atural 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 207 Israeli settlements and
civilian land use sites in the West Bank and 29 in East Jerusalem
(August 1997 est.)

@West Bank:People

Population: 1,556,919 (July 1998 est.)
note: in addition, there are 155,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank
and 164,000 in East Jerusalem (August 1997 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 45% (male 359,848; female 342,173)
15-64 years: 52% (male 405,929; female 396,928)
65 years and over: 3% (male 21,853; female 30,188) (July 1998 est.)

Population growth rate: 3.71% (1998 est.)

Birth rate: 36.65 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Death rate: 4.35 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Net migration rate: 4.82 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female (1998 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 26.35 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 72.47 years
male: 70.7 years
female: 74.33 years (1998 est.)

Total fertility rate: 4.92 children born/woman (1998 est.)

Nationality:
noun: NA
adjective: NA

Ethnic groups: Palestinian Arab and other 83%, Jewish 17%

Religions: Muslim 75% (predominantly Sunni), Jewish 17%, Christian and
other 8%

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

Literacy: NA

@West Bank:Government

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

Data code: WE

@West Bank:Economy

Economy-overview: Economic progress in the West Bank has been hampered
by tight Israeli security restrictions. Industries using advanced
technology or requiring sizable investment have been discouraged by a
lack of local capital and Israeli policies that block the movement of
goods and people. Capital investment consists largely of residential
housing, not productive assets that would enable