Palestinian population in the world tolls 9.7 million, 3.7 million of them are in the west bank, Gaza

The number of Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories and the Diaspora reached 9.7 million by the end of 2003.

A population census study, published on Wednesday by the central statistical bureau of the Palestinian authority, said that some 3.7 million of those Palestinians are living in the West Bank and Gaza, and that one million of them live in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1948.

The study which is based on population survey operations and international organization statistics indicate that 2.3 million of the Palestinians live in the West Bank and 1.4 million of them live in Gaza.

The Palestinians of the Diaspora whose number tolls, according to the study at five million, are distributed as follows: 2.8 million in Jordan; 436,000 in Syria, 415,000 in Lebanon; 62,000 in Egypt and 595,000 in other Arab states. The largest Palestinian community in the west is in the USA where their number tolls 236,000.

The study said that number of the Palestinians who have Israeli citizenship and the population of Gaza and the West Bank reached 4.6 million by the end of 2003, against 5.1 million Jews.

If population growth among the Palestinians continues at the same pace, it is, however, expected that number of the Palestinians and the Arabs of Israel will be equal to the number of Jews in 2006 and to exceed the number of Jews in 2010 to reach 6.2 million of Palestinians against 5.7 million Jews.

According to the study, the Jewish population is expected to compose of only 44% of the total number of the population of Israel and the Palestinian territories in 2020, when number of the Palestinians and Palestinian-Israelis will be 8.2 million.