Demographics of the Palestinian territories

This article is about the demographic features of the population of the Palestinian territories, including ethnicity, education level, health of the populous, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

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The Palestinian territories in this context are defined to include West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza strip. It is one of a number of designations for those portions of the British Mandate of Palestine captured and occupied by Jordan and by Egypt in the late 1940s, and captured and occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War.

Overview

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) estimated Palestinians at mid year 2009 as 10.7 million persons as follows: 3.9 million in the Palestinian Territory (36.6%), 1.2 million (11.5%) in Israel; 5.0 million in Arab countries (46.2%), 0.6 million in foreign countries (5.7%).^[1]

According to Guardian (2008) the Palestinian territories have one of the fastest growing populations in the world, with numbers surging 30% in the past decade (2008). There was 3.76 million Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, up from 2.89 million 10 years earlier.^[2]

According to the U.S. Census population growth mid 1990-2008 in Gaza and West Bank was 106 % from 1.9 million (1990) to 3.9 million persons.^[3]

According to UN (2010) Palestinian population is 4.4 million.^[4] According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) population density in 2009 was 654 capita/km², of which 433 capita/km² in the West Bank including Jerusalem and 4,073 capita/km² in Gaza Strip. ^[5] In the mid 2009 the share of population less than 15 years was 41.9 % and above 65 years 3 %.^[5]

Population (mid year)[6][7][8]
Year	West Bank	Gaza	Total
1970	0.69	0.34	1.03
1980	0.90	0.46	1.36
1990	1.25	0.65	1.90
2000	1.98	1.13	3.11
2004	2.20	1.30	3.50
2008	2.41	1.5	3.91
2010	2.52	1.60	4.12
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
2006	2.5	1.5	4.0
2009	2.48	1.45	3.94
Source: Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics

Region	Population
West Bank	2,568,555[9]
East Jerusalem	192,800[10]
Gaza Strip	1,657,155[11]

Name	Population (2007)[12]	Area (km2)	Density[13]
West Bank	2,369,700	5,671	417.86
Gaza Strip	1,416,539	360	3934.83
Total	3,786,239	6,031	627.80

Demographics of the West Bank

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.

Population

2,568,555 including East Jerusalem ^[14] population in the West Bank, excluding Israeli settlers. ^[15]

3,092,555 including 524,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

Age structure

0–14 years: 35.8% (male 471,908/female 447,816)
15-64 years: 60.5% (male 796,421/female 757,227)
65 years and over: 3.7% (male 39,546/female 55,637) (2011 est.)^[14]

Population growth rate

2.097% (2011 est.) ^[14]

Birth rate

24.56 births/1,000 population (2011 est.)

Mortality rate

3.58 deaths/1,000 population (July 2011 est.)

Net migration rate

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female

15–64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female

total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2011 est.)

Infant mortality rate

total: 14.92 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 16.73 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 13.01 deaths/1,000 live births (2011 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 75.01 years
male: 72.97 years
female: 77.17 years (2011 est.)

Total fertility rate

• Palestinian population: 3.05 children born/woman (2011 est.)
• Jewish population: 5.10 children born/woman ^[16]

Nationality

noun: Palestinians
adjective: Palestinian

Ethnic groups

Including Israeli settlements and East Jerusalem: Arab and other (Kurd, Circassian, Armenian) 83%, Jewish 17%, Samaritan (few hundreds). All of the Jews in the Palestinian territories are Israeli citizens.

Religions

Muslim 75% (predominantly Sunni), Jewish 17%, Christian and other 8%, if East Jerusalem is excluded.

Languages

Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli inhabitants and many Palestinians), English (compulsory in schools, widely spoken by Palestinians and even more by Israelis)

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 92.4%
male: 96.7%
female: 88% (2011 est.)

Demographics of the Gaza Strip

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.

Population

1,604,238 (July 2010 est.)^[17]

Age structure

0-14 years: 44.7% (male 343,988/female 325,856)
15-64 years: 52.7% (male 403,855/female 386,681)
65 years and over: 2.7% (male 16,196/female 23,626) (2008 est.)

Population growth rate

3.422% (2008 est. see also: Demographic trap)

Birth rate

39.45 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Mortality rate

3.8 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female
total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate

total population: 22.4/1,000 live births
male: 23.48/1,000 live births
female: 21.27/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 71.97 years
male: 70.67 years
female: 73.34 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate

5.19 children born/woman (2008 est.)

Nationality

noun: Palestinians
adjective: Palestinian

Ethnic groups

Palestinians 99.9

Religions

Muslim 98.7% (predominantly Sunni), Christian 0.7%

Languages

Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by many Palestinians), English (widely understood)

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 91.9%
male: 96.3%
female: 87.4% (2003 est.)

See also

• Palestinian economy
• Palestinian people
• Palestinian National Authority (PNA)
• Politics of the Palestinian National Authority
• CIA World Fact Book
• Demographics of Israel
• Population statistics for Israeli West Bank settlements

References

1. ^ Palestinians in figures 2009 Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics May 2010; p. 11
2. ^ 11.2.2008 Guardian
3. ^ US Census Bureau International Programs International Data Base IDB West Bank and Gaza
4. ^ Israel and Palestinian territories country profile BBC 9 March 2011
5. ^ ^{a b} Palestine in Figures 2009 Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, May 2010
6. ^ US Census Bureau International Programs International Data Base IDB West Bank and Gaza
7. ^ Palestinians in figures 2009 Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics May 2010
8. ^ Palestinians at the End of Year 2006 Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
9. ^ (July 2010 est.) @ https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/we.html . This data plus 1.66 million in Gaza (resulting 4.23 million) agrees with the 4.1 million figure given by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics @ http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jtoudRK9JlaH26B1bdZITg6iUfsQ?docId=CNG.f4fa510e3a42ad81ea91bfde88768880.331
10. ^ Israeli settlers for (2008 est.) (July 2011 est.) [sic] estimation @ https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/we.html
11. ^ Estimation for July 2011 @ https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gz.html . This data plus 2.57 million in the West Bank (resulting 4.23 million) agrees with the 4.1 million figure given by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics @ http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jtoudRK9JlaH26B1bdZITg6iUfsQ?docId=CNG.f4fa510e3a42ad81ea91bfde88768880.331
12. ^ http://www.passia.org/palestine_facts/pdf/pdf2008/Population.pdf
13. ^ As stated in List of sovereign states and dependent territories by population density, in 2010, the total density raised to 681, ranking the 20th biggest of this list.
14. ^ ^{a b c} "CIA - The World Factbook". Cia.gov. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/we.html. Retrieved 2011-09-27. 
15. ^ "Selected Statistics on Jerusalem Day 2007 (Hebrew)". Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. 2007-05-14. http://www.cbs.gov.il/hodaot2007n/11_07_084b.doc. 
16. ^ [1] Israeli CBS 2011 data
17. ^ "CIA - The World Factbook". Cia.gov. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gz.html. Retrieved 2011-09-27. 

External links

• CIA World Fact Book
• PA demographics American-Israel Demographic Research Group