Palestine

Historic geographical area at the eastern end of the Mediterranean sea, also known as the Holy Land because of its historic and symbolic importance for Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Early settlers included the Canaanites, Hebrews, and Philistines. Over the centuries it became part of the Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Macedonian, Ptolemaic, Seleucid, Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Ottoman, and British empires. Today it comprises parts of modern Israel and Jordan.

The 1993 Oslo Accord marked the beginning of the Israel-Palestine peace process, under which interim Palestinian self-rule was introduced in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank town of Jericho. In 1994 a Palestinian National Authority, led by Yassir Arafat, the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), was formed to govern these areas. Further agreements introduced more extensive Palestinian autonomy, but with the resumption of the Palestinian Intifada in September 2000, and the election of right-wing Likud leader Ariel Sharon as Israeli prime minister in February 2001, the peace process stalled.

The Palestinian Arab population is widely scattered, with many in refugee camps. There are 1.9 million Palestinian Arabs in the West Bank, 1 million in the Gaza Strip, 970,000 in Israel, and 200,000 in Jerusalem (1999 est). There are a further 4.2 million Palestinians living outside these territories, many as refugees in Jordan (2.4 million), Syria (0.5 million), Lebanon (0.4 million), Saudi Arabia and the Gulf (0.4 million), the USA (0.2 million), and Europe.