Palestinian Territory — map and facts

About the Palestinian Territories

The Palestinian Territories comprise two geographically separate areas: the West Bank, located west of the Jordan River and bordered by Israel and Jordan, and the Gaza Strip, a coastal enclave on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea bordered by Israel and Egypt. The total population of the Palestinian Territories is estimated at approximately 5.4 million people, with around 3 million in the West Bank and 2.3 million in Gaza. The Palestinian Authority, established through the Oslo Accords of the early 1990s, administers portions of the West Bank. The Gaza Strip has been governed by Hamas since 2007. The Palestinian Territories are not a fully independent state, and their final political status remains subject to ongoing dispute. Since October 2023, a major armed conflict in the Gaza Strip has resulted in severe humanitarian consequences. The Palestinian economy faces significant structural constraints related to movement restrictions, limited access to resources, and political instability.

Geography and Landscape

The West Bank covers approximately 5,660 square kilometres of hilly terrain, with elevations generally ranging from 600 to 900 metres in the central highlands, which form part of the wider Judean and Samarian Hills. The Jordan Valley, running along the eastern edge of the West Bank, descends sharply to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on Earth's surface at approximately 430 metres below sea level. The Jordan River forms the eastern boundary with Jordan. The West Bank's landscape includes olive groves, agricultural terraces, and arid hillsides. The Gaza Strip is considerably smaller, covering roughly 365 square kilometres of flat to gently rolling coastal plain. It has a Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters. The coastline stretches approximately 40 kilometres along the Mediterranean. Groundwater resources in both territories are limited and subject to competing demands, presenting significant long-term water security challenges.

History

The area of present-day Palestinian Territories has been one of the most historically contested regions in the world, inhabited continuously for millennia and situated at the crossroads of ancient civilisations. The region was part of the Ottoman Empire for four centuries until the end of the First World War, when it came under British administration as the British Mandate for Palestine from 1920. The Balfour Declaration of 1917 expressed British support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine, intensifying immigration and communal tensions. Following the Second World War and the Holocaust, the United Nations proposed a partition plan in 1947. Israel declared independence in May 1948, leading to the first Arab-Israeli War. Jordan annexed the West Bank and Egypt administered Gaza after that war. Israel captured both territories during the 1967 Six-Day War, beginning a military occupation. The Oslo Accords of 1993 and 1995 established the Palestinian Authority and delineated areas of Palestinian civil and security control. The 2005 Israeli disengagement withdrew Israeli settlers and military from Gaza. Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007 following a political split with Fatah.