15 E
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
Area Comparative:	slightly smaller than Delaware
Land Boundaries:	total: 404 km border countries: Israel 307 km, Jordan 97 km
Coastline:	0 km (landlocked)
Maritime Claims:	none (landlocked)
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
Elavation Extremes:	lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m highest point: Tall Asur 1,022 m
Natural Resources:	arable land
GOVERNEMENT
Governement Type:
Administratives Divisions:
Independence
National Holiday:
Constitution:
Legal System;
Suffrage
Executive Branch:
Legislative Branch:
Judicial Branch:
Political parties and Leaders:
PEOPLE
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.)
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.)
Median age:	total: 18.14 years male: 17.99 years female: 18.3 years (2005 est.)
Nationality:	noun: NA adjective: NA
Ethnic groups:	Palestinian Arab and other 83%, Jewish 17%
Religions:	Muslim 75% (predominantly Sunni), Jewish 17%, Christian and other 8%
Languages:	Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many Palestinians), English (widely understood)
COMUNICATIONS
Telephones - main lines in use:	301,600 (total for West Bank and Gaza Strip) (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular:	480,000 (cellular subscribers in both West Bank and Gaza Strip) (2003)
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
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)
Television broadcast stations:	NA
Internet country code:	.ps
Internet hosts:
Internet users:	145,000 (includes Gaza Strip) (2003)
TRANSPORT
Railways:
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.)
Waterways:
Pipelines:
Ports and harbors:	none
Merchant marine:
Airports:	3 (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.)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
Heliports: