Demographic history of Palestine (region)

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:right; float:right; width:45%"

|+ Palestine demographics, 1st century through the Mandate. Figures in thousands, i.e. 100 represents 100,000, 1,000 represents 1,000,000. See also the detailed timeline

! scope="col" | Year

! scope="col" | Jews

! scope="col" | Christians

! scope="col" | Muslims

! scope="col" | Total

! scope="row" | 1st c.

| Majority

| –

| ~1,250

! scope="row" | 4th c.

| Majority

| Minority

| –

| >1st c.

! scope="row" | 5th c.

| Minority

| Majority

| –

| >1st c.

! scope="row" | End 12th c.

| Minority

| Majority

| >225

! scope="row" | 14th c.

| Minority

| Majority

| 150

! scope="row" | 1533–1539

| 5

| 6

| 145

| 156

! scope="row" | 1553–1554

| 7

| 9

| 188

| 205

! scope="row" | 1690–1691

| 2

| 11

| 219

| 232

! scope="row" | 1800

| 7

| 22

| 246

| 275

! scope="row" | 1890

| 43

| 57

| 432

| 532

! scope="row" | 1914

| 94

| 70

| 525

| 689

! scope="row" | 1922

| 84

| 71

| 589

| 752

! scope="row" | 1931

| 175

| 89

| 760

| 1,033

! scope="row" | 1947

| 630

| 143

| 1,181

| 1,970

|-class="sortbottom"

| colspan="7" span style="font-size:70%;" align=left|Estimates by Sergio DellaPergola (2001), drawing on the work of Bachi (1975). Figures in thousands.

The population of the region of Palestine, which approximately corresponds to modern Israel and Palestine, has varied in both size and ethnic composition throughout its history. Some see this demographic history as having implications in debates related to the matter of indigeneity in the region of Palestine and therefore political legitimacy in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

Studies of Palestine's demographic changes over the millennia have shown that a Jewish majority in the first century AD had changed to a Christian majority by the 3rd century AD,

According to Finkelstein and Broshi, the population of Palestine at the end of the eighth century BC was around 400,000. In the area of Judah in the central hills, Benjamin and Jerusalem, the population was approximately 110,000. By the early sixth century, Ofer's survey results suggest that around 100,000 lived in the kingdom of Judah, with the population in the central hills, Benjamin and Jerusalem about 69,000.

A study by Yigal Shiloh of The Hebrew University suggests that the population of Palestine in the Iron Age could have never exceeded one million. He writes: "... the population of the country in the Roman-Byzantine period greatly exceeded that in the Iron Age..." Shiloh accepted Israeli archaeologist Magen Broshi's estimates of Palestine's population at 1,000,000–1,250,000 and noted that Iron Age Israel's population must have been less considering population growth. "...If we accept Broshi's population estimates, which appear to be confirmed by the results of recent research, it follows that the estimates for the population during the Iron Age must be set at a lower figure."

One study of population growth from 1000 BC to 750 BC estimated the population of Palestine (Judah and Israel) had an average natural growth of 0.4 per cent per annum.

Persian period

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Population distribution in Persian period Yehud

! Territory

! Carter

! Lipschits

! Finkelstein

| Benjamin

| 7625

| 12,500

| -

| Jerusalem (and environs)

| 1500

| 2750

| 400

| Northern Judean Hills

| 8850

| 9750

| -

| Southern Judean Hills

| 2150

| -

| Shephelah

| -

| 4875

| -

| Judean Desert/Eastern Strip

| 525

| 250

| -

| Total

| 20,650

| 30,125

| 12,000

|-class="sortbottom"

| colspan="4" span style="font-size:70%;" align=left|Lipshits' data from The Fall and Rise of Jerusalem: Judah under Babylonian Rule, Carter's data from The Emergence of Yehud in the Persian Period, Finkelstein's data from The Territorial Extent and Demography of Yehud/Judea

After the Babylonian conquest of Judah and exile, the population and settlement density of Jerusalem, the Shephelah and the Naqab desert dropped significantly. The Persian province of Yehud Medinata was sparsely-populated and predominantly rural, with around half of the settlements of late Iron age Judah and a population of around 30,000 in the 5th to 4th centuries BC. On the other hand, settlement continuity is discerned in the northern parts of the Judean mountains and the Benjamin area. Cities such as Tell en-Nasbeh, Gibeon and Bethel managed to escape destruction and remained continuously inhabited until the early Achaemenid rule. This area, which became known as Idumaea, was inhabited by a diverse population of Edomites, Judahites, Phoenicians, Qedarites and other Arabs.

Based on analysis of epigraphic material and ostraca from the region, around 32% of recorded names were Arabic, 27% were Edomite, 25% were Northwest Semitic, 10% were Judahite (Hebrew) and 5% were Phoenician. A few names were also classified Egyptian and Old Iranian.

The exilic returnees resettled during the time of Cyrus the Great, perhaps with a heightened sense of their ethnic identity.

Between 167 and 160 BC, the Jewish rebel faction of the Maccabees revolted against Seleucid rule, ultimately leading to the independence of the Hasmonean dynasty. Under John Hyrcanus, the Hasmoneans expanded their territories beyond the traditional confines of Judea and incorporated non-Jewish areas in the process. 1 Maccabees relates that the non-Jewish inhabitants of Gezer and Joppa were expelled by Simon Thassi, who settled Jews in their place. Coinciding with the account of Josephus, archaeological evidence attests to significant destruction in the urban and rural settlements in Idumaea, Samaria and the coastal cities from the Hasmonean conquests, followed by the resettlement of Jews in the newly conquered territories. Nevertheless, there's evidence that some of the non-Jewish inhabitants stayed in all of the newly conquered areas. However, unlike John Hyrcanus, Alexander Jannaeus did not compel the non-Jews to assimilate to the Jewish ethnos and permitted minority ethnē to exist within Hasmonean borders, with the exception of Phoenician coastal cities in the north whom Josephus claims he enslaved.

Roman period

Herodian and early Roman periods

The Roman conquest of Judea led by Pompey took place in 63 BC. The Roman occupation encompassed the end of Jewish independence in Judea, the last years of the Hasmonean kingdom, the Herodian age and the rise of Christianity, the First Jewish–Roman War, and the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Second Temple, and later, the Bar Kokhba revolt.

