Map of Gaza Strip and geographical facts
Where Gaza Strip is on the world map
Map of Gaza Strip with cities. Where Gaza Strip is on the world map. The main geographical facts about Gaza Strip - population, country area, capital, official language, religions, industry and culture.
Gaza Strip Fact File
Official name Gaza Strip (preferred Palestinian term, Gaza District)
Form of government Disputed by Israel and Palestinian National Authority; interim self-government administered by Palestinian Legislative Council
Capital Gaza
Area 360 sq km (1 39 sq miles)
Time zone GMT + 2 hours
Population 1,226,000
Life expectancy 71.2
Infant mortality (per 1,000) 74.8
Literacy rate Not available
Currency Israeli shekel
Economy Industry 44%, services 36%, agriculture 20%
Climate Temperate. Mild winters; warm, dry summers
Map reference Page 225
The Gaza Strip is a disputed territory on the Mediterranean with a large permanent exile population of Palestinians, most of whom are descended from those who fled Israel in 1948. Egypt lies to the south and Israel surrounds it to the east and north. Like the West Bank, the Gaza Strip has been in Israeli hands since the Six Day War of 1967. Formally incorporated into Israel in 1973, eight Israeli settlements have been built since 1967. From the time Israel assumed control, the Gaza Strip has been the scene of unrest and violence, the town of Gaza witnessing the Palestinian intifada ("uprising") in 1987-89. The accord reached between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel in May 1994 gave self-rule to the Gaza Strip pending "final status" talks to take place in the future. The cycle of violence, involving Palestinian bombings in Israel and Israeli reprisals, makes a resolution of the territory's status difficult to achieve. A declaration of independence for Palestine that had been planned for May 1999 was postponed until some later date still to be defined. Since any Middle East peace plan vitally depends on the solution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the USA started a new attempt at solving the crisis with the "Road Map" in 2003.
A frontier point with UN supervision in Nicosia, Cyprus (top). A flourishing olive tree in Cyprus that is about 1,000 years old (bottom). A semi-permanent home on the West Bank, an area still in dispute (right page top).