Palestine

  

This country is part of the Altverse II universe.

Republic of Palestine جمهورية فلسطين (Arabic) Jumhuriat Filastin
Flag Coat of arms
Area highlighted in green is controlled by the Republic of Palestine.
Capital and largest city	Yafa 32°03′08″N, 34°45′11″E
Official languages	Arabic
Ethnic groups (2018)	89.25% Arab 3.24% Armenian 2.78% Kurd 2.01% Chechen 1.69% Assyrian 1.03% Others
Religion	90.44% Islam 7.84% Christianity 1.01% Bahaʼi 0.71% Druzism
Demonym(s)	Palestinian
Government	Unitary single-party republic
• General Secretary of the PNA & President	Mehmud Nassar Halaby
• Prime Minister	Jablah K. K. Beshara
Area
• Total	116,132 km2 (44,839 sq mi)
• Water (%)	0.99%
Population
• 2020 estimate	15,817,199
• 2018 census	15,595,758
• Density	136.20/km2 (352.8/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	2020 estimate
• Total	$719.018 billion
• Per capita	$45,258
GDP (nominal)	2020 estimate
• Total	$543.899 billion
• Per capita	$34,387
Gini (2017)	44.33 medium
HDI (2019)	0.916 very high
Currency	Palestinian Dinar (PSD)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy
Driving side	right
Calling code	+970
ISO 3166 code	PS
Internet TLD	.ps

Etymology

The origins of the word “Palestine” has been debated widely by the etymological community. However, a widely accepted theory is that the word is derived from the ancient Egyptian and Hebrew word “פּיליסהית” (“peleshet”)—which roughly translates to “rolling” or “migratory”, and was used to describe the inhabitants of the land in northeastern Egypt: Philistines. A derivative of the word “Palestine” first appeared in ancient Greek records when historian Herodotus described the region inhabited by the Philistines as “Palaistine”.

When Judaism was at its peak, the area came to be known as “Syria Palaestina”, following the merger Roman Syria and Roman Judea after the Bar Kokhba revolt. The name remained until the Byzantine period, during which it was known as “Palaestina Prima”, “Palaestina Secunda”, and “Palaestina Salutaris”. The Muslim administration that followed continued to use Byzantine terms, but in Arabic. The name eventually evolved into the modern word “Palestine” in Early Modern English}, and was used widely during the Mutasarrifate Administration of Jerusalem. Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, and the concession of the area thereafter, it became known as its present-day name— “Islamic Republic of Palestine” or simply “Palestine”.

History

Prehistoric

The earliest human remains in Palestine were found in Ubeidiya, some 3 km south of the Sea of Tabariya (Lake Tiberias), in the Al-Ghor Valley. The remains were dated to the Pleistocene period (circa. 1.5 million BP). These were the earliest traces of migration of the Homo erectus out of Africa. The site yielded hand axes, sharpened stone, and other tools of the Acheulean type.

Bronze Age and the New Kingdom of Egypt

By the early Bronze Age (circa. 3000–2200 BCE), independent Canaanite city-states situated in plains and coastal regions and surrounded by mud-brick defensive walls were established relying on nearby agricultural hamlets for their food. The Canaanite city-states held trade and diplomatic relations with Egypt and Syria. Parts of the Canaanite urban civilization were destroyed around 2300 BCE, though there is no consensus as to why. Incursions by nomads from the east of the Al-Ghor River who settled in the hills followed soon thereafter.

In the Middle Bronze Age (circa. 2200–1500 BCE), the Canaanite region was influenced by the surrounding civilizations of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Phoenicia, Minoan Crete, and Syria. Diversity in commercial ties and an agriculturally based economy led to the development of new pottery forms, the cultivation of grapes, and the extensive use of bronze. Burial customs from this time seemed to be influenced by a belief in the afterlife. The Middle Egyptian execration texts attest to Canaanite trade relations with Egypt during this period. The Minoan influence is apparent at “Mound of Coffee” archeological tell outside the seaside town of Nahariya.

During 1550–1400 BCE, the Canaanite cities became vassals to the Egypt state as the Egyptian New Kingdom reunited Egypt and expanded into the Levant under Ahmose I and Thutmose I. Political, commercial and military events towards the end of this period (circa. 1450–1350 BCE) were recorded by ambassadors and Canaanite proxy rulers for Egypt in 379 cuneiform tablets known as the Amarna Letters. These refer to several local proxy rulers for Egypt such as Biridiya of Megiddo, Lib'ayu of Shechem and Abdi-Heba of Jerusalem.

After a brief period away from Egyptian rule, in the first year of his reign, the pharaoh Seti I (circa. 1294–1290 BCE) waged a campaign to resubordinate Canaan to Egyptian rule, thrusting north as far as Baysan, and installing local vassals to administer the area in his name. A burial site yielding a scarabs bearing his name, found within a Canaanite coffin excavated in the Jezreel Valley, attests to Egypt's presence in the area.

Iron Age and the kingdoms of Assyria, Babylonia, and Persia

The Iron Age in Palestine stretches from about the 12th century to the 5th century BCE. For long, historians relied on the stories in the Hebrew Bible to create a narrative of the period. These stories have largely been discarded as myths as more archaeological finds have been unearthed that paints a radically different view of the epoch.

Sometime in the 12th century BCE, a group of people known as the Philistines occupied the southern coast of Palestine. The Philistines were credited with introducing iron weapons, chariots, and new ways of fermenting wine to the local population. Over time the Philistines integrated with the local population and they, like the other people in Palestine, were engulfed by first the Assyrian empire and later the Babylonian empire. Over time, the 6th century, they disappeared from written history.

Traces of early Israelites appeared at about the same time as the Philistines. The Israelites inhabited Palestine's barren hillside, a loosely defined highland region stretching from the Judean hills in the south to the Samarian hills in the north. The population, at most forty-five thousand, were poor and lived relatively isolated from the Canaanite city-states that occupied the plains and the coastal regions. By the 8th century BCE, the population had grown to some 160,000 individuals over 500 settlements split into the two kingdoms—Israel in the north and Judah in the south. Israel was the more prosperous of the kingdoms and developed into a regional power while Judah was economically marginal and backward. In contrast to the Philistines, the Israelites did not eat pork, preferred plain pottery, and circumcised their boys.

The socio-political system during the early Iron Age was characterized by infighting among the chieftains in Palestine as Egypt withdrew from the region. This lasted until around the mid-9th century when local chieftains managed to create large political structures that exceeded the boundaries of those present in the Late Bronze Age Levant.

Later on, Omride kings greatly expanded the Israelite kingdom. In the mid-9th century, it stretched from the vicinity of Damascus in the north to the territory of Moab in the south, ruling over a large number of non-Israelites. In 853 BCE, the Israelite king Ahab led a coalition of anti-Assyrian forces at the Battle of Qarqar that repelled an invasion by King Shalmaneser III of Assyria. Some years later, King Mesha of Moab, a vassal of Israel, rebelled against it, destroying the main Israelite settlements east of Jordan.

In the 830s BCE, king Hazael of Aram Damascus conquered the fertile and strategically important northern parts of Israel which devastated the kingdom. In the later part of the 9th century BCE, Israel under King Jehu became a vassal to Assyria and was forced to pay tribute.