The status of Palestine
Palestine is a UN permanent observer state, recognised by most of the world's countries but not a full UN member. That is why it appears among the 249 entries here but not among the 192 UN member states: the two lists answer different questions, and neither one is simply "the countries of the world".
Recognition is a political fact rather than a geographic one, and it is not all-or-nothing — a state can hold a seat at some international bodies, issue its own passports and run its own currency while a portion of the world declines to recognise it. Judge the practical questions on their own evidence rather than on the UN membership list alone.
Not holding a UN seat is not the same as having no self-government, and the administrative details make that clear. Palestine has 5 of the five markers of separate administration tracked on this page — its own currency, its own dialling code, its own internet domain, its own iso codes and a designated capital. In day-to-day terms it is run substantially as its own jurisdiction.
- Its own currencyEGP, ILS, JOD
- Its own dialling code+970
- Its own internet domain.ps
- Its own ISO codesps / PSE
- A designated capitalRamallah
Palestine overview
Palestine sits in Western Asia, part of Asia. It is a UN permanent observer state, recognised by most of the world's countries but not a full UN member. In formal use it is State of Palestine. The capital is Ramallah.
Its territory runs to 6,220 km², which ranks it 173rd of the 249 countries and territories in this dataset — just behind the French Southern and Antarctic Lands and just ahead of Brunei. That makes it about two thirds the size of Cyprus.
Some 5.3 million people call it home, placing it 122nd of 249 by population — between the Central African Republic above it and New Zealand below. Within Western Asia alone it is the 16th largest of 17 and the 11th most populous.
Palestine at a glance
- Capital
- Ramallah
- Population
- 5,289,152
- Area
- 6,220 km²
- Region
- Western Asia, Asia
- Languages
- Arabic
- Currency
- Egyptian pound (EGP), Israeli new shekel (ILS), Jordanian dinar (JOD)
- Calling code
- +970
- Internet TLD
- .ps
- People per km²
- 850
Where Palestine is and what surrounds it
Its reference point sits at 31.9° north and 35.2° east, which puts it in the northern hemisphere, roughly 3,551 km from the equator, in what geographers would call subtropical latitudes.
Countries on the same parallel, far away in longitude, include Morocco and Bermuda.
Its land neighbours number 3: Israel, Egypt and Jordan. The largest of them by area is Egypt, which is also the most populous. Together those neighbours hold about 138.1 million people.
With both a coast and land borders, it has the trade options a landlocked country does not.
Where Palestine is on the map
The map below is centred on Palestine at roughly 31.90°, 35.20°. Pan and zoom to see how it sits against its surroundings — the shape of a country's borders explains a surprising amount about its history.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
Population, density and language
Population divided by land area gives roughly 850 people per square kilometre, which makes it densely populated. The median across all 249 entries here is about 91 per square kilometre.
Someone from Palestine is a Palestinian.
Officially it is monolingual: Arabic. Arabic is one of the widely shared official languages here, listed by 24 other entries including Algeria, Bahrain, Chad and the Comoros.
Inside Asia it places 38th of 50 by population, and it accounts for 1.7% of everyone living in Western Asia.
Money and language in Palestine
Palestine does not have the Egyptian pound to itself. It is one of 2 entries on this site that use the currency, whose code is EGP, and the other one is listed below. A shared currency usually points at something real — a monetary union, a currency board, a former colonial administration, or a small economy pegging itself to a large neighbour's money — and it means a price quoted in EGP travels further than you might expect.
Language reaches wider still. Arabic is listed for 25 entries here, Palestine among them, so a visitor who speaks it can be understood across a large part of the map. Shared language tends to outlive the empires, trade routes and migrations that spread it, which is why the linguistic map and the political one rarely line up.
Also uses the Egyptian pound (EGP):
Also uses the Israeli new shekel (ILS):
Also uses the Jordanian dinar (JOD):
Countries bordering Palestine
Palestine shares a land border with 3 countries: Israel, Egypt and Jordan. Each one has its own guide here.
Palestine within Western Asia
Zoom in from the world to Western Asia and Palestine sits 11th of 17 by population and 16th by area. Its immediate company in that ordering is Lebanon just above and Oman just below, which is a more honest comparison set than a global league table.
Türkiye is the largest of the group by population, and every entry in Western Asia has its own page here if you want to work through the whole neighbourhood rather than one country at a time.
Palestine codes and abbreviations
Every country carries a small set of codes that quietly run the practical world — phone networks, web addresses, passports, luggage tags and dropdown menus. Here are Palestine's, and what each one is actually for.
- Calling code+970
- Dial +970 after your international access code to reach a number in Palestine.
- Internet domain.ps
- .ps is the country-code top-level domain, so a web address ending in it is registered to Palestine.
- ISO two-letter codeps
- Used on vehicle plates, in currency pairs and in almost every dropdown list of countries.
- ISO three-letter codePSE
- The form you will see on passports, at airports and in sports scoreboards.
- DemonymPalestinian
- The correct word for a person from Palestine, and for the adjective form.
Fun facts about Palestine
- Websites based there use the .ps domain.
- In land area it is about two thirds the size of Cyprus.
- Its full official name is State of Palestine.
- Population density works out at roughly 850 people per square kilometre.
- Morocco and Bermuda sit at almost the same latitude, on the far side of the globe.
- Arabic is official here and in 24 other entries worldwide.
- People from Palestine are known as Palestinians.
- Within Western Asia it is the 16th largest of 17.
Palestine — frequently asked questions
- What is the capital of Palestine?
- The capital of Palestine is Ramallah.
- Which countries border Palestine?
- Palestine borders 3 countries: Israel, Egypt and Jordan. Egypt is the largest of them by area.
- How big is Palestine?
- Palestine covers 6,220 km², ranking 173rd of 249 by land area. That makes it about two thirds the size of Cyprus.
- Where is Palestine located?
- Palestine is in Western Asia, part of Asia. Its reference coordinates are 31.9° north and 35.2° east, roughly 3,551 km from the equator in subtropical latitudes.
- What currency does Palestine use?
- Palestine uses the Egyptian pound, written E£ (currency code EGP). It is shared with 1 other entry: Egypt.
- Is Palestine a country?
- It depends on the rule you use, which is why the answer is worth spelling out. Palestine is a UN permanent observer state, recognised by most of the world's countries but not a full UN member. It is not a dependency of another state, so lists of dependent territories leave it out, and it is not a UN member, so the familiar count of 192 leaves it out too. It appears here with its own flag, capital and statistics like every other entry.
- What language is spoken in Palestine?
- The official language of Palestine is Arabic. It is also official in 24 other entries on this list.
- What is the population of Palestine?
- Palestine has a population of about 5.3 million, which makes it the 122nd most populous of the 249 countries and territories listed on this site. The Central African Republic sits just above it and New Zealand just below.