Modern estimates vary: Applebaum argues that in the Herodian kingdom, there were 1.5 million Jews, a figure Ben David says covers the numbers in Judea alone. Salo Wittmayer Baron estimated the population at 2.3 million at the time of Roman emperor Claudius (reigned 41–54). According to Israeli archeologist Magen Broshi, west of the Jordan River the population certainly did not exceed 1 million:

<blockquote>"... the population of Palestine in antiquity did not exceed a million persons. It can also be shown, moreover, that this was more or less the size of the population in the peak period – the late Byzantine period, around AD 600"</blockquote>

Broshi made calculations based on the grain-producing capacity of Palestine and on its role in the indigenous diet, assuming an average annual per-capita consumption of 200 kg. (with a maximum of 250 kg.), which would work out to the limit of a sustainable population of 1,000,000 people, a figure which, Broshi states, remained roughly constant down to the end of the Byzantine period (600 CE). The proportion of Jews to gentiles is also unknown. – "In the earlier revolt in the previous century, 66–73 CE, Rome destroyed the Temple and forbade Jews to live in the remaining parts of Jerusalem; for this reason, the Rabbis gathered instead on the Mediterranean coast in Yavneh near Jaffa". Dispersal to other parts of the Roman Empire occurred, but some earlier settlements were also established as early as 4 BC. The total population of Pharisees, the forerunners of modern Rabbinic Judaism, was around 6,000 ("exakischilioi"), according to Josephus.

Impact of the Bar Kokhba revolt

The Bar Kokhba revolt of 132–136 CE saw a major shift in the population of Palestine. The conflict had catastrophic consequences for the Jewish population in Judea, characterized by massive loss of life, widespread enslavement, and extensive forced displacement. The scale of devastation surpassed even that of the first revolt, leaving the region of Judea (not to be confused with the broader province, Judaea) in a state of desolation. Jews were expelled from Jerusalem and a broad surrounding area covering almost the entire traditional district of Judea. Historian Shimon Applebaum estimates that approximately two-thirds of Judaea's Jewish population perished in the revolt, and some scholars, including historian Joan E. Taylor, and genocide scholars Paul R. Bartrop and Samuel Totten, characterize the Roman suppression of the uprising as an act of genocide.

According to a late epitome of Dio Cassius's Roman History, the Roman war operations in the country had left some 580,000 Jews dead, with many more dying of hunger and disease, while 50 of their most important outposts and 985 of their most famous villages were razed to the ground. "Thus," writes Dio Cassius, "nearly the whole of Judaea was made desolate." In 2003, historian Hannah Cotton described Dio's figures as highly plausible based on the accuracy of Roman census declarations. This was again supported in 2021 by an ethno-archaeological analysis by archaeologists Dvir Raviv and Chaim Ben David, who concluded that Dio's data represents a "reliable account" based on "contemporaneous documentation".

Archaeological evidence corroborates that Jewish settlement in Judea was almost completely eradicated by the end of the revolt. Findings indicate signs of devastation or depopulation within the first decades of the century, followed by a period of abandonment. The slave market was reportedly flooded with Jewish captives, who were sold into slavery and dispersed across the empire, significantly expanding the Jewish diaspora. Jerome records the sale of Jewish slaves in Hebron and Gaza, their relocation to Egypt, and captives being resettled by Hadrian in the Cimmerian Bosporus (in modern day Russia and Ukraine). Robert Goldenberg suggests that following the revolt, many Jews likely abandoned Judaism, turning to Christianity or paganism, though these conversions received little attention in ancient sources and their numbers cannot be determined. He notes that 'Jewish followers of Jesus' (Jewish Christians) would not have taken part in the rebellions. The suppression of the revolt produced a large wave of refugees, some of whom settled in Babylonia, contributing to the spiritual development of the Jewish community in Mesopotamia during the following centuries.

At the same time, Jewish communities continued to thrive in other parts of Judea and Palestine as a whole. According to David Goodblatt: "The destruction of the Jewish metropolis of Jerusalem and its environs and the ventual refoundation of the city as the Roman colony of Aelia Capitolina had lasting repercussions. However, in other parts of Palestine the Jewish population remained strong. Literary and archaeological evidence indicates that in the Late Roman-early Byzantine era Jewish commuinities thrived along the eastern, southern and western edges of Judah, in the Galilee, Golan and the Beit Shean region. And a strong Jewish presence continued throughout this period in many poleis, including Caesarea Maritima and Scythopolis." He concludes that the Jews may have remained a majority into the 3rd century and even beyond.

Late Roman period

At some point in late antiquity, Jews became a minority, though the exact timing remains disputed. Eschel argues that a combination of three events: the rise of Christianity, the Jewish-Roman wars and Jewish Diaspora made Jews in the minority. David Goodblatt contends that Jews suffered a setback following the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–136), noting that Jews were still in the majority until the 3rd century and even beyond, when Christianity became the empire's official religion, and continued to thrive in different parts of Palestine. Already by the mid-3rd century the Jewish majority had been reported to have been lost, while others conclude that a Jewish majority lasted much longer – "What does seem clear is a different kind of change – immigration of Christians and the conversion of pagans, Samaritans, and Jews eventually produced a Christian majority".

Byzantine period

thumb|Byzantine provinces of Palestine

The administrative reorganization of the region in 284–305 AD by the Eastern Romans produced three Palestinian provinces of "Greater Palestine" which lasted from the 4th to the early 7th centuries: Palaestina Prima, which included the historic regions of Philistia, Judea and Samaria with the capital in Caesarea Maritima; Palaestina Secunda, which included the Galilee, the Golan Heights, as well as parts of Perea (western Transjordan) and the Decapolis, with its capital being Scythopolis; and Palaestina Salutaris which included Idumaea, the Naqab desert, Arabia Petraea, parts of Sinai, and Transjordan south of the Dead Sea, with its capital in Petra.

Under the Byzantines, the religious landscape of Palestine underwent a significant transformation, propelled by the widescale Christianization of the local Jewish, pagan and Samaritan communities, as well as immigration of Christian pilgrims and monks into the Holy land. After the failure of Bar Kokhba revolt in 135, Jews were barred from living in a large part of former Judaea. During this period, Jews were concentrated in the Galilee, the Golan and marginal areas of the Judaean hills, between Eleutheropolis and Hebron in the Daromas,

Pagan tradition flourished in the period before Constantine, Although proscribed in the Bible, pagan cults had thrived in Palestine throughout the First and Second Temple period, and many Jews did not escape it. According to E. Friedheim, many Jews in Palestine also embraced paganism and pagan cults again following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD. Talmudic tradition forbid customs relating to 'the Amorite ways', showing a persistence of ancient Canaanite customs among the non-Jewish population and their inconsistent penetration into Jewish circles.

