port (GIA), inaugurated on 24
November 1998 as part of agreements stipulated in the September 1995
Oslo II Accord and the 23 October 1998 Wye River Memorandum; GIA has
been largely closed since October 2000 by Israeli orders and its
runway was destroyed by the Israeli Defense Forces in December 2001
(2004 est.)

Airports - with paved runways:
total: 1
over 3,047 m: 1 (2004 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.)

Heliports:
1 (2004 est.)

Military Gaza Strip

Military branches:
in accordance with the peace agreement, the Palestinian Authority
is not permitted conventional military forces; there are, however,
public security forces (2002)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
NA

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
NA

Transnational Issues Gaza Strip

Disputes - international:
West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli-occupied with current status
subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent
status to be determined through further negotiation; Israel
announced its intention to pull out settlers and withdraw from the
Gaza Strip in 2005

Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 922,674 (Palestinian Refugees
(UNRWA)) (2004)

This page was last updated on 20 October, 2005

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@Georgia

Introduction Georgia

Background:
The region of present-day Georgia contained the ancient kingdoms of
Colchis and Kartli-Iberia. The area came under Roman influence in
the first centuries AD and Christianity became the state religion in
the 330s. Domination by Persians, Arabs, and Turks was followed by a
Georgian golden age (11th to the 13th centuries) that was cut short
by the Mongol invasion of 1236. Subsequently, the Ottoman and
Persian empires competed for influence in the region. Georgia was
absorbed into the Russian Empire in the 19th century. Independent
for three years (1918-1921) following the Russian revolution, it was
forcibly incorporated into the USSR until the Soviet Union dissolved
in 1991. Despite myriad problems, some progress on market reforms
and democratization has been made since then. An attempt by the
government to manipulate legislative elections in November 2003
touched off widespread protests that led to the resignation of
Eduard SHEVARDNAD