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West Bank....
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Located west of the Jordan River in the eastern part of the
Palestine
region in the Middle East, it is bordered by Israel to the west, north,
and south, and by Jordan to the east. 40% of the area (including most of
the population) is under the limited civilian jurisdiction of the
Palestinian Authority, while Israel maintains overall control (including
over Israeli settlements, rural areas, and border regions). The population
of the West Bank is predominantly Palestinian with a significant minority
of Israeli settlers.
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The West Bank is inhabited by approximately 2.4 million
Palestinians, over 400,000 Israeli settlers (including those in
East
Jerusalem), and small ethnic groups such as the Samaritans numbering in the
hundreds. The Jewish settlers in the West Bank live only in Israeli
settlements, and generally do not interact with the local Palestinian
population as they form part of Israeli rather than Palestinian society and
are Israeli citizens. Approximately 30% of Palestinians living in the West
Bank are refugees or their direct descendants, who fled or were expelled
from Israel during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. |
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The most densely populated part of the region is a
mountainous spine, running north-south, where the cities of
East Jerusalem,
Nablus,
Ramallah,
Bethlehem, and Hebron are located.
Jenin, in the extreme
north of the West Bank is on the southern edge of the
Jezreel Valley,
Qalqilyah and
Tulkarm are in the low foothills adjacent to the Israeli
coastal plain, and Jericho is situated near the
Jordan River, just north of
the Dead Sea. Maale Adumim (about 6 km east of
Jerusalem) and Ariel (between Nablus and Ramallah) are the largest Israeli settlements in the territory.
See also: List of cities in Palestinian Authority areas |
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West Bank The Seperation
Wall
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The West Bank has 4,500 km of roads, of which 2,700 km
are paved. The Israelis have developed many highways to service their
settlements. These highways are inaccessible to Palestinians. The West
Bank also has three paved airports which are not for civilian use. There
are no railways. |
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