Christian presence at the start of this period was mainly evidenced in Hellenistic cities and some of the villages in southern Judea. By the fifth century, many pagan temples in Palestine including those in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Mamre, Tel Qadesh and Tel Dan, had been demolished, and churches were erected in their place. In the rural sector, vast areas of Palestine, such as Galilee and Samaria, had Jewish and Samaritan majorities, and Christianity spread in these areas far more gradually and at a slower pace, achieving real momentum only during the second half of the Byzantine period. According to Schiffman, DellaPergola and Bar, Christians only became the majority of the country's population at the beginning of the fifth century, with the remainder being Chalcedonian and Miaphysite Christians. Arabs came to constitute a ruling minority in Palestine who despised farming and kept their nomadic lifestyle, with the tribes of Lakhm, Judham, Kinana, Khath'am, Khuza'a, and Azd Sarat forming the army of Jund Filastin (military district of Palestine).

The pace of conversion to Islam among the various Christian, Jewish, and Samaritan communities in Palestine varied during the early period (638–1098), and opinions vary regarding the extent of Islamization during the early Islamic period. Some argue Palestine was already majority Muslim by the time of arrival of the First Crusade, Arabic gradually replaced Palestinian Aramaic and largely by the 9th century, while Islamization was only finalized in the Mamluk period.

Urban centers continued to flourish after the Islamic conquest, but changes took place in the 9th and 10th centuries. Michael Ehrlich argues that the decline in urban centers likely caused local ecclesiastical administrations to weaken or disappear altogether, leaving Christians most susceptible to conversion. When certain urban centers collapsed, surrounding communities would have converted to Islam. In Samaria, the sedentarization of nomadic tribes that penetrated Samaria was complemented by the mass conversion of the Samaritan population starting from the Tulunid period (884–905). By the 12th century, central Samaria was the only fully Islamized region in Palestine, while Christians predominated in southern Samaria, the Sinjil-Jerusalem area, the western Galilee and the Hebron Hills, which only converted in later periods. and the hinterland of Ramla was predominantly Muslim when the crusaders conquered it.

Later Islamic period

In the 14th century, following the black death, the total population of Palestine, is estimated at 150,000, rising to an estimated 275,000 by 1800. The vast majority of the population during this time were Muslims and Christians, and, "A small permanent Jewish settlement existed, estimated at 7000 at the end of both the 12th and the 18th centuries, with periodical ups and downs."

While conversion to Islam appears to have halted and apparently even been reversed under the Kingdom of Jerusalem (1099–1291), it appears the process accelerated with the advent of the Ayyubids (1187–1260) and the consequent Mamluk takeover (1260–1517). By the start of the Ottoman period in 1516, it is commonly thought that the Muslim majority in the country was more-or-less like that of the mid-19th century. Conversion among the Samaritan families of Nablus to Islam continued well into the 19th century.

The 1492 Alhambra Decree forced tens of thousands of Spanish Jews who refused forced conversion to Catholicism to leave their homes. Very few of these opted to emigrate to Palestine, though the small numbers of Palestinian Jews (or Musta'arabi Jews) in Safed in particular, and much less so in Jerusalem, Hebron, anda handful of other villages were joined by some Sephardic Jews in the years following.

Traveller accounts to Safed from this period provide some information on the composition of the population. Under Crusader rule, Safed seems to have been predominantly Christian, with no Jews reported to be living there in 1170 when Benjamin de Tudela visited the city. This changed following the Ayyubid control of the city in 1188, as Samuel ben Samson, who visited in 1210 did find some Jewish families living there. Safed was made into an administrative center for the Galilee and Lebanon under Mamluk rule, and its church was converted into mosque. It was a religiously mixed city with the number of Jewish immigrants increasing significantly in the 15th and 16th centuries, particularly after it became a center for rabbinical proponents of Kabbalah.

<blockquote>From the mass of detail in the registers, it is possible to extract something like a general picture of the economic life of the country in that period. Out of a total population of about 300,000 souls, between a fifth and a quarter lived in the six towns of Jerusalem, Gaza, Safed, Nablus, Ramle, and Hebron. The remainder consisted mainly of peasants (fellahin), living in villages of varying size, and engaged in agriculture. Their main food-crops were wheat and barley in that order, supplemented by leguminous pulses, olives, fruit, and vegetables. In and around most of the towns there was a considerable number of vineyards, orchards, and vegetable gardens.</blockquote>

According to Justin McCarthy, the population of Palestine throughout the 17th and 18th centuries (1601–1801) was likely not much smaller than when it in 1850 (~340,000), after which it started to increase.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right; float:right"

