Palestine

Palestine (Arabic: Filasn, Falasn, Filisn; Greek: , Palaistin; Latin: Pa

laestina; Hebrew: Palestina) is a geographic region in Western Asia between
the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. It is sometimes considered to include adjoining
territories. The name was used byAncient Greek writers, and was later used for the Roman
province Syria Palaestina, the Byzantine Palaestina Prima and the Umayyad and Abbasid
province of Jund Filastin. The region is also known as the Land of Israel (Hebrew:
Eretz-Yisra'el),
[1]
the Holy Land, the Southern Levant,
[2]
Cisjordan, and historically has
been known by other names including Canaan, Southern Syria and Jerusalem.
Situated at a strategic location between Egypt, Syria and Arabia, and the birthplace
of Judaism and Christianity, the region has a long and tumultuous history as a crossroads for
religion, culture, commerce, and politics. The region has been controlled by numerous different
peoples, including Ancient
Egyptians, Canaanites, Israelites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Ancient
Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, the Sunni Arab Caliphates, the Shia Fatimid
Caliphate, Crusaders, Ayyubids, Mameluks, Ottomans, the British and
modern Israelis and Palestinians.
Boundaries of the region have changed throughout history, and were last defined in modern
times by the Franco-British boundary agreement (1920) and theTransjordan memorandum of 16
September 1922, during the mandate period.
[3]
Today, the region comprises the State of
Israel and Palestinian territories in which the State of Palestine was declared.
[3]