http://www3.haaretz.co.il/eng/scripts/show_katava.asp?id=27835&mador=1&datee=9/7/98
Ha'aretz, September 7, 1998
Settlements Growing
By Nadav Shragai, Ha'aretz Correspondent
The number of Jewish settlers living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip rose by 12.4 percent in the 18 months ending in June, half as a result of natural growth and the remaining half because of new residents moving to the settlements.
According to figures gathered by the Interior Ministry, and hitherto unpublished, 169,339 Jewish settlers were living in the territories - 163,173 of them in the West Bank and 6,166 in the Gaza Strip. The figures cover the 18-month period that ended June 30.
The overall number of settlers rose by 8.8 percent between Dec. 31, 1996 and Dec. 31, 1997, and by another 3.3 percent between the end of 1997 and June 30, 1998.
The Interior Ministry has yet to gather and process data regarding July and August, which are traditionally marked by a higher than average increase in the number of new residents, as families take advantage of summer vacation to move before the beginning of the new school year.
The figures further reveal that 86,202 settlers, slightly more than half of the overall Jewish population in the territories, live in only nine of the 144 settlements, including Ma'aleh Adumim, Ariel, Givat Ze'ev, Efrat, Kiryat Sefer and Betar. The biggest increase in population in the past 18 months was registered in the ultra-Orthodox settlements of Kiryat Sefer (55 percent) and Betar (35 percent).
In general, the settlements with "rural building" grew at a faster pace than the large urban settlements such as Ma'aleh Adumim, Ariel or Efrat.
The figures show that 80,418 of the settlers live in what is known as the "depths of the territories," areas not adjacent to densely populated areas within the Green Line. The remaining 88,900 settlers live in greater Jerusalem or in settlements along the Green Line in the Sharon area.
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