List of cities in Palestinian National Authority areas

The following is a list of cities in Palestinian National Authority administrated areas, although depending on which particular area each locality is located. After the 1995 Interim Agreements, the PNA took control of civil affairs in both designated Areas, A and B where ultimately all Palestinian population centers are located (except those with in the municipal borders of East Jerusalem). Israeli Defense Forces are responsible for security in Area B. In the Palestinian territories today there is a lack of local government and a thin line between a local council or a city.

The Local Government Ministry of the Palestinian National Authority, are responsible for granting a town with city or municipality status. However, there is no specific guidelines for a particular locality to achieve the status of Palestinian city. It is mostly judged on the population reaching above 20,000. The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics took its first official census in 1997, and has not taken one since, however they have used provisional estimates to determine the current population. [ [http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/_PCBS/census/phc_97/governor.aspx PCBS 1997 Census Final Result-Summary] ] The most current estimate was in 2006.

List of cities

There are a total of 16 cities under PNA jurisdiction, 6 of which have populations above 100,000. The largest city in the Gaza Strip and the entire Palestinian territories is Gaza and the largest in the West Bank is Hebron. Many of these larger cities incorporate adjacent refugee camps into their municipal jurisdictions and are included in the city's total population. Some cities form agglomerations with other towns or cities, such as the Bethlehem metropolitan area with Beit Jala and Beit Sahur. Ramallah and al-Bireh also form an agglomeration and are often considered a single city.

The following is a list of all Palestinian cities, their governorates, their specific jurisdictions and their provisional populations as of 2006 by the PCBS.

See also

*List of cities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip
*List of Arab localities in Israel
*List of cities in Israel
*Municipality (Palestinian Authority)
*Village Council (Palestinian Authority)

References