! colspan="2"| Year !! colspan="4"| Population

| Ottoman || Muslims || Jews || Christians || Total

! 1850–1851

| 1267 || 300,000 || 13,000 || 27,000 || 340,000

! 1860–1861

| 1277 || 325,000 || 13,000 || 31,000 || 369,000

! 1877–1878

| 1295 || 386,320 || 13,942 || 40,588 || 440,850

! 1878–1879

| 1296 || 390,597 || 14,197 || 41,331 || 446,125

! 1879–1880

| 1297 || 394,935 || 14,460 || 42,089 || 451,484

! 1880–1881

| 1298 || 399,334 || 14,731 || 42,864 || 456,929

! 1881–1882

| 1299 || 403,795 || 15,011 || 43,659 || 462,465

! 1882–1883

| 1300 || 408,318 || 15,300 || 44,471 || 468,089

! 1883–1884

| 1301 || 412,906 || 15,599 || 45,302 || 473,807

! 1884–1885

| 1302 || 417,560 || 15,908 || 46,152 || 479,620

! 1885–1886

| 1303 || 422,280 || 16,228 || 47,022 || 485,530

! 1886–1887

| 1304 || 427,068 || 16,556 || 47,912 || 491,536

! 1887–1888

| 1305 || 431,925 || 16,897 || 48,823 || 497,645

! 1888–1889

| 1306 || 436,854 || 17,249 || 49,756 || 503,859

! 1889–1890

| 1307 || 441,267 || 17,614 || 51,065 || 509,946

! 1890–1891

| 1308 || 445,728 || 17,991 || 52,412 || 516,131

! 1891–1892

| 1309 || 450,239 || 18,380 || 53,792 || 522,411

! 1892–1893

| 1310 || 454,799 || 18,782 || 55,212 || 528,793

! 1893–1894

| 1311 || 459,410 || 19,198 || 56,670 || 535,278

! 1894–1895

| 1312 || 464,550 || 19,649 || 57,815 || 542,014

! 1895–1896

| 1313 || 469,750 || 20,117 || 58,987 || 548,854

! 1896–1897

| 1314 || 475,261 || 20,780 || 59,903 || 555,944

! 1897–1898

| 1315 || 480,843 || 21,466 || 60,834 || 563,143

! 1898–1899

| 1316 || 486,850 || 22,173 || 61,810 || 570,833

! 1899–1900

| 1317 || 492,940 || 22,905 || 62,801 || 578,646

! 1900–1901

| 1318 || 499,110 || 23,662 || 63,809 || 586,581

! 1901–1902

| 1319 || 505,364 || 24,446 || 64,832 || 594,642

! 1902–1903

| 1320 || 511,702 || 25,257 || 65,872 || 602,831

! 1903–1904

| 1321 || 518,126 || 26,096 || 66,928 || 611,150

! 1904–1905

| 1322 || 524,637 || 26,965 || 68,002 || 619,604

! 1905–1906

| 1323 || 531,236 || 27,862 || 69,092 || 628,190

! 1906–1907

| 1324 || 537,925 || 28,791 || 70,201 || 636,917

! 1907–1908

| 1325 || 544,704 || 29,753 || 71,327 || 645,784

! 1908–1909

| 1326 || 551,576 || 30,749 || 72,471 || 654,796

! 1909–1910

| 1327 || 558,541 || 31,778 || 73,633 || 663,952

! 1910–1911

| 1328 || 565,601 || 32,843 || 74,815 || 673,259

! 1910–1911

| 1329 || 572,758 || 33,946 || 76,015 || 682,719

! 1911–1912

| 1330 || 580,012 || 35,087 || 77,235 || 692,334

! 1912–1913

| 1331 || 587,366 || 36,267 || 78,474 || 702,107

! 1913–1914

| 1332 || 594,820 || 37,489 || 79,734 || 712,043

! 1914–1915

| 1333 || 602,377 || 38,754 || 81,012 || 722,143

|-class="sortbottom"

| colspan="6" span style="font-size:70%;" align=left|Figures from McCarthy, 1990, p. 10.

Late Ottoman period

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, there were several migration waves of Egyptians to Palestine. One notable influx occurred in the 1780s due to a severe famine in Egypt.

The main migration wave happened between 1829 and 1841, when Muhammad Ali and Ibrahim Pasha invaded Palestine, some Egyptian settlers and army dropouts stayed in Palestine after Egyptian retreat. These migrants primarily settled in the low country: in the Beisan area, Wadi Araba, the Jezreel valley, the Shephelah, the coastal plain and the Negev desert. This represented the largest migrant group prior to the Jewish migratory waves, with David Grossman estimating the total number between 23,000 and 30,000 people. Algerian refugees ("Maghrebis") also arrived in Palestine in the 1850s following Abdelkader's rebellion.

{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="text-align:right; float:right"

! colspan="7"| Ottoman population in 1850

!rowspan=2|

!rowspan=2 align=center |Qaza (region)

!rowspan=2| Number of towns and villages

! colspan=4 rowspan=1 |

!rowspan=1|Muslims

!rowspan=1|Christians

!rowspan=1|Jews

!rowspan=1|Total

| 1 ||align=left | Jerusalem

| ||align=left | Jerusalem|| 1 || 1,025 ||738 ||630||2,393

| ||align=left | Countryside|| 116 || 6,118 ||1,202 || || 7,320

| 2 ||align=left | Hebron

| ||align=left | Hebron|| 1 || 2,800|| ||200||3,000

| ||align=left | Countryside|| 52 || 2,820|||| || 2,820

| 3 ||align=left | Gaza

| ||align=left | Gaza|| 1 || 2,690||65 ||||2,755

| ||align=left | Countryside|| 55 || 6,417|| || || 6,417

| 3 ||align=left | Jaffa

| ||align=left | Jaffa|| 3 || 865||266||||1,131

| ||align=left | Ludd|| . || 700||207|| || 907

| ||align=left | Ramla|| . || 675||250|| || 925

| ||align=left | Countryside|| 61 || 3,439|||| || 3,439

| 4||align=left | Nablus

| ||align=left | Nablus|| 1 || 1,356||108 ||14||1,478

| ||align=left | Countryside|| 176 || 13,022|| 202 || || 13,224

| 5 ||align=left | Jinin

| ||align=left | Jinin|| 1 || 656||16 ||||672

| ||align=left | Countryside|| 39 || 2,120|| 17 || || 2,137

| 6 ||align=left | Akka

| ||align=left | Akka|| 1 || 547||210 || 6 ||763

| ||align=left | Countryside|| 34 || 1,768|| 1,021 || || 2,789

| 7 ||align=left | Haifa

| ||align=left | Haifa|| 1 || 224||228 ||8 ||460

| ||align=left | Countryside|| 41 || 2,011|| 161 || || 2,171

| 8 ||align=left | Nazareth

| ||align=left | Nazareth|| 1 || 275||1,073 ||||1,348

| ||align=left | Countryside|| 38 || 1,606|| 544 || || 2,150

| 9 ||align=left | Tiberias

| ||align=left | Tiberias|| 1 || 159||66 || 400 ||625

| ||align=left | Countryside|| 7 || 507|| || || 507

| 10 ||align=left | Safad

| ||align=left | Safad|| 1 || 1,295||3 || 1,197 ||2,495

| ||align=left | Countryside|| 38 || 1,117|| 616 || || 1,733

|-class="sortbottom"

| colspan="7" span style="font-size:70%;" align=left|Figures from Ben-Arieh, in Scholch 1985, p. 388.

The population of Jews in Palestine in 18th century was primarily composed of Sephardic Jews and is esimated at about 2,000-3,000 people.

In his extensive travels throughout Palestine in 1856, Louis Augustus Frankel conducted an in-depth population survey visiting all cities and villages in search of his Jewish brethren, and he placed their number at 10,689. According to Alexander Scholch, Palestine in 1850 had about 350,000 inhabitants, 30% of whom lived in 13 towns; roughly 85% were Muslims, 11% were Christians and 4% Jews.

The Ottoman census of 1878 indicated the following demographics for the three districts that best approximated what later became Mandatory Palestine; that is, the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem, the Nablus Sanjak, and the Acre Sanjak. In addition, some scholars estimate approximately 5,000-10,000 additional foreign-born Jews at this time:

{| class="wikitable"

! Group

! Population

! Percentage

| Muslim citizens

| 403,795

| 86–87%

| Christian citizens

| 43,659

| 9%

| Jewish citizens

| 15,011

| 3%

| Jewish (foreign-born)

| Est. 5–10,000

| 1–2%

| Total

| Up to 472,465

| 100.0%

According to Ottoman statistics studied by Justin McCarthy, the population of Palestine in the early 19th century was 350,000, in 1860 it was 411,000 and in 1900 about 600,000 of which 94% were Arabs.

