Palestine

State of Palestine
دولة فلسطين  (Arabic)
Dawlat Filasṭīn
Coat of arms of Palestine
Coat of arms
Anthem: "فدائي"
"Fida'i"
"Fedayeen Warrior"
Territory claimed by Palestine (green).Claimed territory annexed by Israel (light green).
Territory claimed by Palestine (green).
Claimed territory annexed by Israel (light green).
StatusUN observer state under Israeli occupation
Recognized by 145 UN member states
  • Proclaimed capital
  • Administrative
    center
Largest cityRafah
Official languagesArabic
Religion
(2023)
Demonym(s)Palestinian
GovernmentUnitary semi-presidential republic
• President
Mahmoud Abbas{
Mohammad Mustafa
Aziz Dweik
LegislatureNational Council
Formation[broken anchor]
15 November 1988
29 November 2012
• Sovereignty dispute with Israel
Ongoing
Area
• Total
6,020 km2 (2,320 sq mi) (163rd)
• Water (%)
3.5
• West Bank
5,655 km2
• Gaza Strip
365 km2
Population
• 2023 estimate
5,483,450 (121st)
• Density
731/km2 (1,893.3/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)2023 estimate
• Total
Increase $36.391 billion (138th)
• Per capita
Increase $6,642 (140th)
GDP (nominal)2021 estimate
• Total
Increase $18.109 billion (121st)
• Per capita
Increase $3,464 (131st)
Gini (2016)Positive decrease 33.7
medium
HDI (2021)Increase 0.715
high · 106th
Currency
Time zoneUTC+2 (Palestine Standard Time)
• Summer (DST)
UTC+3 (Palestine Summer Time)
Date formatdd/mm/yyyy
Driving sideright
Calling code+970
ISO 3166 codePS
Internet TLD.ps

Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in southwestern Asia.

Palestine includes the West Bank, including East Jerusalem as the capital city, and the Gaza Strip as part of the Palestinian territories, which are occupied by Israel. Palestine's administrative center is located in Ramallah.

Recognition

As of October 2025, 157 of the 193 countries in the United Nations recognize the State of Palestine as a sovereign state. It has been a non-member observer state of the United Nations since 2012. This amounts to a de facto, or implicit, recognition of statehood.

Palestine is a member of several international organizations, including the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the International Olympic Committee.

Government

On November 15, 1988, the Palestinian National Council declared the establishment of Palestine. The Council was the law-making body of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), led by Yasser Arafat.

In the 1990s, Israel and the PLO negotiated and signed the Oslo Accords. They created the Palestinian Authority (PA) to exercise partial control over parts of Palestine.

In 2007, internal divisions between Palestinian political factions led to a takeover of the Gaza Strip by Hamas. Since then, the West Bank has been governed in part by the Palestinian Authority, led by Fatah, while the Gaza Strip has remained under Hamas's control.

Israel has built settlements in both of the Palestinian territories since the start of the occupation. The settlements in the Gaza Strip were dismantled in Israel's unilateral disengagement in 2005. About 670,000 Israeli settlers live in settlements in the West Bank.

The international community considers Israeli settlements in Palestine to be illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.

Challenges

Currently, the biggest challenges to the country include the Israeli occupation, partial blockade, restrictions on movement, expansion of Israeli settlements, settler violence, corruption, ethnic cleansing, genocide, and an overall poor security situation. Palestine's borders, the legal and diplomatic status of Jerusalem, and the return of Palestinian refugees are unresolved questions.

