View source for Ramallah

{{Short description|City in the West Bank, Palestine}}
{{About|the major Palestinian city in the West Bank|other places with similar names|Ramla (disambiguation)}}
{{pp-extended|small=yes}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2012}}
{{coord|31|54|N|35|12|E|region:PS|display=title}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name               = Ramallah
| translit_lang1     = Arabic
| translit_lang1_type = [[Arabic script|Arabic]]
| translit_lang1_info = {{lang|ar|رام الله}}
| translit_lang2     = Hebrew
| translit_lang2_type = [[Hebrew script|Hebrew]]
| translit_lang2_info = {{lang|he|רמאללה}}
| type               = [[List of cities in Palestinian Authority areas|Municipality type A (City)]]
| image_skyline      = {{multiple image
| border=infobox
| total_width=300
|perrow = 1/2/2/2
| image1= Ramallah Sunset.jpg
| caption1= Ramallah skyline
| image2= Mausolée de Yasser Arafat.jpg
| caption2= Arafat Mausoleum, [[Mukataa]]
| image3= Jamal Abdel Nasser Mosque.jpg
| caption3= [[Jamal Abdel Nasser Mosque]]
| image4= Palestine_Medical_Complex_002.jpg
| caption4= Palestine Medical Complex
| image5= Mahmoud Darwish Museum IMG 4087.jpg
| caption5= Darwish Museum
| image6= Roman Grain mill - panoramio.jpg
| caption6= Roman ruins
| image7= Al Manara Square.jpg
| caption7= [[Al-Manara Square]]
| spacing = 1
| color   = transparent
}}
| image_blank_emblem = Ramallah Logo.gif
| blank_emblem_type  = Municipal seal of Ramallah
| pushpin_map        = Palestine
| pushpin_map_caption = Location of Ramallah within [[Palestine]]
| image_map          = 
| map_caption        = 
| mapframe           = yes
| mapframe-zoom      = 12
| coordinates        = 
| grid_name          = [[Palestine grid|Palestine&nbsp;grid]]
| grid_position      = 168/145
| subdivision_type   = State
| subdivision_name   = [[Palestine]]
| subdivision_type1  = [[Governorates of the Palestinian National Authority|Governorate]]
| subdivision_name1  = [[Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate|Ramallah and al-Bireh]]
| established_title  = Founded
| established_date   = 
| government_footnotes = <!-- for references: use <ref> tags -->
| government_type    = [[List of cities in Palestinian Authority areas|City]] (from 1995)
| leader_title       = [[Mayor of Ramallah|Mayor]]
| leader_name        = Issa Kassis
| unit_pref          = dunam
| area_footnotes     = 
| area_total_km2     = 16.3
| area_total_dunam   = 16344
| elevation_footnotes = 
| elevation_m        = 
| elevation_min_m    = 
| elevation_max_m    = 
| population_total   = 43,880
| population_as_of   = 2024
| population_footnotes = <ref name="pop2017">{{cite web |url=https://www.pcbs.gov.ps/statisticsIndicatorsTables.aspx?lang=en&table_id=701 |title=Main Indicators by Type of Locality – Population, Housing and Establishments Census 2017 |access-date=2024-10-10 |publisher=[[Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics]] (PCBS)}}</ref>
| population_metro   = 153,237 (2<span>0</span>02) {{br}}
362,445 (2<span>0</span>16) <ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/despite-low-cost-luxury-hotels-ramallah-struggles-to-lure-tourists/ | title=It has new, low-cost, rave-reviewed luxury hotels, but Ramallah struggles to lure tourists | website=[[The Times of Israel]] }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| title=Ramallah & Al Bireh urban area: joint urban planning and development | url=https://www.molg.pna.ps/uploads/files/RAB%20Urban%20Area%20Factsheet_sj_01aa8fd9652a4ea8873070c21d114906.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240722183507/https://www.molg.pna.ps/uploads/files/RAB%20Urban%20Area%20Factsheet_sj_01aa8fd9652a4ea8873070c21d114906.pdf | archive-date=2024-07-22}}</ref>
| population_metro_footnotes = 
| population_note    = 
| population_density_km2 = auto
| website            = [http://www.ramallah.ps/ www.ramallah.ps]
| footnotes          = 
}}

'''Ramallah''' ({{IPAc-en|UK|r|ə|ˈ|m|æ|l|ə}} {{respell|rə|MAL|ə}},<ref>{{cite web |title=Ramallah |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/ramallah |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190922193052/https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/ramallah |archive-date=September 22, 2019 |access-date=22 September 2019 |work=[[Collins English Dictionary]] |publisher=[[HarperCollins]]}}</ref> {{IPAc-en|US|r|ə|ˈ|m|ɑː|l|ə}} {{respell|rə|MAH|lə}};<ref>{{Cite American Heritage Dictionary|Ramallah|access-date=22 September 2019}}</ref> {{langx|ar|رام الله|Rām Allāh}}; {{IPA|ar|raːm alˤ.lˤaːh|IPA}} {{Audio|Ar-Ramallah.oga|}}; {{lit|God's Height}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Ramallah.ps |url=http://www.ramallah.ps/etemplate.aspx?id=81 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111105032756/http://www.ramallah.ps/etemplate.aspx?id=81 |archive-date=November 5, 2011 |access-date=November 13, 2011 |publisher=Ramallah.ps}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Palmer|1881|p=[https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp00conduoft#page/324/mode/1up 324]}}</ref>) is a city in the central [[West Bank]], [[Palestine]]. It serves as the administrative capital of Palestine, as well as capital of the [[Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate]]. The city is situated on the [[Judaean Mountains]], {{convert|10|km|0|abbr=in}} north of [[Jerusalem]], at an average elevation of {{convert|872|meters|feet}} above sea level, adjacent to [[al-Bireh]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Ramallah {{!}} town, West Bank {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Ramallah |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en |archive-date=June 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220627190847/https://www.britannica.com/place/Ramallah |url-status=live }}</ref>

Ramallah has buildings containing masonry from the period of [[Herod the Great]], but no complete building predates the [[Crusades]] of the 11th century.<ref name=":0" /> The modern city was founded during the 16th century by the Hadadeens, an [[Arab Christians|Arab Christian]] clan descended from [[Ghassanids]]. In 1517, the city was incorporated into the [[Ottoman Empire]], and in 1920, it became part of [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandatory Palestine]] after it was [[Sinai and Palestine campaign|captured by the United Kingdom]] during [[World War I]].<ref name=":0" /> The [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]] saw the entire West Bank, including Ramallah, [[Jordanian annexation of the West Bank|occupied and annexed]] by [[Jordan|Transjordan]]. Ramallah was later captured by [[Israel]] in the 1967 [[Six-Day War]]. Since the 1995 [[Oslo Accords]], Ramallah has been governed by the [[Palestinian Authority]], as part of [[Area A]] in the West Bank.

