Changes in the settlement pattern of the Gaza Strip 1945-1975

1. The population and settlement pattern in the Gaza Strip is conditioned by its physiographical structure ‐ three longitudinal zones of sands, alluvial soil and sandstone ridges. Of these, only the central zone of agricultural land attracted settlers in the past, and through it passed the main routes of communication. It has always been the backbone of all development in the Strip. 2. The proximity of the sea is the cause of a more temperate climate along the coast, and, as a result, the population distribution extends beyond the limit of the Zone of Aridity. There is a marked hierarchy in the size of settlements, from the two towns (Gaza in the north and Khan Yunis in the south) to large and small villages in a fairly well marked gradation of sizes. 3. The migration of over 200,000 refugees to the Gaza Strip increased the population density but did not basically alter the settlement pattern. The large towns trebled in size, while the large and small villages increased by a factor of from two to three. 4. The refugees living in camps number about 60% of the entire population of the Strip, and are therefore its most prominent single element. Nevertheless, the eight camps have not succeeded in changing the settlement pattern, as political and economic factors have combined to keep the camps as separate entities with an isolationist and non‐integrated way of life. 5. The town of Gaza has become the principal urban centre of the Strip, on account of its position on the border of the country's Zone of Aridity, its proximity to the historical main communication routes, the rich surrounding agricultural land and the changes in the orientation of its building development that have occurred at different periods in its history. 6. The Gaza Strip is an example of a small geographical region in which the basic facts of geography, artificial settlements activity and varying political influences from outside the region have combined to produce, in the course of 27 years, a situation of such complexity that it will not be easy to find a solution

Alluvial plain · Ancient history · Archaeology · Cartography · Gaza strip · Geography · Human settlement · Palestine · Population · Refugee · Settlement (finance · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Demography · History · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Middle East and Rwanda Conflicts