The subdivisions of the State of Palestine are created by the
Palestinian National Authority (PNA). The PNA does not control all the entities that it claims and it is only partly recognized as a
sovereign state
A sovereign state is a State (polity), state that has the highest authority over a territory. It is commonly understood that Sovereignty#Sovereignty and independence, a sovereign state is independent. When referring to a specific polity, the ter ...
. The
Oslo Accords describe different levels of control for areas named A, B, C.
There are two main areas claimed by the PNA: the Gaza Strip, which is fully Area A, and the
West Bank
The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
which is A, B, C. Since 2007, two governments claim to be legitimate governments of the State of Palestine; one has control of the Gaza Strip, the other of the West Bank.
In 1994 the Palestinian Ministry of Local Government (MoLG) established 483 local government units, encompassing 103 municipalities and village councils and small clusters. In addition, 16 governorates were also created. Later reforms tended to reduce the number of local governments units (municipalities and villages). The PNA is also turned towards pooling municipalities together through intercommunal entities, called
Joint Services Councils (JSC), of which there are around 100.
*
governorates (''
muhafazah'') : 5 in the Gaza Strip, 11 in the West Bank
*
municipalities
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
(''hayyat mahaliya'', established 1994, 4 different types)
** Level A
** Level B
** Level C
** Level D:
village council
There are also refugee camps, village clusters, hamlets.
The General Directorate for Joint Councils was established for the purpose of managing and running the joint projects among the local units.
The
Seam Zone is the territory between the Green line and the
Israeli West Bank barrier
The West Bank barrier, West Bank wall or the West Bank separation barrier, is a separation barrier built by Israel along the Green Line (Israel), Green Line and inside parts of the West Bank. Israel describes the wall as a necessary securi ...
, some municipalities are located there, e.g.
Umm ar-Rihan (level D).
References
External links
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{{StateofPalestine-stub