The Gaza Strip is a self-governing stretch of land along the Mediterranean. The main city in the Gaza Strip is called Gaza. Formally, it is part of what are called the Palestinian Territories, which consist of the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank. Formally, the Palestinian National Authority governs it. As part of the Fatah–Hamas conflict, the Gaza Strip split from the rest of the territories, and declared independence, in 2007. Since, then, Hamas is in control of the territory. Many western states have said that Hamas are terrorists, because it launched rockets into Israel. Before 2007, Fatah was in control. There was a civil war in 2007. Since then, Hamas has run Gaza as a de facto autocratic and one-party Islamic state.
Geography
The territory is 41 kilometers (25 mi) long, and from 6 to 12 kilometers (3.7 to 7.5 mi) wide, with a total area of 365 square kilometers (141 sq mi). About 1.8 million Palestinians live on a surface of roughly 360 km², making Gaza the 3rd most densely populated area on Earth.
Khan Yunis is 7 km (4.3 mi) northeast of Rafah, and several towns around Deir el-Balah are along the coast between Rafah and Gaza City. Beit Lahia is to the north of Gaza City. Beit Hanoun is to the northeast of Gaza City. Al Deira beach is popular for surfers.[4]
History
Gaza was formed in 1967 when Israel moved Jewish communities and troops into Gaza. Israel controlled the Strip's borders, coastline and airspace until 2005, when it withdrew. An election was held in January 2006, which Hamas won. Since then, Israel has conducted several wars with Hamas due to alleged terrorist acts, causing much of the infrastructure of Gaza to be non functional.[5] It has been placed under an Israeli and U.S.-led international economic and political boycott since 2006.
In 2010, approximately 1.6 million people lived in the Gaza Strip.[6] Almost one million of them were UN-registered refugees.[7] Most of them have parents who were refugees during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. The Strip's population has continued to increase since that time, mainly due to a total fertility rate which peaked at 8.3 children per woman in 1991. This fell to 4.4 children per woman in 2013 which was still among the highest worldwide.[6][8]
In a ranking by total fertility rate, Gaza is 34th of 224 regions.[6][8] For this reason, many people living in the Gaza Strip are children. 43.5% of the population are 14 or younger. The median age in 2014 of 18, compared to a world average of 28, and 30 in Israel. The only countries with a lower median age are countries in Africa such as Uganda where it was 15.[8]
Sunni Muslims make up 99.8 percent of the population in the Gaza Strip; There are between 2,000 to 3,000 (0.2 percent) Arab Christians.[9][6]
↑Chami, Ralph; Espinoza, Raphael André; Montiel, Peter J. Macroeconomic policy in fragile states. Oxford: Oxford university press. ISBN978-0-19-885309-1.
