Population in the Palestinian territories

Statistics obtained from the 1996 report of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics gave the following details on the Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza Strip:

* 2.5 million people, a little more than 1.5 million in the West Bank and 942,000 in the Gaza Strip

. * 200,000 Palestinians live in East Jerusalem

. * 47 percent are under 15 years old

. * 50 percent of the families in the West Bank have seven members or more

. * The annual rate of population increase is 6.2 percent

. * The average age for marriage among men is 23 and among women is 18

. * 49 percent of weddings are among extended family members

. * 80 percent of Palestinian homes have running water

. * The average age for a woman to bear her first child is 21.