below poverty line: NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3% (includes West Bank) (2000 est.)
Labor force: NA
Labor force - by occupation: services 66%, industry 21%, agriculture 13% (1996)
Unemployment rate: 40% (includes West Bank) (yearend 2000)
Budget: revenues: $1.6 billion
expenditures: $1.73 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
note: includes West Bank (1999 est.)
Industries: generally small family businesses that produce textiles, soap, olive-wood carvings, and mother-of-pearl souvenirs; the Israelis have established some small-scale modern industries in an industrial center
Industrial production growth rate: NA%
Electricity - production: NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by
Israel
Electricity - consumption: NA kWh
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (1999)
Electricity - imports: NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by Israel
Agriculture - products: olives, citrus, vegetables; beef, dairy products
Exports: $682 million (f.o.b., 1998 est.) (includes West Bank)
Exports - commodities: citrus, flowers
Exports - partners: Israel, Egypt, West Bank
Imports: $2.5 billion (c.i.f., 1998 est.) (includes West Bank)
Imports - commodities: food, consumer goods, construction materials
Imports - partners: Israel, Egypt, West Bank
Debt - external: $108 million (1997 est.) (includes West Bank)
Economic aid - recipient: $121 million disbursed (2000) (includes
West Bank)
Currency: new Israeli shekel (ILS)
Currency code: ILS
Exchange rates: new Israeli shekels per US dollar - 4.0810 (December 2000), 4.0773 (2000), 4.1397 (1999), 3.8001 (1998), 3.4494 (1997), 3.1917 (1996)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Gaza Strip Communications
Telephones - main lines in use: 95,729 (total for Gaza Strip and
West Bank) (1997)
Telephones - mobile cellular: NA
Telephone system: general assessment: NA
domestic: rudimentary telephone services provided by an open wire system
international: NA
Radio broadcast stations: AM 0, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998)
Radios: NA; note - most Palestinian households have radios (1999)
Television broadcast stations: 2 (operated by the Palestinian
Broadcasting Corporation) (1997)
Televisions: NA; note - most Palestinian households have televisions (1997)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 3 (1999)
Internet users: 23,520 (1999) (includes West Bank)
Gaza Strip Transportation
Railways: total: NA km; note - one line, abandoned and in disrepair, little trackage remains
Highways: total: NA km
paved: NA km
unpaved: NA km
note: small, poorly developed road network
Waterways: none
Ports and harbors: Gaza
Airports: 2
note: includes Gaza International Airport that opened on 24 November 1998 as part of agreements stipulated in the September 1995 Oslo II Accord and the 23 October 1998 Wye River Memorandum (2000 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 1
over 3,047 m: 1 (2000 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.)
Gaza Strip Military
Military branches: NA
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $NA
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: NA%
Gaza Strip Transnational Issues
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
======================================================================
@Georgia
Georgia Introduction
Background: 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. Russian troops remain garrisoned at four military bases and as peacekeepers in the separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia (but are scheduled to withdraw from two of the bases by July 2001). Despite a badly degraded transportation network - brought on by ethnic conflict, criminal activities, and fuel shortages - the country continues to move toward a market economy and greater integration with Western institutions.
Georgia Geography
Location: Southwestern Asia, bordering the Black Sea, between Turkey and Russia
Geographic coordinates: 42 00 N, 43 30 E
Map references: Commonwealth of Independent States
Area: total: 69,700 sq km
land: 69,700 sq km
water:
