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Gaza Strip

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

Geographic coordinates: 31 25 N, 34 20 E

Map references: Middle East

Area:     total: 360 sq km
land: 360 sq km     water: 0 sq km

Area—comparative: slightly more than twice the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries:    total: 62 km
border countries: Egypt 11 km, Israel 51 km

Coastline: 40 km

Maritime claims: Israeli-occupied with current status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement—permanent status to be determined through further negotiation

Climate: temperate, mild winters, dry and warm to hot summers

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

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m
highest point: Abu 'Awdah (Joz Abu 'Auda) 105 m

Natural resources: NEGL

Land use:
arable land: 24%
permanent crops: 39%
permanent pastures: 0%
forests and woodland: 11%
other: 26% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 120 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: NA

Environment—current issues: desertification; salination of fresh water; sewage treatment

Environment—international agreements:
party to: none of the selected agreements
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography—note: there are 24 Israeli settlements and civilian land use sites in the Gaza Strip (August 1998 est.)

Population: 1,112,654 (July 1999 est.)
note: in addition, there are some 6,000 Israeli settlers in the Gaza Strip (August 1998 est.)

Country name:
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Gaza Strip
local long form: none
local short form: Qita Ghazzah

Data code: GZ

West Bank

Location: Middle East, west of Jordan

Geographic coordinates: 32 00 N, 35 15 E

Map references: Middle East

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

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m
highest point: Tall Asur 1,022 m

Natural resources: NEGL

Land use:
arable land: 27%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 32%
forests and woodland: 1%
other: 40%

Irrigated land: NA sq km

Natural hazards: NA

Environment—current issues: adequacy of fresh water supply; sewage treatment

Environment—international agreements:
party to: none of the selected agreements
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography—note: landlocked; highlands are main recharge area for Israel's coastal aquifers; there are 216 Israeli settlements and civilian land use sites in the West Bank and 29 in East Jerusalem (August 1998 est.)

Population: 1,611,109 (July 1999 est.)
note: in addition, there are some 166,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank and about 176,000 in East Jerusalem (August 1998 est.)

Country name:
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: West Bank

Data code: WE

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