The estimated 24,000 Jews in Palestine in 1882 represented just 0.3% of the world's Jewish population. From 1882 to 1904, the Jewish population in Palestine doubled due primarily to the wave of immigration from Eastern Europe as part of the Zionist Aliyah.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right"

! colspan="3" |

!Muslims

!Greek Orthodox

!Greek Catholics

!Jews

!Total

! rowspan="10" | Beirut vilayet

! rowspan="6" | Acre Sanjak

| align="left" | Akka ||31,610

|3,923

|4,311

|106

|40,665

| align="left" | Hayfa||23,338

|881

|2,553

|1,099

|28,802

| align="left" | Taberiye||8,328

|150

|244

|3,060

|13,054

| align="left" | Safed||22,356

|324

|2044

|4,126

|31,322

| align="left" | Nasıra||11,527

|2371

|1588

| ||19,912

|- style="font-weight:bold"

| align="left" | Total ||97,159

|9,503

|10,740

|8,351

|133,755

! rowspan="4" | Nablus Sanjak

| align="left" | Nablus ||74,500

|1030

| ||29

|76,428

| align="left" | Benissaab||35,787

|18

| || ||35,809

| align="left" | Cenin||40,589

|755

| || ||41,657

|- style="font-weight:bold"

| align="left" | Total ||150,876

|1803

| ||29

|153,854

! colspan="2" rowspan="5" | Jerusalem Sanjak

| align="left" | Kudüs-i Şerif ||70,270

|19,717

|533

|18,190

|120,921

| align="left" | Yafa||62,758

|5,312

|553

|2,105

|72,206

| align="left" | Gazze||77,296

|1006

| ||243

|78,597

| align="left" | Halil'ül-Rahman||55,720

| || ||721

|56,444

|- style="font-weight:bold"

| align="left" | Total ||266,044

|26,035

|1,086

|21,259

|328,168

|- style="font-weight:bold"

| colspan="3" align="center" | Total for the three sanjaks ||514,079

|36,741

|11,826

|29,639

|615,777

Per McCarthy's estimate, in 1914 Palestine had a population of 657,000 Muslim Arabs, 81,000 Christian Arabs, and 59,000 Jews. McCarthy estimates the non-Jewish population of Palestine at 452,789 in 1882, 737,389 in 1914, 725,507 in 1922, 880,746 in 1931 and 1,339,763 in 1946.

Based on the work of Roberto Bachi, Sergio Della Pergola estimated that Palestine's population in 1914 was 689,000, comprising 525,000 Muslims, 94,000 Jews, and 70,000 Christians. as a result of World War I. During the war, the Ottoman authorities deported many Jews with foreign citizenship, while others left after they were presented with a choice of taking Ottoman citizenship or leaving Palestine. By December 1915 about 14% of the Jewish population had left, mainly for Egypt, where they awaited the war's end so they could return to Palestine.

According to Dr. Mutaz M. Qafisheh, the number of people who held Ottoman citizenship prior to the British Mandate in 1922 was just over 729,873, of which 7,143 were Jews. Qafisheh calculated this using population and immigration statistics from the 1946 Survey of Palestine, as well as the fact that 37,997 people acquired provisional Palestinian naturalization certificates in September 1922 for the purpose of voting in the legislative election, of which all but 100 were Jews. The 1922 census of Palestine lists 3,210 Christians as members of Armenian churches, 271 being Armenian Catholic (176 in Jerusalem-Jaffa, 10 in Samaria, and 85 in Northern) and 2,939 being Armenian Apostolic (11 in Southern, 2,800 in Jerusalem-Jaffa, eight in Samaria, and 120 in Northern) along with 2,970 Armenian speakers, including 2,906 in municipal areas (2,442 in Jerusalem, 216 in Jaffa, 101 in Haifa, four in Gaza, 13 in Nablus, one in Safad, 20 in Nazareth, 13 in Ramleh, one in Tiberias, 37 in Bethlehem, 25 in Acre, four in Tulkarem, 21 in Ramallah, six in Jenin, one in Beersheba, and one in Baisan).

British Mandate era

thumb|Survey of Palestine, showing the increase in population between 1922 and 1944

thumb|Survey of Palestine, showing immigration between 1922 and 1944

Official reports

In 1920, the British Government's Interim Report on the Civil Administration of Palestine stated that there were hardly 700,000 people living in Palestine:

<blockquote>There are now in the whole of Palestine hardly 700,000 people, a population much less than that of the province of Gallilee alone in the time of Christ. Of these 235,000 live in the larger towns, 465,000 in the smaller towns and villages. Four-fifths of the whole population are Moslems. A small proportion of these are Bedouin Arabs; the remainder, although they speak Arabic and are termed Arabs, are largely of mixed race. Some 77,000 of the population are Christians, in large majority belonging to the Orthodox Church, and speaking Arabic. The minority are members of the Latin or of the Uniate Greek Catholic Church, or—a small number—are Protestants.

The Jewish element of the population numbers 76,000. Almost all have entered Palestine during the last 40 years. Prior to 1850 there were in the country only a handful of Jews. In the following 30 years a few hundreds came to Palestine. Most of them were animated by religious motives; they came to pray and to die in the Holy Land, and to be buried in its soil. After the persecutions in Russia forty years ago, the movement of the Jews to Palestine assumed larger proportions. Jewish agricultural colonies were founded. They developed the culture of oranges and gave importance to the Jaffa orange trade. They cultivated the vine, and manufactured and exported wine. They drained swamps. They planted eucalyptus trees. They practised, with modern methods, all the processes of agriculture. There are at the present time 64 of these settlements, large and small, with a population of some 15,000.</blockquote>

By 1948, the population had risen to 1,900,000, of whom 68% were Arabs, and 32% were Jews (UNSCOP report, including Bedouin).

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Population of Palestine, 1922–1945

! Year

! Muslims

! Christians

! Jews

! Total

|1922

|589,177

|73,024

|83,790

|757,182

|1931

|759,717

|91,398

|174,610

|1,035,821

|1945

|1,061,270

|135,550

|553,600

|1,764,520

Report and general abstract of the Jewish agriculture was taken by the Palestine Zionist Executive in April 1927.

<blockquote> Object of the Census:

(p 85) Demography: to enumerate all Jewish inhabitants living in the agricultural and semi-agricultural communities.

