From the early 16th century through 1917, the area now known as the West Bank fell under Ottoman rule. Following World War I, the Allied powers (France, UK, Russia) allocated the area to the British Mandate of Palestine. After World War II, the UN passed a resolution to establish two states within the Mandate, and designated a territory including what is now known as the West Bank as part of the proposed Arab state. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the area was captured by Transjordan (later renamed Jordan). Jordan annexed the West Bank in 1950. In June 1967, Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War. With the exception of East Jerusalem, roughly 60% of the West Bank remains under Israeli military control. Israel transferred security and civilian responsibility for a number of Palestinian-populated areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip to the Palestinian Authority (PA) under a series of agreements signed between 1993 and 1999, the so-called “Oslo Accords.” Negotiations to determine the permanent status of the West Bank and Gaza Strip stalled after the outbreak of an intifada in mid-2000. In early 2003, the "Quartet" of the US, EU, UN, and Russia, presented a roadmap to a final peace settlement by 2005, calling for two states - Israel and a democratic Palestine.

Following Palestinian leader Yassir ARAFAT's death in late 2004 and the subsequent election of Mahmud ABBAS (head of the Fatah political faction) as PA president, Israel and the Palestinians agreed to move the peace process forward. Israel in late 2005 unilaterally withdrew all of its settlers and soldiers, dismantled its military facilities in the Gaza Strip, and redeployed its military from several West Bank settlements, but it continues to control maritime, airspace, and other access. In early 2006, the Islamic Resistance Movement, HAMAS, won the Palestinian Legislative Council election and took control of the PA government. Attempts to form a unity government failed, and violent clashes between Fatah and HAMAS supporters ensued, culminating in HAMAS's violent seizure of all military and governmental institutions in the Gaza Strip. Fatah and HAMAS have made several attempts at reconciliation, but the factions have been unable to implement details on governance and security. In an attempt to reenergize peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians, France in June 2016 hosted a ministerial meeting that included participants from 29 countries, although not Israel or the Palestinians, to lay the groundwork for an envisioned "multilateral peace conference" later in the year.

Middle East, west of Jordan, east of Israel

32 00 N, 35 15 E

Middle East

slightly smaller than Delaware

0 km (landlocked)

none (landlocked)

temperate; temperature and precipitation vary with altitude, warm to hot summers, cool to mild winters

mostly rugged, dissected upland in west, flat plains descending to Jordan River Valley to the east

highest point: Tall Asur 1,022 m

arable land

arable land 7.4%; permanent crops 11%; permanent pasture 24.9%

240 sq km; note - includes Gaza Strip (2012)

Palestinian settlements are primarily located in the central to western half of the territory; Jewish colonies are found in pockets throughout, particularly in the northeast, north-central, and around Jerusalem

droughts

adequacy of freshwater supply; sewage treatment

landlocked; highlands are main recharge area for Israel's coastal aquifers; there are about 381 Israeli civilian sites, including about 212 settlements and 134 small outpost communities in the West Bank and 35 sites in East Jerusalem (2014 est.)

2,697,687 (represents Palestinian population only) (July 2016 est.)

Palestinian Arab and other 83%, Jewish 17%

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

Muslim 80-85% (predominantly Sunni), Jewish 12-14%, Christian 1-2.5% (mainly Greek Orthodox), other, unaffiliated, unspecified <1%

1.86% (2016 est.)

26.7 births/1,000 population (2016 est.)

3.5 deaths/1,000 population (2016 est.)

-4.6 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2016 est.)

Palestinian settlements are primarily located in the central to western half of the territory; Jewish colonies are found in pockets throughout, particularly in the northeast, north-central, and around Jerusalem

45 deaths/100,000 live births

3.33 children born/woman (2016 est.)

52.5% (includes Gaza Strip and West Bank) (2010)

1.3 physicians/1,000 population (2013)

1.2 beds/1,000 population (2010)

urban: 50.7% of population

rural: 81.5% of population

total: 58.4% of population

urban: 49.3% of population

rural: 18.5% of population

total: 41.6% of population

urban: 93% of population

rural: 90.2% of population

total: 92.3% of population

urban: 7% of population

rural: 9.8% of population

total: 7.7% of population

NA

NA

NA

Israeli-Palestinian violence in 2015 exacerbated challenges to economic growth in the West Bank - the larger of the two areas comprising the Palestinian Territories. Increased security restrictions and political instability slowed economic activity, and Israel’s four-month withholding of taxes and other fees it collects on the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) behalf caused the PA to delay salary payments to its employees, which in turn had broader effects on business activity and consumer demand.