Ramallah has emerged as a key political, cultural, and economic center in recent years.<ref>{{Cite web |title='Palestine's new bride' |url=https://www.jpost.com/magazine/features/palestines-new-bride |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=[[The Jerusalem Post]] |date=August 20, 2010 |language=en-US |archive-date=August 23, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100823005912/http://www.jpost.com/Magazine/Features/Article.aspx?id=185283 |url-status=live |issn=0792-822X}}</ref><ref name="Loungo">[http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/travel/06next-1.html Michael T. Luongo, "Ramallah Attracts a Cosmopolitan Crowd"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100608121037/http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/travel/06next-1.html|date=June 8, 2010}}, June 3, 2010, ''The New York Times''.</ref> It houses various Palestinian governmental bodies, including the [[Mukataa]], the official residence of the [[president of the Palestinian National Authority]], the [[Palestinian Legislative Council]], and the headquarters of the [[Palestinian Security Services]]. It is also home to several museums and cultural centers, and has a notable nightlife scene. Historically, the city was a predominantly Christian town, however the population of [[Muslim]]s has increased to constitute a majority of Ramallah's 38,998 residents by 2017,<ref name="pcbs2017">{{Cite web |title=Preliminary Results of the Population, Housing and Establishments Census, 2017 |url=http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Downloads/book2364.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180828171930/http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Downloads/book2364.pdf |archive-date=2018-08-28 |access-date=2025-07-13 |page=74}}</ref> while Christians make up a significant minority.

==History==
===Early history===
Ramallah was founded in the 16th century by the ''Hadadeens'', an [[Arab Christians|Arab Christian]] clan. The city boasts archaeological remnants from earlier epochs.<ref name=":0" /> [[Rock-cut tombs in ancient Israel|Ancient rock-cut tombs]] have been found near Ramallah.<ref>{{harvnb|Conder|Kitchener|1883|p=155}}</ref> Located just south of the built-up area is [[Tell en-Nasbeh]], an [[Archaeological site|archeological site]] where biblical [[Mizpah in Benjamin]] is likely to have been located.<ref name=":0" />

Several Ramallah buildings [[Spolia|incorporate masonry]] dating back to the reign of [[Herod the Great]] (37–4 BCE).<ref name=":0" /> [[Potsherd]]s from the [[Crusader states|Crusader]]/[[Ayyubid dynasty|Ayyubid]] and early Ottoman period have also been found there.<ref name="Finkelstein">{{harvnb|Finkelstein|Lederman|1997|p=353}}</ref> Ramallah has been identified with the [[Crusader states|Crusader]] place called ''Ramalie''.<ref>{{harvnb|Rey|1883|p=389}}</ref><ref>Prawer and Benvenisti, 1970, cited in Finkelstein and Lederman, 1997, p. 353</ref> Remains of a building with an [[arch]]ed doorway from the Crusader era, called ''al-Burj'', have been identified,<ref>{{harvnb|Pringle|1997|p=90}}</ref> but the original use of the building is undetermined.<ref>{{harvnb|Pringle|1997|p=12}}</ref>

===Ottoman period===
The area of Ramallah was incorporated into the [[Ottoman Empire]] in 1517 with all of [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]]. Modern Ramallah was founded in the mid-1500s by the Haddadins (also: Haddad''ee''n), a clan of brothers descended from [[Ghassanid]] [[Christians]]. The Haddadins (ancestors of the present-day Jadallah family, among others), and their leader Rashid el-Haddadin, arrived from east of the [[Jordan River]] from the areas of [[Al Karak|Karak]] and [[Shoubak]].<ref name="laoc">{{Cite web|url=http://ramallahlaoc.org/history.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081029233225/http://www.ramallahlaoc.org/history.aspx |url-status=dead |title=American Federation of Ramallah Palestine<!-- Bot generated title -->|archive-date=October 29, 2008}}</ref> The Haddadin migration is attributed to fighting and unrest among clans in that area.

Haddadin was attracted to the mountainous site of Ramallah because it was similar to the mountainous areas he came from. In addition, the heavily forested area could supply him with plenty of fuel for his forges.<ref name="laoc" /> In 1596, Ramallah was listed in the [[Defter|tax registers]] as being in the ''[[nahiya]]'' of Quds (Jerusalem), part of the ''[[Jerusalem Sanjak|Liwa of Quds]]''. It had a population of 71 Christian households and 9 [[Muslim]] households. It paid a fixed tax rate of 25% on wheat, barley, olives, vines or fruit trees, and goats or beehives; a total of 9,400 [[akçe]]. All of the revenue went to a [[waqf]].<ref>{{harvnb|Hütteroth|Abdulfattah|1977|p=121}}</ref>

In 1838, American biblical scholar [[Edward Robinson (scholar)|Edward Robinson]] visited the area, noting that the inhabitants were Christian "of the Greek rite". There were 200 taxable men, which gives an estimated total population of 800–900 people. The village "belonged" to the [[Haram al-Sharif]], Jerusalem, to which it paid an annual tax of 350 Mids of grain.<ref>{{harvnb|Robinson|Smith|1841|pp=133–134}}</ref> In 1883, the [[Palestine Exploration Fund|PEF]]'s ''[[PEF Survey of Palestine|Survey of Western Palestine]]'' described Ramallah as

<blockquote>A large Christian village, of well-built stone houses, standing on a high ridge, with a view on the west extending to the sea. It stands amongst gardens and olive-yards, and has three springs to the south and one on the west; on the north there are three more, within a mile from the village. On the east there is a well. There are rock-cut tombs to the north-east with well-cut entrances, but completely blocked with rubbish. In the village is a Greek church, and on the east a Latin convent and a Protestant schoolhouse, all modern buildings. The village lands are [[Wakuf]], or ecclesiastical property, belonging to the Haram of Jerusalem. About a quarter of the inhabitants are Roman Catholics, the rest Orthodox Greeks.<ref>{{harvnb|Conder|Kitchener|1883|p=13}}</ref></blockquote>