(p 86) Number of Settlements: 130 places have been enumerated. If we consider the large settlements and the adjacent territories as one geographical unit, then we may group these places into 101 agricultural settlements, 3 semi-agricultural places (Affule, Shekhunath Borukhov and Neve Yaaqov) and 12 farms scattered throughout the country. In addition, there were a few places which, owing to technical difficulties, were not enumerated in the month of April. (Peqiin, Meiron, Mizpa and Zikhron David, numbering in the aggregate 100 persons).

Of these agricultural settlements, 32 are located in Judea, 12 in the Plain of Sharon, 32 are located in the Plain of Jesreel, 16 in Lower Galilee, and 9 in Upper Galilee. Most of them have a very small population – about one half being inhabited by less than 100 persons each. In 42 settlements there are from 100 to 500 persons, and in only five does the population exceed 1.000. viz.

{| class="wikitable"

! Settlements !! Persons

| Pethah Tiqva|| 6,631

| Rishon le-Ziyon|| 2,143

| Rehovoth || 1,689

| Hadera || 1,378

| Zihron Yaaqov || 1,260

(p 86) Number of Inhabitants: The aggregate population living in the agricultural and semi-agricultural places were 30.500.

{| class="wikitable"

! !! Male !! Female

| 1 day – 10 years || 3,298 || 3,188

| 11 years – 20 years|| 3,059 || 2,597

| 21 years – 30 years|| 5,743 || 4,100

| 31 years – 40 years || 1,821 || 1,411

| 41 years – 50 years || 1,011 || 0,922

| Over 50 years and unknown || 1,763 || 1,587

| Total || 16,695 || 13,805

;Length of Residence in Palestine

(p 87 & p 98) The pre-war population accounts for 9,473 persons, which is slightly less than one-third of the present population, whereas the rest are post-war immigrants. Some 10.000 persons settled since 1924, since the so-called middle-class immigration.

{| class="wikitable"

! Length of residence in Years !!Men !!Women !! Children !!Total || %

|- Years || || || || || -

| 1 || 1504 ||1118 ||1746 ||4368 || 14.2

| 2 || 2406 || 2020 ||1575 || 6001 || 19.6

| 3 || 1311 ||913 ||1133 ||3357 || 11.5

| 4 || 695 ||556 ||720 ||1971 || 6.4

| 5 || 682 ||454 ||513 ||1649 || 5.4

| 6 || 856 || 403 ||390 ||1649 || 5.4

| 7 || 682 || 277 || 379 || 1358 || 4.3

| 8 || 139 || 45 || 261 || 445 || 1.5

| 9 || 39 || 10 || 200 || 249 || 0.8

| 10–13 || 237 || 218 || 893 || 1348 || 4.4

| 14–20 || 1882 || 1630 || 216 || 3728 || 12.1

| 21–29 || 864 || 800 || - || 1664 || 5.4

| Over 30 || 836 || 930 || - || 1766 || 5.8

| Unspecified || 336 || 281 || 350 || 967 || 3.2

| Total || 12,469 || 9,655 || 8,376 || 30,500 || 100%

</blockquote>

Late Arab and Muslim immigration to Palestine

thumb|The "Survey of Palestine" of the British Government in Palestine, 1946, commenting on misconceptions around illegal Arab immigration

Ottoman period, 1800–1918

At the end of the 18th century, there was a bi-directional movement between Egypt and Palestine. Between 1829 and 1841, thousands of Egyptian fellahin (peasants) arrived in Palestine fleeing Muhammad Ali Pasha's conscription, which he reasoned as the casus belli to invade Palestine in October 1831, ostensibly to repatriate the Egyptian fugitives. Egyptian forced labourers, mostly from the Nile Delta, were brought in by Muhammad Ali and settled in saknāt (neighborhoods) along the coast for agriculture, which set off bad blood with the indigenous fellahin, who resented Muhammad Ali's plans and interference, prompting the wide-scale Peasants' revolt in Palestine in 1834. After Egyptian defeat and retreat in 1841, many laborers and deserters stayed in Palestine.

More recently, geographers Roy Marom and Avi Sasson argued that the notion of an “Egyptian migration” into Palestine is analytically misleading. Rather than constituting a coherent or external group, “Egyptians” functioned as a loose and heterogeneous identity category whose members were socially diverse and became integrated components of local rural society, settling within existing village systems and contributing to their expansion rather than forming a distinct or alien layer.

The Naqab desert further south preserved its Bedouin population, who had reportedly lived in the area since the 7th century. Many Bedouin tribes moved from the Hejaz and Transjordan in the 14th and 15th centuries. According to the 1922 census of Palestine, "The Ottoman authorities in 1914 placed the tribal population of Beersheba at 55,000, and since that date there has been a migration of tribes from the Hejaz and Southern Transjordan into the Beersheba area mainly as a result of succession of adequate rainfalls and of pressure exerted by other tribes east of the River Jordan." For 1922, the census gives a figure of 74,910 including 72,998 in the tribal areas.

Demographer Uziel Schmelz, in his analysis of Ottoman registration data for 1905 populations of Jerusalem and Hebron kazas, found that most Ottoman citizens living in these areas, comprising about one quarter of the population of Palestine, were living at the place where they were born. Specifically, of Muslims, 93.1% were born in their current locality of residence, 5.2% were born elsewhere in Palestine, and 1.6% were born outside Palestine. Of Christians, 93.4% were born in their current locality, 3.0% were born elsewhere in Palestine, and 3.6% were born outside Palestine. Of Jews (excluding the large fraction who were not Ottoman citizens), 59.0% were born in their current locality, 1.9% were born elsewhere in Palestine, and 39.0% were born outside Palestine.

British Mandate period, 1919–1948

thumb|Mandatory Palestine population by birthplace from the [[1931 census of Palestine. According to the census 98% of Palestinian Muslims were born in Palestine, compared to 80% of Christians and 42% of Jews.]]

According to Roberto Bachi, head of the Israeli Institute of Statistics from 1949 onwards, between 1922 and 1945 there was a net Arab migration into Palestine of between 40,000 and 42,000, excluding 9,700 people who were incorporated after territorial adjustments were made to the borders in the 1920s. Based on these figures, and including those netted by the border alterations, Joseph Melzer calculates an upper boundary of 8.5% for Arab growth in the two decades, and interprets it to mean the local Palestinian community's growth was generated primarily by natural increase in birth rates, for both Muslims and Christians.

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Population of Palestine, 1922–1945

! Year

! Muslims

! Christians

! Jews

! Total

|1922

|589,177

|73,024

|83,790

|757,182

|1931

|759,717

|174,610

|91,398

|1,035,821

|1945

|1,061,270

|135,550

|553,600

|1,764,520

According to a Jewish Agency survey, 77% of Palestinian population growth in Palestine between 1914 and 1938, during which the Palestinian population doubled, was due to natural increase, while 23% was due to immigration. Arab immigration was primarily from Lebanon, Syria, Transjordan, and Egypt (all countries that bordered Palestine).

