The Gaza Strip is a narrow strip of Palestinian territory along the Mediterranean Sea. Just 25 miles long and six miles wide, the tiny coastal enclave is one of the most densely populated places on earth and is home to approximately 1.7 million people. Three quarters of Gaza’s population are refugees who were expelled from the land that became Israel in 1948, and their descendants. A December 2011 Oxfam report showed that 80% of families in Gaza live in poverty, a figure that reflects Israel’s ongoing blockade and closure of the Strip’s borders.