=== British Mandate ===
[[File:Ramallah, Quaker Mission School. Photographed in 1937 LOC matpc.09098.jpg|thumb|[[Ramallah Friends Schools]], 1937]]During [[World War I]], the [[British Army]] captured and [[Occupied Enemy Territory Administration|occupied]] Ramallah in December 1917. The city remained occupied until the designation of the [[Mandate for Palestine|Palestine Mandate]] in 1920, resulting in Ramallah falling under [[Mandate for Palestine|British Mandatory control]] until 1948. In the 1920s, the economy of Ramallah started to improve, resulting in the local Arab [[upper class]] (consisting primarily of landowners and merchants) ordering the construction of several multi-storied villas, many of which still stand today.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.koolpages.com/wael2003/history.htm |title=From a Village to a Town |access-date=February 22, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071223214116/http://www.koolpages.com/wael2003/history.htm |archive-date=December 23, 2007 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> In 1939, the [[Jerusalem Electric Company]] introduced electricity to Ramallah, and a majority of the city's homes became wired shortly thereafter. On the same year, the British Mandatory authorities inaugurated the state-owned [[Palestine Broadcasting Service]] in Ramallah, with [[BBC]] members training local radio staff to deliver daily broadcasts in Arabic, [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], and English. The station was later renamed [[Jerusalem Calling]].{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

The city became a center of insurgent activity when the [[1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine]] broke out. The rebels subsequently established a court near Ramallah, in order to provide legal alternatives to the courts of the British Mandate. One British schoolteacher noted that the Ramallah court judge began to produce "news sheets on typewriters and duplicators, aimed at publicizing the alternative rebel regime."<ref>{{cite book|last=Kelly|first=Matthew|date=2017|title=The Crime of Nationalism: Britain, Palestine, and Nation-Building on the Fringe of Empire|pages=130|publisher=[[University of California Press]]|isbn=978-0520291492|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7nYyDwAAQBAJ|access-date=March 21, 2023|archive-date=November 19, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231119232950/https://books.google.com/books?id=7nYyDwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Jordanian and Israeli occupation===
Following the [[Israeli Declaration of Independence|creation of the State of Israel]] and the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War|ensuing conflict]], Jordan seized part of the territory, which they named the West Bank, which included Ramallah. Jordan annexed the West Bank, applying its national law to the conquered territory. The West Bank was relatively peaceful during the years of [[Jordanian annexation of the West Bank|Jordanian occupation]] between 1948 and 1967, with its residents enjoying freedom of movement between the [[West Bank]], Jordan, [[Lebanon]], and Syria. However, many Palestinians were arrested and jailed for being members of "illegal political parties", which included the [[Palestine Communist Party]], and other socialist and pro-independence groups. The city's population had doubled by 1953, but the economy and infrastructure could not accommodate the influx of poor villagers. Natives of Ramallah began to emigrate, primarily to the United States. About one fourth of Ramallah's 6,000 natives had left by 1956, with Arabs from the surrounding towns and villages (particularly [[Hebron]]) buying the homes and land the émigrés left behind.{{Citation needed|date=August 2010}}

[[File:2018 OCHA OpT map Ramallah.jpg|thumb|left|2018 [[United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs|United Nations]] map of the area, showing the [[Israeli occupation of the West Bank|Israeli occupation]] arrangements]]
During the [[Six-Day War]] in 1967, [[Israel]] captured Ramallah from Jordan, imposing a military closure and conducting a census a few weeks later. Every person registered in the census was given an Israeli identity card which allowed the bearer to continue to reside there. Those who were abroad during the census lost their residency rights.<ref>[http://www.btselem.org/english/Family_Separation/Origins.asp "Creation of the problem of family separation in the Occupied Territories"] [[Btselem]] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605003513/http://www.btselem.org/english/Family_Separation/Origins.asp |date=June 5, 2011 }}</ref> Because of Israeli control of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, for the first time in 19 years, residents of Ramallah could freely visit the [[Gaza Strip]], as well as Israel, and engage in commerce there.

Unlike the Jordanians, Israel did not offer citizenship to the residents. Ramallah residents were issued permits to work in Israel, but did not gain the rights associated with Israeli citizenship. The city remained under Israeli military rule for more than four decades. The [[Israeli Civil Administration]] (CA), established in 1981, was in charge of civilian and day-to-day services such as issuing permission to travel, build, export or import, and host relatives from abroad.<ref>[http://www.jmcc.org/research/special/military.html Israeli Military Orders in the Occupied Palestinian West Bank] Jerusalem Media and Communications Centre (JMCC), 2nd edition, pp.241. 1995 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090712042326/http://www.jmcc.org/research/special/military.html |date=July 12, 2009 }}</ref> The CA reprinted Jordanian textbooks for distribution in schools but did not update them. The CA was in charge of tax collection and land expropriation, which sometimes included Israeli seizure of olive groves that Arab villagers had tended for generations.<ref>Abdullah Salah. [http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/b43bb37dd727f0c0852570120072d4f6?Letter dated 25 May 1983 from the Permanent Representative of Jordan to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131011153642/http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/b43bb37dd727f0c0852570120072d4f6?OpenDocument |date=October 11, 2013 }}, A/38/257-S/15810 of June 2, 1983<!-- Bot generated title --></ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.palestine-encyclopedia.com/EPP/Chapter18_3of10.htm |title=Encyclopedia of the Palestine Problem |last=Nakhleh |first=Issa |date=1991 |publisher=Palestine-encyclopedia.com |access-date=November 13, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927113622/http://www.palestine-encyclopedia.com/EPP/Chapter18_3of10.htm |archive-date=September 27, 2011 }}</ref>

According to the Israeli Human Rights activists, the development of Jewish settlements in the Ramallah area, such as [[Beit El]] and [[Psagot]], prevented the expansion of the city and cut it off from the surrounding Arab villages.<ref>{{cite web |first1=Yehezkel |last1=Lein |first2=Eyal |last2=Weizman |url=http://www.brightonpalestinecampaign.org/pdfs/Articles/Land%20Grab.pdf |title=LAND GRAB: Israel's Settlement Policy in the West Bank |website=Brightonpalestinecampaign.org |publisher=[[B'Tselem]] |date=May 2002 |access-date=November 13, 2011 |archive-date=September 24, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090924025639/http://www.brightonpalestinecampaign.org/pdfs/Articles/Land%20Grab.pdf |url-status=usurped }}</ref> As resistance increased, Ramallah residents who were members of the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] were jailed or deported to neighboring countries.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE15/059/1999/en|title=ISRAEL AND THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES: Demolition and dispossession: the destruction of Palestinian homes [MDE 15/59/99] |date=8 December 1999|access-date=2 October 2018|first=Anthony|last=Coon|work=Amnesty International|archive-date=November 19, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141119193332/http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE15/059/1999/en|url-status=live}}</ref> The popular uprising known as the [[First Intifada]] erupted in December 1987, protesting against the continued [[Israeli occupation of the West Bank|Israeli occupation]].

