Palestine Map

Palestine, on this page, means the two Palestinian territories that Israel captured in 1967: the West Bank, including East Jerusalem (about 5,860 square kilometers), and the Gaza Strip (about 365 square kilometers) on the Mediterranean, separated from each other by Israeli territory. Together they total about 6,220 square kilometers and some 5.6 million people (UN World Population Prospects, 2025 estimate), of whom roughly 2 million are in Gaza. The State of Palestine was proclaimed in 1988 and has been a non-member observer state at the United Nations since 2012. As of 2026 it is recognized by about 157 of the 193 UN member states, after a wave of recognitions in September 2025 that included the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Australia and Portugal; Israel, the United States and several other states do not recognize it. Palestinians name East Jerusalem as their capital; Ramallah, shown in the info box, is the administrative seat of the Palestinian Authority (PA), where its presidency and most ministries are based.

Hills, the Jordan Valley and the Gaza coast

The West Bank is mostly upland. A spine of limestone hills runs north to south through Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah, Bethlehem and Hebron, rising to about 1,030 m at Nabi Yunis near Halhul, north of Hebron; terraced olive groves cover much of the hill country, and the olive harvest in October and November is a central event in village life. On the eastern side the land drops steeply through the dry Judean (or Jerusalem) wilderness to the Jordan Valley and the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, more than 430 m below sea level. Jericho, in the valley, is one of the lowest towns on Earth and one of the oldest settlements, with remains at Tell es-Sultan going back some 10,000 years. The Gaza Strip, by contrast, is a flat, sandy coastal strip about 41 km long and 6-12 km wide, bordering Egypt at Rafah.

The hills have a Mediterranean climate, with winter rain and occasional snow in Hebron and Ramallah, while the Jordan Valley is hot and dry for most of the year. Water is a constant issue: the West Bank's mountain aquifer is shared with Israel, which controls most of its use, and Gaza's coastal aquifer is largely unfit to drink.

Areas A, B and C

Under the Oslo II agreement of 1995, the West Bank outside East Jerusalem was divided into three zones that were meant to be temporary. In Area A (about 18%, the main cities) the PA has civil and security control; in Area B (about 22%, mostly villages) the PA runs civil affairs and Israel has security control; and Area C (about 60%, including the Jordan Valley and most open land) is under full Israeli control. Israeli settlements, home to more than 500,000 Israelis in the West Bank and over 200,000 in East Jerusalem, are mostly in Area C. Most states and the UN regard the settlements as illegal under international law, which Israel disputes; in July 2024 the International Court of Justice gave an advisory opinion that Israel's continued presence in the territories is unlawful, which Israel rejected. Israel annexed East Jerusalem in 1980, a step not recognized internationally, and since 2002 has built a separation barrier, partly along and partly inside the 1949 armistice line. In Hebron, the city itself is divided into PA-run H1 and Israeli-controlled H2 under a 1997 agreement.

Gaza since October 2023

Hamas, which won the 2006 legislative election, has controlled Gaza since 2007, while the PA under President Mahmoud Abbas governs parts of the West Bank. After the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, Israel's military campaign in Gaza killed more than 67,000 people by the time of the ceasefire, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, displaced most of the population and destroyed much of the housing and infrastructure. A ceasefire based on a US 20-point plan took effect on 10 October 2025, with an exchange of hostages and prisoners, and the UN Security Council endorsed the plan in Resolution 2803 in November 2025. As of October 2026 the ceasefire formally holds, but its second phase, covering Hamas's disarmament, further Israeli withdrawal and a new administration, has stalled; Israeli forces still hold a large part of the Strip behind the so-called Yellow Line, strikes continue, and aid groups report severe shortages of shelter and supplies.

Cities

West Bank city figures are from the 2017 Palestinian census; Gaza's cities have been heavily damaged and their populations displaced since 2023, so pre-war figures no longer apply.

• East Jerusalem - The largest Palestinian urban area, including the walled Old City and the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound; under Israeli administration since 1967
• Hebron (al-Khalil) - About 200,000 people, the largest West Bank city and a center of trade, glass and ceramics; its old town around the Ibrahimi Mosque/Cave of the Patriarchs is a UNESCO site
• Nablus - About 157,000 people, between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, known for olive-oil soap and knafeh
• Ramallah and al-Bireh - Twin cities north of Jerusalem, the seat of the PA and the West Bank's business and cultural hub
• Bethlehem - Site of the Church of the Nativity, Palestine's first UNESCO World Heritage site (2012)
• Gaza City - Gaza's largest city before the war, near the ancient port of Anthedon
• Khan Younis and Rafah - The main towns of southern Gaza; Rafah holds the crossing to Egypt

Palestine has five UNESCO World Heritage sites: Bethlehem, the terraced landscape of Battir, Hebron's old town, Tell es-Sultan at Jericho, and the Saint Hilarion monastery near Deir al-Balah in Gaza. (The Old City of Jerusalem is listed separately, on Jordan's 1981 nomination.) The territories are divided into 16 governorates, 11 in the West Bank and 5 in Gaza. Arabic is the language of daily life, most Palestinians are Sunni Muslims, and there are long-established Christian communities in Bethlehem, Ramallah, Jerusalem and Gaza. The Israeli shekel is the main currency, with the Jordanian dinar also widely used in the West Bank.