The overall assessment of several British reports was that the increase in the Arab population was primarily due to natural increase. These included the Hope Simpson Enquiry (1930), the Passfield White Paper (1930), the Peel Commission report (1937), and the Survey of Palestine (1945). However, the Hope Simpson Enquiry did note that there was significant illegal immigration from the surrounding Arab territories, It estimated that unrecorded immigration during that period may have amounted to 9,000 Jews and 4,000 Arabs.

::::::::Palestinian immigration, 1936–1939

::::::::{| class="wikitable"

! Jews !! Arabs

| rowspan=1 | 69,716 || 2,267

::::::::Expulsions of illegals, 1937–1938

::::::::{| class="wikitable"

! Jews !! Arabs (et al.).

| rowspan=1 | 125 || 1,704

According to Mark Tessler, at least some of the Arab population growth was the result of immigration, mostly from the Sinai, Lebanon, Syria, and Transjordan, stimulated by the relatively favorable economic conditions in Palestine, but he noted differing opinions among scholars over how substantial it was. He cited one study as putting the Arab population growth attributable to immigration between 1922 and 1931 at 7%, meaning that 4% of the Arab population in 1931 was foreign-born, while noting another estimate

In a 1974 study, demographer Roberto Bachi estimated that about 900 Muslims per year were detected as illegal immigrants but not deported. He noted the impossibility of estimating illegal immigration that was undetected, or the fraction of those persons who eventually departed. He did note that there was an unexplained increase in the Muslim population between 1922 and 1931, and he did suggest, though qualifying it as a "mere guess", that this was due to a combination of unrecorded immigration (using the 1931 census report estimate) and undercounting in the 1922 census.

While noting the uncertainty of earlier data, Bachi also observed that the Muslim population growth in the 19th century appeared to be high by world standards:

"[B]etween 1800 and 1914, the Muslim population had a yearly average increase of an order of magnitude of roughly 6–7 per thousand. This can be compared to the very crude estimate of about 4 per thousand for the "less developed countries" of the world (in Asia, Africa, and Latin America) between 1800 and 1910. It is possible that some part of the growth of the Muslim population was due to immigration. However, it seems likely that the dominant determinant of this modest growth was the beginning of some natural increase."

</blockquote>

According to Justin McCarthy, "evidence for Muslim immigration into Palestine is minimal. Because no Ottoman records of that immigration have yet been discovered, one is thrown back on demographic analysis to evaluate Muslim migration." McCarthy argues that there was no significant Arab immigration into mandatory Palestine:

From analyses of rates of increase of the Muslim population of the three Palestinian sanjaks, one can say with certainty that Muslim immigration after the 1870s was small. Had there been a large group of Muslim immigrants their numbers would have caused an unusual increase in the population and this would have appeared in the calculated rate of increase from one registration list to another ... Such an increase would have been easily noticed; it was not there.

</blockquote>

The argument that Arab immigration somehow made up a large part of the Palestinian Arab population is thus statistically untenable. The vast majority of the Palestinian Arabs resident in 1947 were the sons and daughters of Arabs who were living in Palestine before modern Jewish immigration began. There is no reason to believe that they were not the sons and daughters of Arabs who had been in Palestine for many centuries.

</blockquote>

McCarthy also concludes that there was no significant internal migration to Jewish areas attributable to better economic conditions:

Some areas of Palestine did experience greater population growth than others, but the explanation for this is simple. Radical economic change was occurring all over the Mediterranean Basin at the time. Improved transportation, greater mercantile activity, and greater industry had increased the chances for employment in cities, especially coastal cities... Differential population increase was occurring all over the Eastern Mediterranean, not just in Palestine... The increase in Muslim population had little or nothing to do with Jewish immigration. In fact the province that experienced the greatest Jewish population growth (by .035 annually), Jerusalem Sanjak, was the province with the lowest rate of growth of Muslim population (.009).

</blockquote>Fred M. Gottheil has questioned McCarthy's estimates of immigration. Gottheil says that McCarthy didn't give proper weight to the importance of economic incentives at the time, and that McCarthy cites Roberto Bachi's estimates as conclusive numbers, rather than lower bounds based on detected illegal immigration.

Gad Gilbar has also concluded that the prosperity of Palestine in the 45–50 years before World War I was a result of the modernization and growth of the economy owing to its integration with the world economy and especially with the economies of Europe. Although the reasons for growth were exogenous to Palestine the bearers were not waves of Jewish immigration, foreign intervention nor Ottoman reforms but "primarily local Arab Muslims and Christians." However, Gilbar did attribute the rapid growth of Jaffa and Haifa in the final three decades of Ottoman rule in part to migration, writing that "both attracted population from the rural and urban surroundings and immigrants from outside Palestine."

Yehoshua Porath believes that the notion of "large-scale immigration of Arabs from the neighboring countries" is a myth "proposed by Zionist writers". He writes:

As all the research by historian Fares Abdul Rahim and geographers of modern Palestine shows, the Arab population began to grow again in the middle of the nineteenth century. That growth resulted from a new factor: the demographic revolution. Until the 1850s there was no "natural" increase of the population, but this began to change when modern medical treatment was introduced and modern hospitals were established, both by the Ottoman authorities and by the foreign Christian missionaries. The number of births remained steady but infant mortality decreased. This was the main reason for Arab population growth. ... No one would doubt that some migrant workers came to Palestine from Syria and Trans-Jordan and remained there. But one has to add to this that there were migrations in the opposite direction as well. For example, a tradition developed in Hebron to go to study and work in Cairo, with the result that a permanent community of Hebronites had been living in Cairo since the fifteenth century. Trans-Jordan exported unskilled casual labor to Palestine; but before 1948 its civil service attracted a good many educated Palestinian Arabs who did not find work in Palestine itself. Demographically speaking, however, neither movement of population was significant in comparison to the decisive factor of natural increase.

</blockquote>

Modern era

, Israeli and Palestinian statistics for the overall numbers of Jews and Arabs in the area west of the Jordan, inclusive of Israel and the Palestinian territories, are similar and suggest a rough parity in the two populations. Palestinian statistics estimate 6.1 million Palestinians for that area, while Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics estimates 6.2 million Jews living in sovereign Israel. Gaza is estimated by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) to have 1.7 million, and the West Bank 2.8 million Palestinians, while Israel proper has 1.7 million Arab citizens. According to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics, as of May 2006, of Israel's 7 million people, 77% were Jews, 18.5% Arabs, and 4.3% "others". Among Jews, 68% were Sabras (Israeli-born), mostly second- or third-generation Israelis, and the rest are olim – 22% from Europe and the Americas, and 10% from Asia and Africa, including the Arab countries.