Ramallah residents were among the early joiners of the First Intifada. The Intifada Unified Leadership, an umbrella organization of various Palestinian factions, distributed weekly bulletins on the streets of Ramallah with a schedule of the daily protests, strikes and action against Israeli patrols in the city. At the demonstrations, tires were burned in the street, and the crowds threw stones and [[Molotov cocktail]]s. The [[Israel Defense Forces|IDF]] responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. Schools in Ramallah were forcibly shut down, and opened gradually for a few hours a day.{{Citation needed|date=February 2008}} The Israelis conducted house arrests, imposing curfews that restricted travel and exports in what Palestinians regarded as collective punishment. In response to the closure of schools, residents organized home schooling sessions to help students make up missed material; this became one of the few symbols of civil disobedience.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jmcc.org/research/reports/educate.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070210223319/http://www.jmcc.org/research/reports/educate.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 10, 2007|title=JMCC / Research|date=February 10, 2007}}</ref> Following the [[Oslo Accords]], the Israeli army abandoned the [[Mukataa]] in December 1995 and withdrew to the city outskirts. The newly established [[Palestinian Authority]] assumed civilian and security responsibility for the city, which was designated "Area A" under the accords.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}

===Palestinian Authority control===
The years between 1993 and 2000 (known locally as the "Oslo Years") brought relative prosperity to Ramallah. Ramallah and its immediate environs were classified as [[Palestinian enclaves|Area A]] in the [[Oslo II Accord|Oslo Accords]], under full civil and security control of the [[Palestinian Authority]] (PA) administration in September 1995.<ref>[http://israelipalestinian.procon.org/view.background-resource.php?resourceID=000921 1995 ''Oslo Interim Agreement''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190118200125/https://israelipalestinian.procon.org/view.background-resource.php?resourceID=000921 |date=January 18, 2019 }}. Text of the Accord</ref> Many expatriates returned to establish businesses there, and the atmosphere was one of optimism. In 2000, unemployment began to rise and the economy of Ramallah declined.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wider.unu.edu/publications/dps/dps2002/dp2002-100.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102005327/http://www.wider.unu.edu/publications/dps/dps2002/dp2002-100.pdf |url-status=dead |title=UNU-WIDER : Publications|archive-date=January 2, 2016|website=UNU-WIDER}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/first/s/said-end.html|title=The End of the Peace Process|work=The New York Times|date=2000|last=Said|first=Edward|author-link=Edward Said|access-date=October 4, 2018|archive-date=March 6, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306040006/http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/s/said-end.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Israel Defense Forces]] remained in control of the territories and its government did not restore the freedom of movement enjoyed by Ramallah residents prior to the first Intifada. Travel to [[Jerusalem]] required special permits. The number and size of [[Israeli settlement]]s around Ramallah increased dramatically. A network of bypass roads for use of Israeli citizens only was built around Ramallah, and Israel expropriated land for settlements.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ariga.com/5759/law001.htm|title=ariga.com|website=www.ariga.com|access-date=October 4, 2018|archive-date=March 8, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308214013/http://ariga.com/5759/law001.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/documents/ga/docs/50/plenary/a50-262.htm |title=PERMANENT SOVEREIGNTY OVER NATIONAL RESOURCES IN THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN AND OTHER ARAB TERRITORIES |publisher=United Nations |date=3 July 1995 |access-date=November 13, 2011 |archive-date=October 21, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021230839/http://www.un.org/documents/ga/docs/50/plenary/a50-262.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Many official documents previously handled by the Israeli Civil Administration were now handled by the Palestinian Authority but still required Israeli approval. A Palestinian passport issued to Ramallah residents was not valid unless the serial number was registered with the Israeli authorities, who controlled border crossings.<ref>[http://www.badil.org/e-library/Resident_PA.htm Badil.org] Badil.org {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090111001943/http://www.badil.org/e-library/Resident_PA.htm |date=January 11, 2009 }}</ref>[[File:Psagot Settlement.JPG|thumb|[[Israeli settlement]] of [[Psagot]] on ''Jabal al-Tawil'' (Tawil Hill), east of Ramallah and Al-Bireh (2004)|left]]The failure of the [[Camp David 2000 Summit|Camp David summit]] in July 2000 led to the outbreak of the [[Second Intifada]] (al-Aqsa Intifada) in September 2000. Young Ramallah residents demonstrated daily against the Israeli army, with marches to the Israeli checkpoints at the outskirts of the city. Over time, the marches were replaced by sporadic use of live ammunition against Israeli soldiers; and various attacks targeting Jewish settlers, particularly on the Israeli-only bypass roads. Army checkpoints were established to restrict movement in and out of Ramallah.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=22&ItemID=2075 |title=Zmag.org |publisher=Zmag.org |date=July 5, 2002 |access-date=November 13, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20021201010732/http://zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?sectionid=22&itemid=2075 |archive-date=December 1, 2002 |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.miftah.org/PrinterF.cfm?DocId=2294 |title=Miftah.org |publisher=Miftah.org |access-date=November 13, 2011 |archive-date=September 26, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926215508/http://www.miftah.org/PrinterF.cfm?DocId=2294 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.machsomwatch.org/media/tahseenYaqeen.asp?link=media&lang=eng|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071101055843/http://www.machsomwatch.org/media/tahseenYaqeen.asp?link=media&lang=eng|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 1, 2007|title=מחסום WATCH|date=November 1, 2007}}</ref> On October 12, 2000, two Israeli army reservists, Vadim Norzhich and Yosef Avrahami were [[2000 Ramallah lynching|lynched in Ramallah]]. They had taken a wrong turn, and were set upon by a mob, enraged in particular by the [[Muhammad al-Durrah incident]] in Gaza.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}} A frenzied crowd killed the two IDF reservists, mutilated their bodies, and dragged them through the streets.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/969778.stm |title=Lynch mob's brutal attack |date=13 October 2000 |access-date=4 October 2018 |work=BBC News |archive-date=January 29, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080129215716/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/969778.