the 4 September 1999 Sharm
el-Sheikh Agreement. The DOP provides that Israel will retain
responsibility during the transitional period for external security
and for internal security and public order of settlements and
Israeli citizens. Permanent status is to be determined through
direct negotiations, which resumed in September 1999 after a
three-year hiatus. An intifadah broke out in September 2000; the
resulting widespread violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip,
Israel's military response, and instability in the Palestinian
Authority are undermining progress toward a permanent settlement.

West Bank Geography

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: arable land

Land use: arable land: 27%

permanent crops: 0%

permanent pastures: 32%

forests and woodland: 1%

other: 40%

Irrigated land: NA sq km

Natural hazards: droughts

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

Geography - note: landlocked; highlands are main recharge area for
Israel's coastal aquifers; there are 231 Israeli settlements and
civilian land use sites in the West Bank and 29 in East Jerusalem
(August 1999 est.)

West Bank People

Population: 2,090,713 (July 2001 est.)

note: in addition, there are some 176,000 Israeli settlers in the
West Bank and about 173,000 in East Jerusalem (August 1999 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 44.61% (male 478,232; female 454,439)

15-64 years: 51.8% (male 552,661; female 530,230)

65 years and over: 3.59% (male 32,629; female 42,522) (2001 e