LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Gaza Strip
built 311 days ago
The Gaza Strip is a narrow, 40-km long slice of land between the Mediterranean to the west and the Negev desert to the east. Egypt lies to the south, the north and east border Israel. The urban sprawl of Gaza City, mostly stretching along and around the 3-km long Omar al-Mukhtar Street, covers much of the north. The other main towns of Khan Yunis and Rafah are near the southern border. The former Jewish settlements (evacuated in September, 2005) of Gush Erez in the northernmost tip, Netzarim in the middle and Gush Katif on the southern coast have the best agricultural land, but most of the land outside the cities is still farmed and Gazan produce like melons and papayas are exported worldwide. The export stuff tends to come from the settlements though, as you can't grow melons in a desert without government subsidies, and getting around EU bans on importing from the Occupied Territories requires a bit of governmental collusion.
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The Gaza Strip is a densely populated and impoverished region inhabited primarily by Sunni Muslim Palestinian refugees; the majority live in large, overcrowded refugee camps. Arabic, Hebrew, and English are spoken. The city of Gaza is the principal city and administrative center. Other cities include Beit Lahia in the north and Khan Yunis and Rafah in the south. There were about 7,000 Israeli settlers living in 21 semimunicipal developments in the Gaza Strip until the settlements were evacuated in 2005. The number of inhabitants has fluctuated with tensions in the Middle East, increasing greatly due to the Arab-Israeli Wars.
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The refugee camps in the Gaza Strip have one of the highest population densities in the world. For example, over 80,688 refugees live in Beach camp whose area is less than one square kilometer. This high population density is reflected in the overcrowded UNRWA schools and classrooms. More than 2,066 new pupils registered in the Agency's schools for the year 2004/2005. In average, 81% of the camps houses are connected to sewers while total area of paved roads and alleys is 385,000m2 .
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The Gaza Strip has a temperate climate, with mild winters, and dry, hot summers subject to drought. The terrain is flat or rolling, with dunes near the coast. The highest point is Abu 'Awdah (Joz Abu 'Auda), at 105 meters (344 ft) above sea level. Natural resources include arable land (about a third of the strip is irrigated), and recently discovered natural gas. Environmental issues include desertification; salination of fresh water; sewage treatment; water-borne disease; soil degradation; and depletion and contamination of underground water resources.
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![[Country map of Gaza Strip]](http://retrieverimages.lycos.com/images/g/a/z/gaza-strip/i/001.jpg)
Economy - overview: Economic conditions in the Gaza Strip - under the responsibility of the Palestinian Authority since the Cairo Agreement of May 1994 - have deteriorated since the early 1990s. Real per capita GDP for the West Bank and Gaza Strip (WBGS) declined 36% between 1992 and 1996 owing to the combined effect of falling aggregate incomes and robust population growth. The downturn in economic activity was largely the result of Israeli closure policies - the imposition of generalized border closures in response to security incidents in Israel - which disrupted previously established labor and commodity market relationships between Israel and the WBGS. The most serious negative social effect of this downturn has been the emergence of chronic unemployment; average unemployment rates in the WBGS during the 1980s were generally under 5%; by the mid-1990s this level had risen to over 20%. Since 1997 Israel's use of comprehensive closures has decreased and, in 1998, Israel implemented new policies to reduce the impact of closures and other security procedures on the movement of Palestinian goods and labor. In October 1999, Israel permitted the opening of a safe passage between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in accordance with the 1995 Interim Agreement.
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The Gaza Strip formerly constituted an integral part of the Britishâ€mandated territory of Palestine. The Strip came into existence as a consequence of the armistice agreement between Israel and Egypt of 1949, representing the area of Palestine left in Egyptian hands after the fighting of 1948. The Gaza Strip was never annexed by Egypt, being treated as occupied territory. The Egyptian government had at first hoped to make Gaza the centre of a Palestine Arab state. Later they maintained the separation of Gaza from Egypt in order to prevent the Arab refugees from moving into Egypt proper. From 1948 the area was the scene of numerous conflicts between Egypt and Israel, culminating in the Third Arab–Israeli War of 1967.
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