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> Later that afternoon, the Israeli army carried out an air strike on Ramallah, demolishing the police station. Israel later succeeded in capturing and prosecuting some of those involved in the deaths of the reservists.[[File:Ramallah Muqata'a 2013.jpg|thumb|[[Mukataa]] in 2013|left]]The IDF has occasionally operated inside Ramallah, in breach of the 1995 Oslo Accords. The first and largest incursion was the 2002 [[Operation Defensive Shield]], with a more recent intervention coming in March 2017 while attempting to arrest a suspected terrorist.<ref>Nahum Barnea, [http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4780153,00.html 'Beitunian nights: The IDF in the West Bank'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161118055544/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4780153,00.html |date=November 18, 2016 }}, [[Ynet]] 18 March 2016.</ref><ref name="International Business Times1">{{cite news | last =Lotto Persio | first =Sofia | title =Palestinian militant 'plotting attack in Israel' shot dead by Swat team in West Bank | language =en | publisher =International Business Times (via Yahoo.com) | date =6 March 2017 | url =https://www.yahoo.com/news/palestinian-militant-plotting-attack-israel-111219006.html | access-date =6 March 2017 | archive-date =March 7, 2017 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20170307050632/https://www.yahoo.com/news/palestinian-militant-plotting-attack-israel-111219006.html | url-status =live }}</ref> In 2002, the army imposed curfews, electricity cuts, school closures and disruptions of commercial life.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://icph.birzeit.edu/Emergencey%20Publications/Child%20Report%20final%202002.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612000219/http://icph.birzeit.edu/Emergencey%20Publications/Child%20Report%20final%202002.pdf |url-status=dead |title=ICPH.birzeit.edu|archive-date=June 12, 2010}}</ref> Many Ramallah institutions, including government ministries, were vandalized, and equipment was destroyed or stolen.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.haaretzdaily.com/captcha/index.php?d=haaretzdaily.com|archive-url=https://archive.today/20081211195047/http://www.haaretzdaily.com/captcha/index.php?d=haaretzdaily.com|url-status=dead|title=banned interdit verboden prohibido vietato proibido|date=December 11, 2008|archive-date=December 11, 2008|access-date=October 4, 2018}}</ref> The IDF took over local Ramallah television stations, and social and economic conditions deteriorated.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWESTBANKGAZA/Resources/wbgaza-4yrassessment.pdf |title=Siteresources.worldbank.org |access-date=November 13, 2011 |archive-date=May 22, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522143641/http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWESTBANKGAZA/Resources/wbgaza-4yrassessment.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Many expatriates left, as did many other Palestinians who complained that the living conditions had become intolerable.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.palestinercs.org/checkpoints.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060427173009/http://www.palestinercs.org/checkpoints.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 27, 2006|title=Checkpoints|date=April 27, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.btselem.org/English/Freedom_of_Movement/Siege.asp |title=Btselem.org |publisher=Btselem.org |access-date=November 13, 2011 |archive-date=June 5, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605003615/http://www.btselem.org/English/Freedom_of_Movement/Siege.asp |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1761785.stm |title=The Palestinians under closure |work=BBC News |date=January 20, 2002 |access-date=November 13, 2011 |archive-date=February 21, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070221181920/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1761785.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> Construction of the [[Israeli West Bank barrier]] has added to Ramallah's isolation. [[Yasser Arafat]] established his West Bank headquarters, the [[Mukataa]], in Ramallah. Although considered an interim solution, Ramallah became the ''de facto'' capital of the Palestinian Authority, now{{When|date=March 2024}} officially{{Clarify|date=March 2024}} known as the State of Palestine.  It hosts almost all governmental headquarters.  In December 2001, Arafat held meetings at the Mukataa, but lived with his wife and daughter in [[Gaza City]]. After suicide bombings in [[Haifa]], Arafat was confined to the Ramallah compound. In 2002, the compound was partly demolished by the Israeli Defense Forces and Arafat's building was cut off from the rest of the compound.

On November 11, 2004, Arafat died at the [[Percy training hospital of the Armies]] near Paris. He was buried in the courtyard of the Mukataa on November 12, 2004. The site still serves as the Ramallah headquarters of the Palestinian Authority, as well the official West Bank office of [[Mahmoud Abbas]]. Throughout 2005, while the [[Israeli disengagement from Gaza|Disengagement Plan]] was underway, some US government officials suggested to the Palestinian leadership to move the provisional capital back to Gaza, where it had been when the Palestinian Authority was first established in 1994. President Abbas, however, refrained from doing so, arguing that at this point, it was important to keep the administrative center in the West Bank in order to remind the international community that the West Bank was still awaiting a territorial solution.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://thepalestinepapers.com/files/5129.PDF |title=Meeting minutes between Saeb Erekat and David Welch, ''Palestine Papers'', 16 June 2005 |access-date=January 23, 2015 |archive-date=January 23, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150123172148/http://thepalestinepapers.com/files/5129.PDF |url-status=live }}</ref>[[File:Ramallah Residential.JPG|thumb|right|Residential neighborhood in Ramallah, 2005]]

In December 2005, local elections were held in Ramallah in which candidates from three different factions competed for a four-year term on the fifteen-seat municipal council. The council elected [[Janet Mikhail]] as [[Mayor of Ramallah|mayor]], the first woman to hold the post.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.khaleejtimes.com/Displayarticle.asp?section=middleeast&xfile=data/middleeast/2006/january/middleeast_january34.xml |title=Khaleejtimes.com |publisher=Khaleejtimes.com |date=January 2, 2006 |access-date=November 13, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927024336/http://www.khaleejtimes.com/Displayarticle.asp?section=middleeast&xfile=data%2Fmiddleeast%2F2006%2Fjanuary%2Fmiddleeast_january34.xml |archive-date=September 27, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Karin Laub |url=http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060101/NEWS/201010358/1004/news |title=Ocala.com |publisher=Ocala.com |date=January 1, 2006 |access-date=November 13, 2011 |archive-date=September 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928100717/http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20060101%2FNEWS%2F201010358%2F1004%2Fnews |url-status=live }}</ref>

