:
arable land, natural gas

Land use:
arable land: 29%
permanent crops: 21%
other: 50% (2002)

Irrigated land:
150 sq km; note - includes West Bank (2003)

Natural hazards:
droughts

Environment - current issues:
desertification; salination of fresh water; sewage treatment;
water-borne disease; soil degradation; depletion and contamination
of underground water resources

Geography - note:
strategic strip of land along Mideast-North African trade routes
has experienced an incredibly turbulent history; the town of Gaza
itself has been besieged countless times in its history

People Gaza Strip

Population:
1,428,757 (July 2006 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 48.1% (male 351,642/female 335,060)
15-64 years: 49.4% (male 360,147/female 345,318)
65 years and over: 2.6% (male 15,231/female 21,359) (2006 est.)

Median age:
total: 15.8 years
male: 15.7 years
female: 16 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate:
3.71% (2006 est.)

Birth rate:
39.45 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate:
3.8 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate:
1.48 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female
total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
total: 22.4 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 23.48 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 21.27 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 71.97 years
male: 70.67 years
female: 73.34 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate:
5.78 children born/woman (2006 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
NA

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
NA

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
NA

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 many Palestinians), English (widely
understood)

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 91.9%
male: 96.3%
female: 87.4% (2003 est.)

Government Gaza Strip

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

Economy Gaza Str