There were 9.7 million Palestinians in the world at the end of 2003, of whom 3.7 million lived in Palestinian Authority territory and one million in Israel, according to a report by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).
According to the report, 2.3 million Palestinians live on the West Bank (63.3% of the Palestinian population in the territories) and 1.4 million (36.7%) in the Gaza strip.
2.8 million Palestinians live in Jordan, 436 thousand in Syria, 415 thousand in Lebanon, and 62 thousand in Egypt.
A total of 595 thousand Palestinians live in other Arab countries, 236 thousand live in the US, and some 301 thousand in the rest of the world.
According to the PCBS data, there were 4.6 million Palestinians in the area between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea at the end of 2002. The PCBS estimates that this population will grow to some 5.1 million by mid-2005, and will equal the Jewish population in the same area at some point in 2006. By 2007, the PCBS says, there will be a Palestinian majority in this area.
By 2010, the PCBS estimates, 6.2 million Palestinians and 5.7 million Jews will live between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea, and by 2020, the Jewish population will be only 44% of the total, 6.4 million compared with 8.2 million Palestinians.
Of the residents of the territories, 42.6% are refuges. 46% of the population in the territories are under fifteen years of age. The life expectancy of a man in the territories is 70.7 years, and of a woman 73.8 years, the PCBS says.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on January 6, 2004