Nevertheless, Palestine is one of the most highly-educated countries in the Arab world. It maintains an emerging economy and sees frequent tourism.[needs update]

Other websites

Notes

  1. ↑ The Palestinian Declaration of Independence proclaims the "establishment of the State of Palestine on our Palestinian territory with its capital Jerusalem (Al-Quds Ash-Sharif)." Israel exercises de facto control over Jerusalem, but neither state’s claims to Jerusalem are widely recognized by the international community. Ramallah is the administrative capital where government institutions and foreign representative offices are located, while most countries maintain their embassies to Israel in Tel Aviv. In Oslo I Accord, few parts of Jerusalem went under control of the Palestinian government, but did not solved overall status of Jerusalem.
  2. ↑ Before 2023, Gaza City was the largest city in the State of Palestine. Following attacks by Israel, a large amount of refugees from Gaza City and elsewhere in the Strip evacuated into the border city of Rafah, effectively making it the most populous city.
  3. ↑ Both presidents of the State of Palestine, Yasser Arafat and his successor Mahmoud Abbas, were chosen beforehand as Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the committee performing the roles of State of Palestine government. See also Leaders of Palestinian institutions.
  4. ↑ Israel lets the Palestinian National Authority have some power in the Palestinian territories. This depends on the area classification. The Palestinian National Authority has some power (control of borders: air, sea beyond internal waters, land) in the Gaza Strip (its land and Egypt part of the land border are under Hamas control) See also Israeli-occupied territories.

