Palestine is a de jure sovereign state located in the Middle East that lays claim to East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, but the state of Israel exerts real control over the territories. Many countries around the world, including the United States, do not recognize Palestine as a sovereign state. As of November 29th, 2012, it operates as a "non member observer state" in the United Nations. Palestine and Israel continue to have discussions to attempt to find peace between their states, but their interests often conflict too much for peace to be possible. Israel wants security; Palestine wants independence. The gaps in the green on the photo on the right represent the areas Palestine lays claim over
Palestine is located next to the Mediterranean, by Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and Israel. The total population is 4,997,728 as of January 30th, 2018. An overwhelming majority of the population identifies as Muslim, with roughly 99 percent of the population in the West Bank and roughly 85 percent of the population in the Gaza Strip. Other significant religions are Judaism (12-14% in the West Bank) and Christianity (1 percent in the West Bank, mostly Greek Orthodox). |
The areas in white above compose the area of Palestine |
Boarder wall in Palestine