RAMALLAH, November 14, 2006, (WAFA)- Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said Tuesday the total number of Palestinian population in the world in the mid year 2005 was estimated by 9.8 millions.

On the Eve of the 18th Anniversary of independence November 15th 2006 the PCBS issued a statistical abstract of Palestine No. (7), revealing that 5.0 millions of Palestinians in diaspora, 1.10 million in Israel, and 3.7 millions in the Palestinian Territory (East Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank).

PCBS said that the data was derived from administrative records for public institutions, and from field surveys that were conducted in the Palestinian localities in Diaspora, in addition to UNRWA records, and other statistical sources which cover the Palestinian situation in their existence places, the most outstanding results were as follows:

1. Palestinians in Diaspora:

"Education: In the scholastic year 2003/2004, the total number of UNRWA schools in Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon was 391 schools, including 6,018 classes, 7,833 teachers, and 239,728 students.

"Labor: In 2000, the labor force participation rate for persons aged 15 years and over in Jordan, and Syria was 40.9%, 49.3% respectively, while it was 42.3% in Lebanon in 1999.

2. Palestinians in Israel:

"Education: The number of Arabic schools in Israel was 716 schools for the various stages in the scholastic year 20052006, including 11,992 classes, 436,236 students, and 28,569 teachers.

"Labor: In 2005, the labor force participation rate for Palestinian persons aged 15-64 years in Israel was 40.8%, and unemployment rate was 11.3%.

3. Palestinians in Palestinian Territory (West Bank and Gaza Strip):

"Land: The area of the Palestinian Territory is 6,020 km2. The number of Israeli settlements is 144, in year 2005, the built-up area of land in Israeli Settlements in West Bank was 187.09 km2 as in Aug. 2005.

"Education: In the scholastic year 2005/2006 the total number of schools and kindergartens in the Palestinian Territory was 3,212 (excluding The schools and kindergartens supervised by Israeli municipality and culture committee in Jerusalem Governorate). Average number of pupils per teacher was 26.1 students in all stages. Literacy rate among Palestinian population 15 years and over reached 92.9% in year 2005, 96.9% for males and 88.9% for females.

"Culture: In the year 2005, the total number of mosques in Palestinian Territory was 1,900 mosques, and 978 quran houses, there were 5 museums, 86 cultural centers, 5 theatres, and 2 cinemas.

"Health: The total number of hospitals in Palestinian Territory was 76 hospitals, with bed capacity of 5,007 beds, in year 2005. The infant mortality rate in the Palestinian Territory was 24.2, under-five mortality rate reached 28.3 for period 1999-2003. Life expectancy at birth in the Palestinian Territory was 71.7 years for males and 73.0 years for females, in year 2005.

"Housing and Housing Conditions: The total number of housing units in the Palestinian Territory in 1997 was 466,651 housing units, 85.2% of them are residential only, the percentage of households owned their housing units in 2005 was 87.8%, and average housing density was 1.8 persons.

"Labor: In 2005, the labor force participation rate for persons aged 15 years and over was 40.7%, and unemployment rate was 23.5%.

"Transportation and Communications: The road network length in the Palestinian Territory including bypassing roads in 2005 was 6,285.0 km, the number of licensed road vehicles for 2005 was 135,359 vehicles thereof 93,716 private cars (excluding those parts of Jerusalem which were annexed forcefully by Israel in 1967).

"Constructions: In 2005, 7,108 building licenses were issued with total area 2,901.6 thousand m2.

"Tourism: At the end of 2005, the total number of hotels in the Palestinian Territory was 77 hotels, the number of available rooms was 3,648 rooms, and number of available beds was 7,733.

"National Accounts: The Gross Domestic Product per Capita in the Remaining West Bank and Gaza Strip was USD 1,268.2 in the year 2005.

S.A.S. (11:11 P) (09:11 GMT)