Part 312

@Gaza Strip:People

Population: 987,869 (July 1997 est.) note: in addition, there are 5,000 Israeli settlers in the Gaza Strip (August 1996 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 51% (male 261,014; female 248,236) 15-64 years: 46% (male 225,707; female 224,483) 65 years and over: 3% (male 12,281; female 16,148) (July 1997 est.)

Population growth rate: 6.59% (1997 est.)

Birth rate: 49.85 births/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Death rate: 4.2 deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Net migration rate: 20.25 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over : 0.76 male(s)/female total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (1997 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 26 deaths/1,000 live births (1997 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population : 72.46 years male: 71.12 years female : 73.87 years (1997 est.)

Total fertility rate: 7.68 children born/woman (1997 est.)

Nationality: noun: NA adjective: NA

Ethnic groups: Palestinian Arab and other 99.4%, Jewish 0.6%

Religions: Muslim (predominantly Sunni) 98.7%, Christian 0.7%, Jewish 0.6%

Languages: Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many Palestinians), English (widely understood)

Literacy: NA

@Gaza Strip:Government

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

Data code: GZ

Economy

Economy - overview: Economic progress in the Gaza Strip has been hampered by tight Israeli security restrictions. In 1991 roughly 40% of Gaza Strip workers were employed across the border by Israeli industrial, construction, and agricultural enterprises, with worker remittances supplementing GDP by roughly 50%. Gaza has depended upon Israel for nearly 90% of its external trade. The Persian Gulf crisis and its aftershocks has dealt blows to Gaza since August 1990. Worker remittances from the Gulf states have dropped, unemployment and popular unrest have increased, and living standards have fallen. The withdrawal of Israel from the Gaza Strip in May 1994 has added to the set of adjustment problems. This series of disruptions has meant a sharp decline in employment in Israel since 1991 and a drop in GDP as a whole. An estimated 378,000 persons were in refugee camps in 1996.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $1 billion (1996 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: -1% to -2% (1996 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1,100 (1996 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture : 33% industry: 25% services: 42% (1995 est., includes West Bank)

Inflation rate - consumer price index: 11% (1995 est.)

Labor force: NA by occupation: construction 33.4%, agriculture 20.0%, commerce, restaurants, and hotels 14.9%, industry 10.0%, other services 21.7% (1991) note: excluding Israeli settlers

Unemployment rate: 35% to 40% (1996 est.)