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Troubled Waters
Lake Victoria's waters have begun to fall dramatically in recent years. Climate change, hydroelectric dam projects and increasing pressure on its threatened resources have some environmentalists suggesting the lake may be destroyed within twenty years.
As featured on PBS's Foreign Exchange with Daljit Dhaliwal.
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Country Fact Sheets from the CLP
Because we believe that good journalism must be contextualized, we've decided to share with our readers some of the more interesting and lesser known facts about the countries we've reported on. While these are in no way comprehensive descriptions of these complex places, this is the information that we've found most helpful in placing these countries in a global framework and underscoring the broader implications of the issues we've covered. In developing these Fact Sheets, we've worked to incorporate both the official facts and statistics reported by government sources as well as our own observations through reporting in each country. If you have any suggestions or requests for information you'd like to see included, write to us at info@clpmag.org
Palestine
The Palestinian Territories are divided into the Gaza Strip (map, left) and the West Bank (map, right) and occupied by Israel. Not officially recognized as a country by many world governments, much of its population lives as refugees or in dire poverty and isolation. Its economy is inextricably linked with Israel's and Palestine both uses Israeli currency and serves as the largest market for Israeli products. A period of relative economic stability and growth in the early mid 90's has been stunted both by the rise of the second intifada in 2000 and foreign aid cuts following the January 2006 elections. Despite many challenges, the Palestinian population is highly educated and Palestinian culture and traditions remain intact.
Size: The West Bank is slightly smaller than Delaware, while the Gaza Strip is about twice the size of Washington, DC.
Population: 3.8 million. In addition, there are about 187,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank and fewer than 177,000 in East Jerusalem. At current rates the Palestinian population will double within 20 years. It is interesting to note that the Palestinian population, currently just over half the size of the Israeli population, will "catch up" in size in 20 years if current growth rates continue. Gaza is one of the most densely populated pieces of land on the planet.
Languages Spoken: Arabic is the official language; many Palestinians also speak Hebrew. English is widely understood.
Type of Government: Parliamentary democracy. Internationally recognized democratic elections were first held in Palestine in 2005-2006, culminating in the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas' surprise takeover of the majority of parliamentary seats. Calling Hamas a terrorist organization (because it has not renounced violence, recognized Israel's right to exist and accepted all past peace agreements), much of the international community has severed relations and cut aid to Palestine. Many believe that Hamas rose to power more on an anti-corruption platform than one in favor of terrorism. Major gains have recently been made in Palestine in increasing women's participation in government, with quotas for female-held seats allowing many more women into office. Palestine's government certainly faces a problem with transparency, sharing rank 107 of 158 on the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index with Belarus, Eritrea, Honduras, Kazakhstan, Nicaragua, Ukraine, Vietnam, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Religion: The West Bank is 75% Muslim (predominantly Sunni), 17% Jewish, and 8% Christian and other. The Gaza Strip is 98.7% Muslim (predominantly Sunni), 0.7% Christian, and 0.6% Jewish. Note that almost all of the Jews living in the West Bank are considered settlers - people trying to establish Israel's right to the land - though moves to disengage (relocate) these settlers back to Israel's official borders, the current political situation has put those plans somewhat on hold.
Gender and Health Issues: Literacy, at 92%, is high for a country in Palestine's economic position, but there remains an almost 10 percent gap between male and female literacy. Abortion is permitted only to save the woman's life, and maternal mortality is shockingly high: 100 deaths per 100,000 live births - more than five times the rate in neighboring Israel. While the PA controls hospitals, Palestinians living in rural areas often face difficulties accessing health services, as Israeli checkpoints make travel within Palestine difficult and unpredictable.
Environment and Resources: Access to and availability of safe drinking water are the biggest resource issue facing Palestinians. In Gaza, desertification and salination of fresh water are also major problems.
GDP: $2.6 billion
International Aid Received: Recipient - $2 billion.
Receives US Counterterrorism Assistance: Yes
Death Penalty: In use for ordinary crimes.
Top Five Industries: Generally small family businesses that produce cement, textiles, soap, olive-wood carvings, and mother-of-pearl souvenirs. The Israelis have established some small-scale, modern industries in the settlements and industrial centers that remain in the West Bank.
Poverty Rate: 46% of Palestine's population lives below the poverty line, defined at $1.90 per person, per day. In Gaza, as much as 81% of the population is living on less than 2 dollars a day.
McDonald's Restaurants: None
Currency: New Israeli Shekel - about 4.5 to the dollar
Media: Palestine ranks close to the bottom - at 132 out of 167 on the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index. 4% of the population are Internet users.
Posted: 2006
Country Fact Sheet Sources
- General Statistics - CIA World Factbook: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/
- Abortion Legal Status, Maternal Mortality, Infant Mortality, Contraception: http://www.medicationabortion.com
- Abortion Legal Status: http://www.crlp.org/pub_fac_abortion_laws.htm
- Contraceptive Use: http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/contraceptive2005/WCU2005.htm
- Maternal Mortality: http://www.childinfo.org/areas/maternalmortality/countrydata.php
- McDonald’s Country List: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_with_McDonald%27s_franchises
- Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=19388
- The Economist Intelligence Unit Quality of Life Index: http://www.economist.com/media/pdf/QUALITY_OF_LIFE.pdf
- Human Development Index: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Development_Index
- 2005 Environmental Sustainability Index: www.yale.edu/esi/
- General Statistics - World Atlas: http://www.geographyiq.com
- Counterterrorism Funding Information - State Dept. Country Reports: http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt
- Death Penalty Status: http://web.amnesty.org/pages/deathpenalty-countries-eng
- Human Trafficking information: http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2006/
- BBC Country Profiles: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/country_profiles/default.stm
- Department For International Development: http://www.dfid.gov.uk/countries/allcountries.asp?view=region
- United Nations Development Programme: http://www.undp.org/
- The World Bank: http://www.worldbank.org/
Note: Population growth projections are often controversial. To calculate them for these fact sheets, we simply used the current population and population growth rate provided by the CIA World Factbook.