Life in the Gaza Strip

After eight days of conflict between Israel and the Hamas movement in Gaza in which five Israelis and over 150 Palestinians died, a ceasefire is taking hold and some semblance of normal life is returning.

Home to 1.6 million people, Gaza is just 40km (25 miles) long and 10km wide, an enclave bounded by the Mediterranean Sea, Israel and Egypt.

Originally administered by Egypt which retains control of Gaza's southern border, the area was captured by the Israelis in 1967 during the Six Day War.

In 2005, after 38 years during which Israeli settlements were a constant source of tension, Israel withdrew its troops and settlers.

A year later the Islamist militant group Hamas won elections in Gaza. In June 2007, Hamas took complete control of the strip, ousting the more moderate rival Fatah faction of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas which runs parts of the West Bank.

The Israelis swiftly tightened a blockade on Gaza, restricting the transit of goods and people into and out of the territory.

With Israel's blockade choking off opportunities to trade with the outside world, Gaza is largely dependent on external aid and the shadow 'tunnel' economy.

Gazans are, on average, worse off than in the 1990s. Unemployment is around a 30% climbing to 58% for those aged between 20 and 24 years.

Farming has an important but limited role due to lack of access to water and the buffer zones imposed by Israel along the border.

Fishing for Gaza's 3,000 fishermen is also restricted. Ten years ago, they could fish out to 12 nautical miles from the coast. That is now limited to three nautical miles.

The only part of the economy that could be said to be booming is the tunnel economy. Hundreds of these have been built under the border with Egypt, allowing the movement of goods in and out of the territory. The tunnels are also used to bring weapons into Gaza.

Iyad Tah is a software engineer, who graduated about three months ago. He is currently working as a youth volunteer.

"There is no work. Unemployment rates are very high here in Gaza," he told BBC online.

Despite this, he says his family can afford their basic needs.

"We are very happy when everything is safe and we are living a normal life...I had the opportunity to move abroad a long time ago but every time I come back, because this is where I belong," he said.

Gaza's school system is under pressure. The UN which runs many of the territory's schools says an additional 440 schools are needed by 2020 to cope with the expected growth in the population. More than half the population in Gaza under the age of 18

As it is a majority operate a double shift system to accommodate all its pupils. Classes are large, anywhere between 40 to 50 in each. This means shorter school days and enrolment is lower in the secondary system. Training and vocational opportunities are few and far between.

That said, official figures for literacy are high; 93% for women, 98% for men.

Najla is an aid worker in Gaza. She says there is a shortage of schools and not enough space to build any new ones. There are some limited work creation programmes, but even the funding for these has dried up recently.

Najla said: "There are colleges and universities in Gaza, there are about five or six, but it's so limited because there are so many graduates without jobs so the market is over-saturated."

Gaza's population is expected to grow from the current 1.64 million to 2.13 million by the end of the decade.

This will also result in an increase in the population density which is already one of the highest in the world. On average, some 4,505 people live on every square kilometre in Gaza. That's expected to rise to 5,835 people per square kilometre by 2020.

The ratio of young people between the ages of 15 and 29 to the total over-15 population is exceptionally high, at 53%. This leads to a high dependency rate.

Should the economy pick up there will be plenty of young people of working age, but if not, there is the potential for social tension, violence and extremism, according to the UN.