Gaza Strip

Broadcast media

1 TV station and about 10 radio stations; satellite TV accessible (2008)

Internet country code

.ps; note - same as the West Bank

Internet users

total: 2.673 million (includes the West Bank) | percent of population: 57.4% (includes the West Bank) (July 2016 est.)

Telephone system

general assessment: Gaza continues to repair the damage to its telecommunications infrastructure caused by fighting in 2009 | domestic: Israeli company BEZEK and the Palestinian company PALTEL are responsible for fixed-line services; the Palestinian JAWWAL company provides cellular services | international: country code - 970 (2010)

Telephones - fixed lines

406,500 (includes the West Bank) (July 2016 est.)

Telephones - mobile cellular

total: 3,531,000 (includes the West Bank) | subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 76 (includes the West Bank) (July 2016 est.)

Agriculture - products

olives, fruit, vegetables, flowers; beef, dairy products

Budget

see entry for the West Bank (2016 est.)

Commercial bank prime lending rate

see entry for the West Bank

Current account balance

$-1.348 billion (2016 est.) | $-2.066 billion (2015 est.) | note: excludes the West Bank | country comparison to the world: 137

Debt - external

see entry for the West Bank

Economy - overview

Israeli security measures and Israeli-Palestinian violence continue to degrade economic conditions in the Gaza Strip, the smaller of the two areas comprising the Palestinian territories. Israeli-imposed border controls became more restrictive after HAMAS seized control of the territory in June 2007. They have produced high unemployment, elevated poverty rates, and a sharp contraction of the private sector, which had relied primarily on export markets. | Egypt’s ongoing crackdown on the Gaza Strip’s extensive tunnel-based smuggling network has exacerbated fuel, construction material, and consumer goods shortages in the territory. The 51-day conflict in July 2014 that HAMAS and other Gaza-based militant groups fought with Israel further depressed the Gaza Strip’s already aid-dependent economy. Donor support for reconstruction and relaxed Israeli import restrictions in 2014 and 2015 have fallen short of postconflict needs, with almost 100,000 people remaining internally displaced because their homes have yet to be rebuilt or repaired.

Exchange rates

see entry for the West Bank

Exports

$1.827 billion (2016 est.) | $1.757 billion (2015 est.) | country comparison to the world: 140

Exports - commodities

strawberries, carnations, vegetables, fish (small and irregular shipments, as permitted to transit the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing)

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP (official exchange rate)

$2.938 billion (2014 est.) | note: excludes the West Bank

GDP (purchasing power parity)

see entry for the West Bank

GDP - composition, by end use

household consumption: 92.2% | government consumption: 26.4% | investment in fixed capital: 22.5% | investment in inventories: -2.5% | exports of goods and services: 18.2% | imports of goods and services: -56.7% | note: data exclude the West Bank (2016 est.)

GDP - composition, by sector of origin

agriculture: 2.9% | industry: 20.9% | services: 62.7% | note: data exclude the West Bank (2016 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP)

see entry for the the West Bank

GDP - real growth rate

-15.2% (2014 est.) | 5.6% (2013 est.) | 7% (2012 est.) | note: excludes the West Bank | country comparison to the world: 223

Imports

see entry for the West Bank

Imports - commodities

food, consumer goods, fuel

Industrial production growth rate

6.6% | note: see entry for the West Bank (2016 est.) | country comparison to the world: 29

Industries

textiles, food processing, furniture

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

-0.2% (2016 est.) | 1.4% (2015 est.) | note: 2.9% excludes the West Bank | country comparison to the world: 41

Labor force

1.202 million | note: excludes the West Bank (2016 est.) | country comparison to the world: 139

Labor force - by occupation

agriculture: 5.2% | industry: 10% | services: 84.8% | note: data exclude the West Bank (2015 est.)

Population below poverty line

30% | note: data exclude the West Bank (2011 est.)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

$312.8 million (31 December 2016 est.) | $583 million (31 December 2015 est.) | country comparison to the world: 154

Stock of broad money

$2.538 billion (31 December 2016 est.) | $2.273 billion (31 December 2015 est.) | country comparison to the world: 143

Stock of domestic credit

$1.712 billion (31 December 2016 est.) | $1.418 billion (31 December 2015 est.) | country comparison to the world: 152

Stock of narrow money

see entry for the West Bank

Unemployment rate

26.9% (2016 est.) | 25.9% (2015 est.) | note: data exclude the West Bank | country comparison to the world: 196

Crude oil - proved reserves

0 bbl (1 January 2010 es) | country comparison to the world: 145

Electricity - consumption

202,000 kWh (2009) | country comparison to the world: 216

Electricity - exports

0 kWh (2011 est.) | country comparison to the world: 147

Electricity - imports

193,000 kWh (2011 est.) | country comparison to the world: 115

Electricity - production

51,000 kWh (2011 est.) | country comparison to the world: 219

Electricity access

population without electricity: 80,930 | electrification - total population: 98% | electrification - urban areas: 99% | electrification - rural areas: 93% | note: data for Gaza Strip and West Bank combined (2012)

