Bethlehem ( Arabic: محافظة بيت لحم ) is one of the 16 provinces of the State of Palestine . Located on the West Bank , south of Jerusalem . The capital is the city of Bethlehem .
| Bethlehem | |
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| Arab. محافظة بيت لحم | |
| A country | |
| Adm. Centre | |
| History and Geography | |
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| ISO 3166-2 Code | |
The population is 176,235 people (2007) [2] , the territory is 659 km².
The province is divided into 4 zones: A , B , C and environmental. Zone A is under the full control of the PNA and is 49.7 km² (7.5% of the province), zone B is under the administrative control of the PNA and the security control of Israel and is 36.5 km² (5.5% of the province), zone C is under the full control of Israel and is 446.7 km² (67.8% of the province). The remaining 126.2 km² (19.2% of the province) are a nature reserve. At the same time, in zone A , including the cities of Bethlehem , Beit Sahur , Beit Jala , etc., 60% of the population live in Zone B - 35% [2] .
The province consists of 10 municipalities, 3 refugee camps and 21 rural communities [2] .