Longstanding Israeli closure policies continue to disrupt labor and trade flows and the territory’s industrial capacity, limit imports and exports, and constrain private sector development. The PA for the foreseeable future will continue to rely heavily on donor aid for its budgetary needs and economic activity.

$21.22 billion (2014 est.)

$20.15 billion (2013 est.)

$19.95 billion (2012 est.)

$9.828 billion (2014 est.)

5.3% (2014 est.)

1% (2013 est.)

6% (2012 est.)

$4,300 (2014 est.)

$4,400 (2013 est.)

$4,600 (2012 est.)

7.8% of GDP (2014 est.)

9.5% of GDP (2013 est.)

5% of GDP (2012 est.)

olives, citrus fruit, vegetables; beef, dairy products

small-scale manufacturing, quarrying, textiles, soap, olive-wood carvings, and mother-of-pearl souvenirs

-1.7%

828,000

17.7% (2014 est.)

18.6% (2013 est.)

18% (2011 est.)

34.5 (2009 est.)

38.7 (2007 est.)

28% of GDP (2014 est.)

-13.5% of GDP (2014 est.)

24.4% of GDP (2014 est.)

23.8% of GDP (2013 est.)

calendar year

1.2% (2014 est.)

3.1% (2013 est.)

6.8% (31 December 2015 est.)

6.41% (31 December 2014 est.)

$265.5 million (31 December 2015 est.)

$234.8 million (31 December 2014 est.)

$2.399 billion (31 December 2014 est.)

$2.16 billion (31 December 2013 est.)

$1.418 billion (31 December 2015 est.)

$1.147 billion (31 December 2014 est.)

$2.634 billion (31 December 2015 est.)

$2.532 billion (31 December 2014 est.)

$2.45 billion (31 December 2013 est.)

-$2.149 billion (2014 est.)

-$2.383 billion (2013 est.)

$937.4 million (2014 est.)

$1.692 billion (2013 est.)

stone, olives, fruit, vegetables, limestone

$5.683 billion (2014 est.)

$6.261 billion (2013 est.)

food, consumer goods, construction materials, petroleum, chemicals

$1.089 billion (2014 est.)

$1.191 billion (2013 est.)

new Israeli shekels (ILS) per US dollar -

3.8869 (2015 est.)

3.578 (2014 est.)

3.578 (2013 est.)

3.86 (2012 est.)

3.5781 (2011 est.)

300 million kWh (2014 est.)

5.2 billion kWh (2014 est.)

0 kWh (2013)

4.9 billion kWh (2014 est.)

100,000 kW

100% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)

0% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)

0% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)

0% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)

0 bbl/day (2015 est.)

0 bbl/day (2013 est.)

0 bbl/day (2013 est.)

0 bbl (1 January 2009 es)

0 bbl/day (2013 est.)

16,000 bbl/day (2014 est.)

0 bbl/day (2013 est.)

18,690 bbl/day (2013 est.)

0 cu m (2013 est.)

0 cu m (2013 est.)

0 cu m (2013 est.)

0 cu m (2013 est.)

0 cu m (1 January 2014 es)

3 million Mt (2013 est.)

the Palestinian Authority operates 1 TV and 1 radio station; about 20 private TV and 40 radio stations; both Jordanian TV and satellite TV are accessible (2013)

.ps; note - same as Gaza Strip

2 (2013)

1 (2013)

the current status of the West Bank is subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent status to be determined through further negotiation; Israel continues construction of a "seam line" separation barrier along parts of the Green Line and within the West Bank; Israel withdrew from Gaza and four settlements in the northern West Bank in August 2005; since 1948, about 350 peacekeepers from the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), headquartered in Jerusalem, monitor ceasefires, supervise armistice agreements, prevent isolated incidents from escalating, and assist other UN personnel in the region