According to these Israeli and Palestinian estimates, the population in Israel and the Palestinian territories stands at from 6.1 to 6.2 million Palestinians and 6.1 million Jews. and DellaPergola, the latter dismissing Ettinger's calculations as 'delusional' or manipulated for ignoring the birth-rate differentials between the two populations (3 children per Jewish mother vs 3.4 for Palestinians generally, and 4.1 in the Gaza Strip). DellaPergola allows, however, for an inflation in the Palestinian statistics due to the counting of Palestinians who are abroad, a discrepancy of some 380,000 individuals. The Palestinian census covers the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The Palestinian census does not cover Israeli settlements in the West Bank including those in East Jerusalem. The census does not provide any ethnic or religious distinction. However, it is reasonable to assume that almost everyone counted is Palestinian Arab.

As per this census, the total population of the Palestinian territories was 4,780,978.

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:right;line-height:100%;background:#fbd4d4;" | 1,828,115

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:center;line-height:100%;background:#fbd4d4;" | 2023

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:right;line-height:100%;background:#e6e6f6;" | 517,407

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:center;line-height:100%;background:#e6e6f6;" | 1/2024

| style="vertical-align: top;text-align:right;line-height:100%;background:#fbd4d4;" | 300,000

| style="vertical-align: top;text-align:center;line-height:100%;background:#fbd4d4;" | 2019

| style="vertical-align: top;text-align:right;background:beige;" | 817,407

| style="vertical-align: top;text-align:center;line-height:100%;background:beige;" | 2019/ /-24

| style="vertical-align: top;text-align:right;line-height:100%;background:#e6e6f6;" | 517,407

| style="vertical-align: top;text-align:right;line-height:100%;background:#fbd4d4" | 300,000

| style="vertical-align: top;text-align:right;line-height:100%;background:#e6e6f6;" | not specified separately

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:right;line-height:100%;background:#fbd4d4;" |

<!--

EAST JERUSALEM - PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY COUNTS ALL, ISRAEL COUNTS ALL (PALESTINIANS ARE MOSTLY JORDANIAN CITIZENS WITH EAST JERUSALEM RESIDENCE)

-->

| style="vertical-align:top;line-height:100%;background:#e6e6f6;" | East Jerusalem (Occupied/Annexed)

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:right;line-height:100%;background:#e6e6f6;" | 240,832 incl. Israeli Arab ~18,982

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:center;line-height:100%;background:#e6e6f6;" | 2021

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:right;line-height:100%;background:#e6e6f6;" | 611,384

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:center;line-height:100%;background:#e6e6f6;" | 2021

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:right;line-height:100%;background:#e6e6f6;" | 739,257

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:right;line-height:100%;background:beige;" | 2,517,649

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:right;line-height:100%;background:beige;" | not specified separately

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:right;line-height:100%;background:#fbd4d4;" | 5,880

<!--

GAZA STRIP - ONLY PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY COUNTS - NO ISRAELI RESIDENTS AS OF FEB. 2024

-->

| style="vertical-align:middle;line-height:100%;#fbd4d4;background:#fbd4d4;" | Gaza Strip

| style="vertical-align:middle;text-align:right;background:#fbd4d4" | 0

| style="vertical-align:middle;text-align:center;background:#fbd4d4;" |

| style="vertical-align:middle;text-align:right;line-height:100%;background:#fbd4d4;" | 2,226,544

| style="vertical-align:middle;text-align:center;line-height:100%;background:#fbd4d4;" | 2023

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:right;background:aliceblue;" | 8,289,657

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:center;line-height:100%;background:aliceblue;" | 2019/ -21/-3

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:right;background:aliceblue;" | 0

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:center;background:aliceblue;" |

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:right;background:aliceblue;" | 8,289,657

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:center;line-height:100%;background:aliceblue;" | 2019/ -21/-3

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:right;line-height:100%;background:aliceblue;" |

53,000 Jews 27,000 Druze 24,000 Alawite 2,000

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:center;line-height:100%;background:aliceblue;" |

2021

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:right;background:aliceblue;" | 0

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:center;line-height:100%;background:aliceblue;" |

2021

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:right;line-height:100%;background:aliceblue;" |7,554,000

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:right;line-height:100%;background:aliceblue;" |Israeli cit. 1,734,000 Non-Israeli ~370,552

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:right;line-height:100%;background:aliceblue;" |554,000

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:right;line-height:100%;background:aliceblue;" |

<!--

TOTAL ISRAEL & PALESTINE COMBINED

-->

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:left;line-height:100%;background:#e6e6f6"| Total Israel + Palestine combined

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:right;line-height:100%;background:#e6e6f6" | 9,471,448

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:right;line-height:100%;background:#e6e6f6" | derived

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:right;line-height:100%;background:#e6e6f6" | 4,725,211

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:right;line-height:100%;background:#e6e6f6" | derived

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:right;line-height:100%;background:#e6e6f6" | 14,833,110

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:center;line-height:100%;background:#e6e6f6" | Sum

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:right;line-height:100%;background:#e6e6f6" | 7,554,000 (50.7%)

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:right;line-height:100%;background:#e6e6f6" | 6,778,193 (45.5%) Israeli 1,734,000 (11.6%), Non-Israeli 5,044,193 (33.9%)

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:right;line-height:100%;background:#e6e6f6" | 554,000 (3.7%)

| style="vertical-align:top;align:right;background:#e6e6f6" | 25,650

Summary

Here is a summary chart of the above information without relying on color schemes:

{|class="wikitable sortable"

!colspan="2" | Region

!De facto status

!Israeli census

!Palestinian census

!Population

|colspan="2"|Green Line

|Israeli control

|8,289,657

|rowspan="3"|West Bank

|East Jerusalem

|Israeli control

|611,384

|Area C

|Israeli control

| (Israelis only)

|817,407

|Areas A and B

|Israeli-Palestinian shared control

|1,828,115

|colspan="2"|Gaza Strip

|Palestinian control, Israeli-Egytian blockade

|2,226,544

|colspan="2"|Golan Heights

|Israeli control

|53,000

Note: Israeli definitions

Notes

References

Bibliography

Forbes, Andrew, and Henley, David, People of Palestine (Chiang Mai: Cognoscenti Books, 2012), ASIN: B0094TU8VY