Munir Hamdan, a member of [[Fatah]] and a Ramallah businessman, discussed the concentration of government offices with a journalist. He said, "The president and prime minister have their offices here.<ref name="Toameh">[https://www.jpost.com/Magazine/Features/Article.aspx?id=185283 "'Palestine's new bride'"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100823005912/http://www.jpost.com/Magazine/Features/Article.aspx?id=185283|date=August 23, 2010}}, Khaled Abu Toameh, ''Jerusalem Post'', 20 August 2010</ref> So do the parliament and all the government ministries", representing a "collusion" between the Palestinian Authority and Israel to turn Ramallah into the political as well as the financial capital of the Palestinians. He is particularly worried by the construction of a large new governmental complex by the PA.<ref name=Toameh/> [[Hatem Abdel Kader]], a Jerusalem resident, Fatah legislator and former Minister for Jerusalem Affairs, complained that "If they are building a new government compound here, that means they have no plans to be based in Jerusalem... Unfortunately, the Palestinian government of [[Salam Fayyad]] has abandoned Jerusalem in favor of Ramallah."<ref name=Toameh/> In November 2011, King [[Abdullah II of Jordan]] visited Ramallah for the first time since 2000.<ref>{{cite web |date=November 21, 2011 |title=Jordan's King Abdullah visits West Bank for first time in decade |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/jordan/8904168/Jordans-King-Abdullah-visits-West-Bank-for-first-time-in-decade.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161222090641/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/jordan/8904168/Jordans-King-Abdullah-visits-West-Bank-for-first-time-in-decade.html |archive-date=December 22, 2016 |access-date=April 3, 2018 |work=telegraph.co.uk}}</ref>

==Geography and climate==
[[File:Koppen World Map (Mediterranean Sea area only).png|thumb|Map of Mediterranean with the Köppen Climate Classifications: Csa and Csb are noted in yellow.]]
[[File:Der Ghassanah village.jpg|left|thumb|[[Deir Ghassana]] near Ramallah]]
This area enjoys a [[Mediterranean climate|Mediterranean]] climate of a dry summer and mild, rainy winter with occasional snowfall. The recorded average of Ramallah's rainfall is about {{convert|615|mm|0|abbr=on}}<ref name="Climate">{{cite web|url=http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/site/512/default.aspx?tabID=512&lang=en&ItemID=738&mid=3171&wversion=Staging|title=Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics – State of Palestine|work=Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics|access-date=December 8, 2016|archive-date=October 4, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004185634/http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/site/512/default.aspx?tabID=512&lang=en&ItemID=738&mid=3171&wversion=Staging|url-status=live}}</ref> and minimum rainfall is {{convert|307|mm|0|abbr=on}} and maximum rainfall is {{convert|1591|mm|0|abbr=on}}.

The [[Köppen climate classification]] places Ramallah in the [[Hot-summer Mediterranean climate|Csa]] category. Climates of this class generally occur on the western sides of continents between the latitudes of 30° and 45°. These climates are in the polar front region in winter, and thus have moderate temperatures and changeable, rainy weather. Summers are hot and dry, due to the domination of the subtropical high pressure systems, except in the immediate coastal areas, where summers are milder due to the nearby presence of cold ocean currents that may bring fog but prevent rain.

{{Weather box
|location = Ramallah
|metric first = Yes
|single line = Yes
|Jan record high C = 24.0
|Feb record high C = 26.2
|Mar record high C = 31.5
|Apr record high C = 34.0
|May record high C = 37.3
|Jun record high C = 39.4
|Jul record high C = 37.5
|Aug record high C = 39.8
|Sep record high C = 40.0
|Oct record high C = 35.0
|Nov record high C = 29.6
|Dec record high C = 27.4
|year record high C = 40.0
|Jan high C = 11.8
|Feb high C = 13.1
|Mar high C = 16.5
|Apr high C = 20.7
|May high C = 24.7
|Jun high C = 26.9
|Jul high C = 28.4
|Aug high C = 28.7
|Sep high C = 27.2
|Oct high C = 24.5
|Nov high C = 19.0
|Dec high C = 14.1
|year high C = 
|Jan mean C = 9.0
|Feb mean C = 10.2
|Mar mean C = 12.7
|Apr mean C = 16.6
|May mean C = 20.0
|Jun mean C = 21.9
|Jul mean C = 24.1
|Aug mean C = 23.7
|Sep mean C = 22.3
|Oct mean C = 20.1
|Nov mean C = 15.3
|Dec mean C = 10.7
|year mean C = 
|Jan low C = 6.9
|Feb low C = 7.5
|Mar low C = 9.6
|Apr low C = 12.7
|May low C = 15.9
|Jun low C = 18.1
|Jul low C = 19.6
|Aug low C = 19.8
|Sep low C = 18.6
|Oct low C = 16.8
|Nov low C = 13.0
|Dec low C = 8.8
|year low C = 
|Jan record low C = -2.0
|Feb record low C = -1.4
|Mar record low C = -0.6
|Apr record low C = 2.8
|May record low C = 8.5
|Jun record low C = 11.4
|Jul record low C = 14.8
|Aug record low C = 16.0
|Sep record low C = 14.0
|Oct record low C = 6.0
|Nov record low C = 3.0
|Dec record low C = -0.6
|year record low C = -2.0
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation mm = 165
|Feb precipitation mm = 137
|Mar precipitation mm = 103
|Apr precipitation mm = 37
|May precipitation mm = 8
|Jun precipitation mm = 0
|Jul precipitation mm = 0
|Aug precipitation mm = 0
|Sep precipitation mm = 5
|Oct precipitation mm = 20
|Nov precipitation mm = 72
|Dec precipitation mm = 171
|year precipitation mm = 718
|Jan rain days = 9.7
|Feb rain days = 9.7
|Mar rain days = 6.3
|Apr rain days = 3.2
|May rain days = 1.4
|Jun rain days = 0.3
|Jul rain days = 0.0
|Aug rain days = 0.0
|Sep rain days = 0.7
|Oct rain days = 2.5
|Nov rain days = 5.1
|Dec rain days = 7.4
|year rain days = 
|Jan humidity = 79.5
|Feb humidity = 72.2
|Mar humidity = 70.1
|Apr humidity = 59.1
|May humidity = 57.7
|Jun humidity = 62.8
|Jul humidity = 63.0
|Aug humidity = 74.0
|Sep humidity = 72.4
|Oct humidity = 68.9
|Nov humidity = 69.5
|Dec humidity = 77.7
|year humidity = 
|Jan sun = 176.7
|Feb sun = 169.5
|Mar sun = 220.1
|Apr sun = 267.0
|May sun = 325.5
|Jun sun = 357.0
|Jul sun = 372.0
|Aug sun = 350.3
|Sep sun = 297.0
|Oct sun = 263.5
|Nov sun = 213.0
|Dec sun = 182.9
|year sun = 
|Jand sun = 5.7
|Febd sun = 6.0
|Mard sun = 7.1
|Aprd sun = 8.9
|Mayd sun = 10.5
|Jund sun = 11.9
|Juld sun = 12.0
|Augd sun = 11.3
|Sepd sun = 9.9
|Octd sun = 8.5
|Novd sun = 7.1
|Decd sun = 5.9
|yeard sun = 
|source 1 = [[Palestinian Meteorological Department]]<ref name=PMD>{{cite web |url=https://www.pmd.ps/en/climatic-averages |title=Climatic Averages |publisher=Palestinian Meteorological Department |access-date=November 3, 2025}}</ref>
|source 2 = Arab Meteorology Book (precipitation)<ref name=amb>{{cite web
| url = http://extras.springer.com/2007/978-1-4020-4577-6/Book_Shahin_ISBN_9781402045776_Appendix.pdf
| title = Appendix I: Meteorological Data
| publisher = Springer
| access-date = October 25, 2015
| archive-date = March 4, 2016
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304072830/http://extras.springer.com/2007/978-1-4020-4577-6/Book_Shahin_ISBN_9781402045776_Appendix.pdf
| url-status = dead}}</ref>
}}


