The State of Palestine is a state in the Middle East recognised by a majority of the world's countries and holding non-member observer status at the United Nations, though its full sovereignty, borders, and final status remain unresolved and disputed. It comprises the territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem claimed as its capital, lands that are also at the heart of the long and unresolved conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Home to sites sacred to three world religions, it is the homeland of the Palestinian people, who also form a large diaspora around the world.
The land of Palestine, part of the wider historic region between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River, has been inhabited for thousands of years and ruled by a long succession of powers, including ancient empires, the Romans, Arab caliphates, Crusaders, and the Ottomans. After the First World War it came under British administration as Mandatory Palestine. The mid-twentieth century brought the deepening conflict between Arab and Jewish national movements, the establishment of Israel in 1948, and the displacement of many Palestinians, followed by decades of war, occupation, and unsuccessful efforts to reach a lasting settlement.
Whether Palestine is a fully sovereign state is genuinely unresolved. A large majority of UN member states recognise the State of Palestine, and it holds non-member observer status at the United Nations, yet a number of major powers do not recognise it, and it does not exercise full sovereign control over its claimed territory. Its borders, the status of Jerusalem, and its relationship with Israel remain the subject of an unresolved conflict and stalled negotiations. Palestinian statehood is therefore not a settled fact but a contested and ongoing international question.
The territories of Palestine fall into two separated areas. The West Bank is an inland, hilly region west of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea, the lowest point on the Earth's land surface, with a landscape of limestone hills, fertile valleys, and historic towns, sloping down to desert in the east. The Gaza Strip is a small, narrow, densely populated coastal area on the Mediterranean, with sandy shores and a dry climate. Both areas have a Mediterranean climate of hot, dry summers and mild winters, and the land has long supported farming, especially olives.
The flag of Palestine has three horizontal bands of black, white, and green, with a red triangle at the hoist. These are the pan-Arab colours, associated with the Arab revolt and with the broader Arab world, and each is linked by tradition to a chapter of Arab history. The flag has been used as a symbol of the Palestinian national movement for over a century and is flown by Palestinians both in the territories and across their large worldwide diaspora as an emblem of national identity and aspiration.
The great majority of Palestinians are Muslims, predominantly Sunni, and Islam is central to the culture and daily life of the territories. There is also a long-established Palestinian Christian minority, one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, present especially in towns such as Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of Jesus. The land holds sites of profound importance to Islam, Christianity, and Judaism alike, above all in Jerusalem, a city sacred to all three faiths, which lies at the heart of both the region's religious life and its political disputes.
Palestinian cuisine is a celebrated part of the wider Levantine and Middle Eastern food tradition, rich in olive oil, fresh vegetables, herbs, and spices. Signature dishes include musakhan, roasted chicken with onions, sumac, and flatbread, and maqluba, a layered upside-down dish of rice, meat, and vegetables, along with the mezze spreads of hummus, falafel, and salads shared across the region. Olives and olive oil, from the ancient groves of the hills, are central to both the cuisine and the rural economy, and the food is a strong source of cultural pride.
Agriculture has deep roots in Palestinian life and identity, especially in the West Bank, where the cultivation of olives is both an economic mainstay and a cultural symbol, the olive harvest a central event of the year. Farmers also grow other fruits, vegetables, grapes, citrus, and grains, and herd livestock, though access to land and water is heavily constrained by the political situation. In the Gaza Strip, intensive farming and fishing are practised under difficult conditions. Agriculture remains important to the economy and to the connection between the people and their land.
The British Mandate, the establishment of Israel and the displacement of many Palestinians in 1948, an event Palestinians call the Nakba, and the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza after the 1967 war are defining moments of modern Palestinian history. The decades since have seen uprisings known as intifadas, the rise of the Palestine Liberation Organization and later the Palestinian Authority, peace efforts such as the Oslo Accords, and recurring rounds of conflict, leaving the central questions of statehood and a settlement with Israel still unresolved.
The Palestinian population of the territories numbers around 5 million people, with roughly 3 million in the West Bank and 2 million in the Gaza Strip, one of the most densely populated areas in the world, and the population is young and growing. Palestinians are an Arab people, speaking Arabic, the overwhelming majority Muslim with a Christian minority. Beyond the territories, a very large Palestinian diaspora, numbering several million more, lives in neighbouring countries and around the world, many of them descendants of those displaced in the conflicts of the twentieth century.
