Gaza/ West Bank country profile
- Published: 14 November 2007 13:34 GMT
- Last Updated: 21 September 2008 08:37
Gaza is the largest city in the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian territories. The city has a population of approximately 410,000 in the inner city and 1.4 million people in the metropolitan area.
The word Gaza is often used to refer to the entire Gaza Strip, so the city is often called Gaza City for clarity.
The West Bank is a landlocked territory on the west bank of the Jordan River. To the west, north, and south the West Bank shares borders with mainland Israel.
To the east, across the Jordan River, lies Jordan. The West Bank also contains a significant coast line along the western bank of the Dead Sea.
Since 1967 most of the West Bank has been under Israeli military occupation.
Economic indicators
($ million, unless stated)
| 2005 | 2006 | 2007 (forecast) | |
| GDP (at current prices) | 3,923 | 4,929 | - |
| Non-oil GDP as % of GDP | - | - | - |
| Population (millions) | 3.5 | 4.0 | - |
| Population growth (%) | 3.5 | 3.3 | - |
| GDP per capita ($) | 1,268 | 1,398 | - |
| Real GDP growth (%) | 8.7 | 4.9 | 5.0 |
| Nominal GDP growth (%) | 11.7 | na | na |
| Inflation (%) | 3.0 | 4.2 | - |
| Unemployment (%) | - | - | - |
| Trade | |||
| Imports | 531 | 2,441 | - |
| Exports | 3,045 | 301 | - |
| Trade balance | -2,514 | -2,140 | - |
| Budget | |||
| Surplus/ deficit | -618 | -1,000 | - |
| Surplus/ deficit as % of GDP | 13.9 | -20.3 | - |
| Debt | |||
| External debt | na | na | - |
| External debt as % of GDP | na | na | - |
| Sovereign ratings | |||
| CI | nr | nr | - |
| S&P | nr | nr | - |
| Moody's | nr | nr | - |
| Fitch | nr | nr | - |
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