Palestinian Authority: Population Statistics
(2021)
|
Governorate
|
Population
|
||
|
1997
|
2007
|
2021 | |
|
West Bank
|
1,873,476
|
2,350,583
|
2,949,246*
|
| Jenin |
203,026
|
256,619
|
332,050
|
| Tubas |
36,609
|
50,261
|
64,507
|
| Tulkarem |
134,110
|
157,988
|
195,341
|
| Qalqilya |
72,007
|
91,217
|
119,042
|
| Salfit |
48,538
|
59,570
|
80,225
|
| Nablus |
261,340
|
320,830
|
407,754
|
| Ramallah/Al-Bireh |
213,582
|
279,730
|
347,818
|
| Jerusalem |
328,601
|
363,649
|
461,666
|
| Jericho |
32,713
|
42,320
|
52,355
|
| Bethlehem/Bet Jala |
137,286
|
176,235
|
229,884
|
| Hebron |
405,664
|
552,164
|
762,541
|
| Gaza Strip |
1,022,207
|
1,499,369
|
1,957,062*
|
| North Gaza |
183,373
|
290,843
|
403,457
|
| Gaza City |
367,388
|
524,001
|
695,967
|
| Deir Al-Balah |
147,877
|
216,494
|
294,260
|
| Khan Yunis |
200,704
|
290,399
|
401,582
|
| Rafah |
122,865
|
177,632
|
252,703
|
| Total Population |
2,895,683
|
3,849,952
|
4,906,308*
|
*Note: The accuracy of Palestinian official statistics are controversial. See, for example, Yotam Berger and Jack Khoury, “How Many Palestinians Live in Gaza and the West Bank? It’s Complicated,” Haaretz, (May 28 2018); Yakov Faitelson, “The Politics of Palestinian Demography,” Middle East Quarterly, (Spring 2009), pp. 51-59; Bennett Zimmerman, Roberta Seid, and Michael L. Wise, “The Million Person Gap: The Arab Population in the West Bank and Gaza,” Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, (February 2006).
Sergio DellaPergola gives totals of 2,688,900 for the West Bank and 1,980,000 for the Gaza Strip for a total of 4,668,900 Palestinians in the Palestinian Authority as of January 2021. “World Jewish Population, 2020,” in Arnold Dashefsky and Ira M. Sheskin (eds.), The American Jewish Year Book, 2020, Volume 119. Dordrecht: Springer, (2021);
The Jewish Virtual Library uses CIA data whenever possible to avoid debate over figures provided by the Palestinian Authority. The totals are from the CIA whereas the figures for the individual governorates are from the PA so adding the totals for the governorates will be different. The July 2021 estimate by the CIA, for example, indicates the population of the West Bank and Gaza Strip is 2,949,246 and 1,957,062, respectively, for a total population of 4,906,308. The comparable figures for 2020 published in March 2021 by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics are 3,086,816, 2,077,357, and 5,164,173, a difference of about 5%.
Sources: Palestine in Figures 2020, Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, (March 2021).
The World Fact Book, CIA, (2021).
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