<gallery mode="packed">
File:Ramallah4.JPG|A view from Ramallah
File:Judean Hills from Ramallah.jpg|Hills surrounding Ramallah
File:Ramallah Sunset.jpg|Sunset in Ramallah
</gallery>

== Economy ==
[[File:Rawabi - industrial area.jpg|left|thumb|Construction of Rawabi and industrial area]][[File:Ammar_Tower_02.jpg|thumb|[[Ersal Commercial Center|Ammar Tower]] in Ramallah]]Ramallah is chief financial and commercial center for the Palestinian Authority, home to the country's numerous financial institutions.<ref name=":1">{{cite web |date=January 14, 2009 |title=West Bank and Gaza Economy: Before and After the Crisis – Brookings Institution |url=http://www.brookings.edu/interviews/2009/0114_west_bank_gaza_dhillon.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100603050907/http://www.brookings.edu/interviews/2009/0114_west_bank_gaza_dhillon.aspx |archive-date=June 3, 2010 |access-date=November 13, 2011 |publisher=Brookings.edu}}</ref> Currently Ramallah is seat of power of the [[Palestinian Authority]], whose most of the offices are located within the city.<ref name=":1" /> The city serves as the headquarters for most international NGOs and embassies.<ref name=":1" /> Hundreds of millions of dollars in aid flowing into the city have boosted Ramallah's economy greatly since the end of the [[Second Intifada]].<ref name=":1" /> Ramallah's buoyant economy continues to draw Palestinians from other West Bank towns where jobs are fewer.<ref name=":1" /> The built-up area has grown fivefold since 2002.<ref name=":1" />

Construction boom is one of the most obvious signs of [[West Bank]] economic growth, estimated at an annual rate of 8 percent.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/world/ramallah-building-boom-symbolizes-west-bank-growth-idUSTRE67129P/ | title=Ramallah building boom symbolizes West Bank growth | website=[[Reuters]] | date=August 2, 2010 }}</ref> This has been attributed to relative stability and Western donor support to the Palestinian Authority.<ref name=":2" /> The [[Palestine Investment Fund|PIF]] have begun work on a $400 million commercial center comprising 13 towers which will be some of the tallest in Ramallah.<ref name=":2" /> The [[Ersal Commercial Center]] has drawn investment from a Saudi Arabian firm, The Land Holding, which has a 10% stake.<ref name=":2" /> It is not the only Gulf Arab firm investing in Ramallah and its outskirts.<ref name=":2" /> The Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company has a stake in [[Rawabi]], a completely new town being constructed in the hills outside Ramallah at a cost of $1 billion.<ref name=":2" />

Ramallah has highest concentration of high-tech companies.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |date=2020-12-08 |title=India donates $3 million to complete Palestine-India Techno Park |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/education/news/india-donates-3-million-to-complete-palestine-india-techno-park/articleshow/79626063.cms |access-date=2024-03-03 |work=The Times of India |issn=0971-8257}}</ref> ASAL technologies, an information technology company in Ramallah, has 120 employees and is looking forward to "exponential growth".<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Kershner |first1=Isabel |title=West Bank's Emerging Silicon Valley Evades Issues of Borders |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/30/world/middleeast/palestinians-building-tech-hub-in-west-bank.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170321030919/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/30/world/middleeast/palestinians-building-tech-hub-in-west-bank.html |archive-date=March 21, 2017 |website=[[The New York Times]] |date=July 30, 2012 }}</ref> In collaboration with the [[Republic of India]], a new tech park named, the India Palestine Techno Park is located in [[Birzeit]].<ref name=":3" /> [[Apple Inc.|Apple Inc]] operates a research & development center in Rawabi with ASAL Technologies.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-06-28 |title=Apple expanding R&D hub in Palestinian Authority |url=https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/bypitho59 |access-date=2024-03-03 |website=ctech |language=en}}</ref> A large number multinational companies operates facilities in Ramallah, which outsource Palestinians.<ref name=":3" />