    References

    1. ↑ "Palestine" (includes audio). nationalanthems.info. Archived from the original on 31 March 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
    2. ↑ "ActionAid: Conditions in Rafah at breaking point, with over one million displaced people". wafa agency.
    3. ↑ "Declaration of Independence (1988) (UN Doc)". State of Palestine Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations. United Nations. 18 November 1988. Archived from the original on 8 June 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
    4. ↑ United Nations General Assembly A 37 session 67 Question of Palestine on 26 November 2012 and United Nations General Assembly R 67/19 session 67 Status of Palestine in the United Nations on 29 November 2012
    5. ↑ Sayigh, Yezid (1999). Armed Struggle and the Search for State: The Palestinian National Movement, 1949–1993 (illustrated ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 624. ISBN 978-0-19-829643-0. The Palestinian National Council also empowered the central council to form a government-in-exile when appropriate, and the executive committee to perform the functions of government until such time as a government-in-exile was established.
    6. 1 2 Israel's control of the airspace and the territorial waters of the Gaza Strip Archived 5 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
    7. ↑ Map of Gaza fishing limits, "security zones" Archived 26 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
    8. ↑ Israel's Disengagement Plan: Renewing the Peace Process Archived 2 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine: "Israel will guard the perimeter of the Gaza Strip, continue to control Gaza air space, and continue to patrol the sea off the Gaza coast. ... Israel will continue to maintain its essential military presence to prevent arms smuggling along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt (Philadelphi Route), until the security situation and cooperation with Egypt permit an alternative security arrangement."
    9. ↑ "Israel: 'Disengagement' Will Not End Gaza Occupation". Human Rights Watch. 29 October 2004. Archived from the original on 1 November 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
    10. ↑ Gold, Dore (26 August 2005). "Legal Acrobatics: The Palestinian Claim that Gaza Is Still 'Occupied' Even After Israel Withdraws". Jerusalem Issue Brief. 5 (3). Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. Archived from the original on 21 June 2010. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
    11. ↑ Bell, Abraham (28 January 2008). "International Law and Gaza: The Assault on Israel's Right to Self-Defense". Jerusalem Issue Brief. 7 (29). Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. Archived from the original on 21 June 2010. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
    12. ↑ Transcript (22 January 2008). "Address by FM Livni to the 8th Herzliya Conference". Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Archived from the original on 26 October 2011. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
    13. ↑ Salih, Zak M. (17 November 2005). "Panelists Disagree Over Gaza's Occupation Status". University of Virginia School of Law. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
    14. ↑ Miskin, Maayana (5 December 2012). "PA Weighs 'State of Palestine' Passport". israelnationalnews.com. Arutz Sheva. Archived from the original on 7 December 2012. Retrieved 8 June 2014. A senior PA official revealed the plans in an interview with Al-Quds newspaper. The change to 'state' status is important because it shows that 'the state of Palestine is occupied,' he said.
    15. ↑ "State of Palestine name change shows limitations". AP. 17 January 2013. Archived from the original on 10 January 2013. Israel remains in charge of territories the world says should one day make up that state.
    16. ↑ "Table 3, Population by sex, annual rate of population increase, surface area and density" (PDF). Demographic Yearbook. United Nations Statistics Division. 2012. Archived from the original on 15 October 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
    17. ↑ "The World Factbook: Middle East: West Bank". cia.gov. Central Intelligence Agency. 7 April 2014. Archived from the original on 22 July 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
    18. ↑ "The World Factbook: Middle East: Gaza Strip". cia.gov. Central Intelligence Agency. 12 May 2014. Archived from the original on 12 January 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
    19. ↑ "Estimated Population in the Palestine Mid-Year by Governorate,1997-2026". Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
    20. 1 2 3 4 "World Economic Outlook Database, October 2023 Edition. (Palestine)". IMF.org. International Monetary Fund. 10 October 2023. Archived from the original on 23 October 2023. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
    21. ↑ "GINI index coefficient: West Bank & Gaza". CIA Factbook. Archived from the original on 30 June 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
    22. ↑ Human Development Report 2020 The Next Frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 15 December 2020. pp. 343–346. ISBN 978-92-1-126442-5. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 December 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
    23. ↑ According to Article 4 of the 1994 Paris Protocol, the State of Palestine has no official currency. The Protocol allows the Palestinian Authority to adopt multiple currencies. In the West Bank, the Israeli new sheqel and Jordanian dinar are widely accepted, while in the Gaza Strip the Israeli new sheqel and Egyptian pound are widely accepted.
    24. ↑ "European recognition of Palestinian state shows US still only power that counts". www.bbc.com. 2025-09-23. Retrieved 2025-09-23.
    25. ↑ "Jerusalem in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict | Explainer, Tensions, & Capital Claimants | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2025-09-23.
    26. ↑ Falk, Palma (30 November 2012). "Is Palestine now a state?". CBS News. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
    27. ↑ "UN experts urge all States to recognise State of Palestine". OHCHR.
    28. ↑ "146 countries now recognise a Palestinian state". France 24. 2024-05-28. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
    29. ↑ AJLabs. "Mapping which countries recognise Palestine in 2024". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
    30. ↑ "Membership of the State of Palestine in international organizations (as of 25 May 2018)". MOFAE. Archived from the original on 29 December 2021. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
    31. ↑ "Israel defies UN after vote on Palestine with plans for 3,000 new homes in the West Bank". The Independent. 1 December 2012. Archived 2017-10-18 at the Wayback Machine
    32. ↑ Charbonneau, Louis (29 November 2012). "Palestinians win implicit U.N. recognition of sovereign state". Reuters. Thomson Reuters. Archived from the original on 5 June 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
    33. ↑ Lederer, Edith M (30 November 2012). "Live Stream: Palestine asks United Nations for a 'birth certificate' ahead of vote". www.3news.com. New Zealand: MediaWorks TV. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
    34. ↑ History.com Editors (16 February 2018). "Oslo Accords". History.com. A&E Television Networks. Retrieved 24 September 2026. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
    35. ↑ "Israel's Disengagement from Gaza and North Samaria (2005)". Gov.il. Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 14 November 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
    36. ↑ "Israel's Occupation: 50 Years of Dispossession". Amnesty International. 7 June 2017. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
    37. ↑ "Independent rights experts urge States to comply with ICJ ruling on Israel". UN News. United Nations. 30 July 2024. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
    38. ↑ "Summary of the Advisory Opinion of 9 July 2004" (PDF). International Court of Justice. 9 July 2004. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 August 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
    39. ↑ Byron, Christine (2013). War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Cambridge University Press. p. 107. ISBN 978-1-847-79275-4.
    40. ↑ "Israel has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip, UN Commission finds". OHCHR. Retrieved 2025-12-20.