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Location: Middle East, west of Jordan
Geographic coordinates: 32 00 N, 35 15 E
Map references: Middle East
Area:
total: 5,860 sq km
land: 5,640 sq km
water: 220 sq km
note: includes West Bank, Latrun Salient, and the northwest
quarter of the Dead Sea, but excludes Mt. Scopus; East Jerusalem
and Jerusalem No Man's Land are also included only as a means of
depicting the entire area occupied by Israel in 1967
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Delaware
Land boundaries:
total: 404 km
border countries: Israel 307 km, Jordan 97 km
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims: none (landlocked)
Climate: temperate, temperature and precipitation vary with
altitude, warm to hot summers, cool to mild winters
Terrain: mostly rugged dissected upland, some vegetation
in west, but barren in east
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m
highest point: Tall Asur 1,022 m
Natural resources: arable land
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
Geography - note: landlocked; highlands are main recharge
area for Israel's coastal aquifers; there are 231 Israeli settlements
and civilian land use sites in the West Bank and 29 in East Jerusalem
(August 1999 est.)
Background:
The Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government
Arrangements (the DOP), signed in Washington on 13 September 1993,
provides for a transitional period not exceeding five years of Palestinian
interim self-government in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
Under the DOP, Israel agreed to transfer certain powers and responsibilities
to the Palestinian Authority, which includes a Palestinian Legislative
Council elected in January 1996, as part of interim self-governing
arrangements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
A transfer of powers and responsibilities for the Gaza Strip and
Jericho took place pursuant to the Israel-PLO 4 May 1994 Cairo Agreement
on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area and in additional areas of
the West Bank pursuant to the Israel-PLO 28 September 1995 Interim
Agreement, the Israel-PLO 15 January 1997 Protocol Concerning Redeployment
in Hebron, the Israel-PLO 23 October 1998 Wye River Memorandum,
and the 4 September 1999 Sharm el-Sheikh Agreement.
The DOP provides that Israel will retain responsibility during the
transitional period for external security and for internal security
and public order of settlements and Israeli citizens. Permanent
status is to be determined through direct negotiations, which resumed
in September 1999 after a three-year hiatus.
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