Area

total: 360 sq km | land: 360 sq km | water: 0 sq km | country comparison to the world: 207

Area - comparative

slightly more than twice the size of Washington, DC

Climate

temperate, mild winters, dry and warm to hot summers

Coastline

40 km

Elevation

mean elevation: NA | elevation extremes: lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m | highest point: Abu 'Awdah (Joz Abu 'Awdah) 105 m

Environment - current issues

desertification; salination of fresh water; sewage treatment; water-borne disease; soil degradation; depletion and contamination of underground water resources

Geographic coordinates

31 25 N, 34 20 E

Geography - note

strategic strip of land along Mideast-North African trade routes has experienced an incredibly turbulent history; the town of Gaza itself has been besieged countless times in its history; there are no Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip; the Gaza Strip settlements were evacuated in 2005 (2017)

Irrigated land

240 sq km; note - includes the West Bank (2012)

Land boundaries

total: 72 km | border countries (2): Egypt 13 km, Israel 59 km

Location

Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Israel

Map references

Middle East

Maritime claims

see entry for Israel | note: effective 3 January 2009, the Gaza maritime area is closed to all maritime traffic and is under blockade imposed by Israeli Navy until further notice

Natural hazards

droughts

Natural resources

arable land, natural gas

Population - distribution

population concentrated in major cities, particularly Gaza City in the north

Terrain

flat to rolling, sand- and dune-covered coastal plain

Country name

conventional long form: none | conventional short form: Gaza Strip | local long form: none | local short form: Qita' Ghazzah | etymology: named for the largest city in the region, Gaza, whose settlement can be traced back to at least the 15th century B.C. (as "Ghazzat")

Background

Inhabited since at least the 15th century B.C., Gaza has been dominated by many different peoples and empires throughout its history; it was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in the early 16th century. Gaza fell to British forces during World War I, becoming a part of the British Mandate of Palestine. Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Egypt administered the newly formed Gaza Strip; it was captured by Israel in the Six-Day War in 1967. Under a series of agreements known as the Oslo accords signed between 1994 and 1999, Israel transferred to the newly-created Palestinian Authority (PA) security and civilian responsibility for many Palestinian-populated areas of the Gaza Strip as well as the West Bank. Negotiations to determine the permanent status of the West Bank and Gaza Strip stalled in 2001, after which the area witnessed a violent intifada or uprising. | In early 2003, the "Quartet" of the US, EU, UN, and Russia presented a roadmap to a final peace settlement by 2005, calling for two states. Following PA President Yasir ARAFAT's death in late 2004 and the subsequent election of Mahmud ABBAS (head of the Fatah political faction) as the PA president in 2005, Israel and the Palestinians agreed to move the peace process forward. Israel by late 2005 unilaterally withdrew all of its settlers and soldiers and dismantled its military facilities in the Gaza Strip, but it continues to control the Gaza Strip’s land and maritime borders and airspace. In early 2006, the Islamic Resistance Movement (HAMAS) won a majority in the Palestinian Legislative Council election. Attempts to form a unity government between Fatah and HAMAS failed and violent clashes between their respective supporters ensued, culminating in HAMAS's violent seizure of all military and governmental institutions in the Gaza Strip in June 2007. Since HAMAS’s takeover, Israel and Egypt have enforced tight restrictions on movement and access of goods and individuals into and out of the territory. Fatah and HAMAS have since reached a series of agreements aimed at restoring political unity between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank but have struggled to implement them. In April 2014, the two factions signed an agreement and two months later President ABBAS formed an interim government of independent technocrats, none of whom were affiliated with HAMAS. The factions have since met periodically for further negotiations, but they continue to disagree over how to implement the deal and HAMAS remains in de facto control of the Gaza Strip. | In July 2014, HAMAS and other Gaza-based militant groups engaged in a 51-day conflict with Israel — the third conflict since HAMAS’s takeover in 2007 — culminating in late August with an open-ended truce that continues to hold despite the absence of a negotiated cease-fire and occasional violations by both sides. Reconstruction efforts since the end of the conflict have been hampered by Israeli restrictions on goods entering the Gaza Strip and inadequate donor aid. The UN in 2015 published a study assessing that the Gaza Strip could become uninhabitable by 2020 absent a substantial easing on border restrictions. In an attempt to reenergize peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians, France in June 2016 hosted a ministerial meeting that included participants from 29 countries, although not Israel or the Palestinians, to lay the groundwork for an envisioned "multilateral peace conference" later in the year.

