Palestine Archipelago

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Palestine is an area of the eastern Mediterranean, including parts of present-day Israel and the Palestinian territories of the Gaza Strip (along with the seashore of the Mediterranean Sea) and the West Bank (west of the Jordan River).

The word Palestine descends from the Greek word, “Philistia,” which relates to the Philistines who conquer this part of the Middle East in the twelfth century BCE.

Nowadays, despite its small size Palestine like in ancient times, continues to play a notable role in politics because it is an essential geographic intersection between Aisa and Africa. Moreover, Palestine is also perceived as the Holy Land sacred for Christians, Muslims, and Jews. Today, the Arab people of Palestine have a solid wish to create a sovereign state.

After WWII, in 1947, the United Nations ratified a Partition Plan for Mandatory Palestine suggesting the foundation of sovereign Arab and Jewish states and an internationalized city of Jerusalem. This proposal was agreed upon by the Jews but declined by the Arabs. It is later led to military conflicts.

The land demanded by the State of Palestine has been invaded since 1948, first by Egypt (Gaza Strip) and Jordan (West Bank) and then by Israel following the Six-Day War in 1967.

After the Oslo agreements in 1993, the Palestinian National Authority was formed to govern areas in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Today the State of Palestine is demanding the West Bank and Gaza Strip with Jerusalem as the capital. But, just partial governmental control is held over the 167 “islands” in the West Bank, and a rival Hamas government controls Gaza.

Below is the map of the State of Palestine visualized by Reddit user Homesanto as an archipelago.

And here is segregated road system of the West Bank.

Palestine has a population slightly large of 5 million, listed 121st worldwide.

Nowadays, the State of Palestine has been acknowledged by 138 of the 193 United Nations members and since 2012 has had a position of a non-member observer state in the UN. Israel and some other nations, including the US, don’t recognize Palestine as an independent nation.

Today, Palestine theoretically includes the West Bank (a territory that sits between modern-day Israel and Jordan) and the Gaza Strip (which borders modern-day Israel and Egypt). However, control over this region is a complex and evolving situation. There is no international consensus concerning the borders.

Although Palestinians control critical land areas, including the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, some Israelis continue to reside in territories mainly recognized to be under Palestinian control with their government’s intercession. Various international rights organizations recognize such settlements as illegitimate, the boundaries aren’t distinctly marked, and constant conflict remains common.