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Interactive Map

Palestinian Jerusalem Governorate (Muhafazat al-Quds)

The Palestinian governorate of Jerusalem (Muhafazat al-Quds)

Credit: 

Jerusalem Story Team

This interactive map shows the Palestinian governorate of Jerusalem, which was defined by the Palestinian Authority (PA) when it was established in 1995, based on traditional historic Palestinian understandings of Jerusalem and its surroundings. 

Since, as is clear on this map, a large chunk of the envisaged Jerusalem muhafazaha falls under Israeli sovereignty (i.e., Israeli municipal Jerusalem), the Palestine Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) at the time the Oslo Accords were signed divided the governorate into two subdistricts, J1 (which coincides with Israeli municipal Jerusalem) and J2 (which is the remainder of the Jerusalem governorate that falls within the rest of the occupied West Bank and is under PA authority).

The PCBS is banned by Israel from conducting data surveys in the J1 area, and since most of the J2 area is under Israeli rule, the PA itself has almost no power to manage, administer, or plan the area. But the governorate remains a term of reference in the collective Palestinian consciousness.

Use the magnifier box in the bottom left-hand corner to view the map full screen. Zoom in to view the localities’ names. Click on the Legend in the upper right to view and manipulate the various map layers.