Military branches

HAMAS does not have a conventional military in the Gaza Strip but maintains security forces in addition to its military wing, the 'Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades; the military wing reports to the Hamas Political Bureau leadership, which remains scattered throughout the region since relocating from its Damascus headquarters in early 2012 (2015)

Age structure

0-14 years: 44.78% (male 412,644/female 391,275) | 15-24 years: 21.25% (male 192,292/female 189,166) | 25-54 years: 28.02% (male 246,518/female 256,543) | 55-64 years: 3.4% (male 31,961/female 29,119) | 65 years and over: 2.54% (male 23,729/female 21,936) (2017 est.)

Birth rate

31.4 births/1,000 population (2017 est.) | country comparison to the world: 34

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

1.4% | note: estimate is for Gaza and the West Bank (2014)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

57.2% (includes Gaza Strip and West Bank) (2014)

Death rate

3.1 deaths/1,000 population (2017 est.) | country comparison to the world: 222

Dependency ratios

total dependency ratio: 75.8 | youth dependency ratio: 70.5 | elderly dependency ratio: 5.2 | potential support ratio: 19.1 | note: data represent Gaza Strip and the West Bank (2015 est.)

Drinking water source

urban: 50.7% of population | rural: 81.5% of population | total: 58.4% of population | urban: 49.3% of population | rural: 18.5% of population | total: 41.6% of population | note: includes Gaza Strip and the West Bank (2015 est.)

Education expenditures

1.3% of GDP | note: includes West Bank (2015)

Ethnic groups

Palestinian Arab

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate

NA

HIV/AIDS - deaths

NA

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS

NA

Hospital bed density

1.4 beds/1,000 population (2014)

Infant mortality rate

total: 16.6 deaths/1,000 live births | male: 17.6 deaths/1,000 live births | female: 15.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2017 est.) | country comparison to the world: 97

Languages

Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by many Palestinians), English (widely understood)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 74.2 years | male: 72.5 years | female: 75.9 years (2017 est.) | country comparison to the world: 124

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write | total population: 96.9% | male: 98.6% | female: 95.2% | note: estimates are for Gaza and the West Bank (2016 est.)

Maternal mortality rate

45 deaths/100,000 live births | note: data represent Gaza Strip and the West Bank (2015 est.) | country comparison to the world: 98

Median age

total: 17.2 years | male: 16.8 years | female: 17.5 years (2017 est.) | country comparison to the world: 224

Nationality

noun: NA | adjective: NA

Net migration rate

-5.1 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.) | country comparison to the world: 192

Physicians density

2.1 physicians/1,000 population (2013)

Population

1,795,183 (July 2017 est.) | country comparison to the world: 151

Population distribution

population concentrated in major cities, particularly Gaza City in the north

Population growth rate

2.33% (2017 est.) | country comparison to the world: 33

Religions

Muslim 98.0 - 99.0% (predominantly Sunni), Christian <1.0%, other, unaffiliated, unspecified <1.0% (2012 est.) | note: dismantlement of Israeli settlements was completed in September 2005; Gaza has had no Jewish population since then

Sanitation facility access

urban: 93% of population | rural: 90.2% of population | total: 92.3% of population | urban: 7% of population | rural: 9.8% of population | total: 7.7% of population | note: includes Gaza Strip and the West Bank (2015 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

total: 13 years | male: 12 years | female: 14 years | note: data represent Gaza and the West Bank (2015)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female | 0-14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female | 15-24 years: 1.01 male(s)/female | 25-54 years: 0.96 male(s)/female | 55-64 years: 1.1 male(s)/female | 65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female | total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2016 est.)

Total fertility rate

4.13 children born/woman (2017 est.) | country comparison to the world: 31

Unemployment, youth ages 15-24

total: 40.7% | male: 36.4% | female: 60.8% | note: includes the West Bank (2015 est.) | country comparison to the world: 14

Urbanization

urban population: 75.7% of total population (2017) | rate of urbanization: 2.75% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.) | note: data represent Gaza Strip and the West Bank

Disputes - international

the status of the Gaza Strip is a final status issue to be resolved through negotiations; Israel removed settlers and military personnel from Gaza Strip in September 2005

Refugees and internally displaced persons

refugees (country of origin): 1,348,536 (Palestinian refugees) (2017) | IDPs: 193,000 (includes persons displaced within the Gaza Strip due to the intensification of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since June 2014 and other Palestinian IDPs in the Gaza Strip and West Bank who fled as long ago as 1967, although confirmed cumulative data do not go back beyond 2006) (2016)

Airports

1 (2013) | country comparison to the world: 219

Airports - with paved runways

total: 1 | over 3,047 m: 1 (2017)

Heliports

1 (2013)

Ports and terminals

major seaport(s): Gaza

Roadways

note: see entry for the West Bank