By 2010, Ramallah had become the leading center of economic and political activity in the territories under the control of the Palestinian Authority.<ref name="Toameh" /> During a building boom in the early years of the 21st century, apartment buildings and "five-star" hotels were erected, particularly in the [[Al-Masyoun]] neighborhood.<ref name="Toameh" /> In 2010, "more than one hundred" Palestinian businesses were reported to have moved to Ramallah from [[East Jerusalem]], because "Here they pay less taxes and have more customers."<ref name="Toameh" /> One local boasted to a journalist that "Ramallah is becoming the de facto capital of Palestine."<ref name="Toameh" /> This boast was seconded by ''[[The New York Times]]'' which, in 2010, called Ramallah the "de facto capital of the West Bank.<ref name="Loungo" /> According to [[Sani Meo]], the publisher of ''[[This Week in Palestine]]'', "Capital or no capital, Ramallah has done well and Palestine is proud of its achievements."<ref name="Toameh" /> Some Palestinians allege that Ramallah's prosperity is part of an Israeli "conspiracy" to make Ramallah the capital of a [[State of Palestine|Palestinian state]], instead of [[Jerusalem]].<ref name="Toameh" />

==Demographics==
{{Historical populations
|title        = Historical population
|source       = <ref name="Arieh90" /><ref name="Census1922" /><ref name="Census1931" /><ref name=vs1938 /><ref name=vs1945 /><ref name=jordan1961>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date= |title=Table 1.6 Population of Capitals of Jordan, Districts and Sub-Districts by Sex |url=https://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/JordanCensusPages/JordanCensus1961-p12.pdf |website= |location= |publisher= |page=12 |access-date=July 13, 2025}}</ref>
<ref name="britannica" /><ref name=pcbs1997 /><ref name=PCBS07 /><ref name="pcbs2017" />
|1896 |2,061
|1922 |3,104
|1931 |4,286
|1938 |4,900.
|1945 |5,080
|1961 |14,759
|1967 |12,134
|1997 |17,851
|2007 |27,460
|2017 |38,998
}}

An [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] village list of about 1870 showed that Ramallah had 249 houses and a population of 635, though the population count included men only. The village was described as being in the ''Bire'' area, "north of [[Mikhmas]], on a rocky hill."<ref name="Socin">{{Cite web |title=Socin, 1879 |date=1878 |url=https://archive.org/stream/zeitschriftdesde01deut#page/158/mode/1up |page=158}} the population count is given with a "?"</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Hartmann, 1883 |date=1878 |url=https://archive.org/stream/bub_gb_BZobAQAAIAAJ#page/n935/mode/1up |page=127}} (noted 120 houses)</ref><ref name="Arieh90">{{Cite web |title=Ben-Arieh, 1985 |url=http://www.ybz.org.il/_Uploads/dbsAttachedFiles/Article_36.8.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200722211520/http://www.ybz.org.il/_Uploads/dbsAttachedFiles/Article_36.8.pdf |archive-date=July 22, 2020 |page=90}}</ref> In 1896, the population of Ramallah was estimated to be about 2,061 persons.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Schick, 1896 |date=1878 |url=https://archive.org/stream/zeitschriftdesde19deut#page/n228/mode/1up |page=121}}</ref><ref name="Arieh90" />

In the [[1922 census of Palestine]] conducted by the [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandate authorities]], Ramallah had a population of 3,104 (2,972 [[Christians]], 125 [[Muslim]]s, and seven Jews<ref name="Census1922">{{Cite web |title=Barron, 1923 |url=https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n18/mode/1up |page=16}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Harris |first=Chauncy Dennison |title=Research paper: Issues 217–218 of World Patterns of Modern Urban Change: Essays in Honor of Chauncy D. Harris |date=1948 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=28l-AAAAMAAJ&q=Ramallah+jews |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102005326/https://books.google.com/books?id=28l-AAAAMAAJ&q=Ramallah+jews&dq=Ramallah+jews&hl=en&ei=EZE8TIjwNo6UjAe83pjCAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CDgQ6AEwBDgy |archive-date=January 2, 2016 |page=154 |publisher=University of Chicago, Department of Geography |isbn=978-0-89065-122-3 }}</ref>), the Christians consisting of 2,162 Orthodox, 1 [[Syriac Orthodox Church|Syriac Orthodox]] (Jacobite), 332 [[Roman Catholics]], 144 Greek Catholic ([[Melkite Catholic]]), 211 [[Church of England]], and 122 "other".<ref name="Census1922b">{{Cite web |title=Barron, 1923 |url=https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n47/mode/1up |page=45}}</ref> The population increased at the time of the [[1931 census of Palestine|1931 census]] to 4,286 (3,766 Christians, 519 Muslims and one Jew) in a total of 1,014 houses.<ref name="Census1931">{{Cite web |title=Mills, 1932 |date=1932 |url=https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas |page=50}}</ref> In the 1938 village statistics, the population is listed as 4,900.<ref name=vs1938>{{Cite book |url=https://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/VillageStatistics1938orig.pdf |title=Village Statistics |year=1938 |pages=48 |access-date=November 6, 2023 |archive-date=November 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107124512/https://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/VillageStatistics1938orig.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> In the [[Village Statistics, 1945|1945 statistics]], the population stood at 5,080,<ref name=vs1945>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=April 1, 1945 |title=Village Statistics – 1945 |url=https://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/VSpages/VS1945_p65.jpg |website= |location= |publisher= |page=65 |access-date=July 13, 2025}}</ref> with Christians forming the majority of the population (4,440 Christians and 640 Muslims).

However, the demographic makeup of the town changed drastically under Jordanian occupation, when considerable emigration of Christians took place. This left slightly more than half of the city's 12,134 inhabitants Christian by 1967, and the remainder Muslim.<ref name="britannica">{{Cite web |title=Ramallah |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/490336/Ramallah |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111129092138/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/490336/Ramallah |archive-date=November 29, 2011 |website=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] Online}}</ref>

Ramallah expatriates created one of the largest Arab communities in the United States, settling mainly in [[Washington (state)|Washington]], New York, Florida, California, Texas, and especially in [[Michigan]]. Many worked in the auto industry. In 1959, the American Federation of Ramallah, Palestine (AFRP) was established in [[Detroit]]. The AFRP has several branches in the United States, and holds an annual convention every summer attended by a sizable number of former Ramallah residents and their offspring.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.koolpages.com/wael2003/history.htm|title=koolpages.com/wael2003/history|access-date=October 4, 2018|archive-date=December 23, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071223214116/http://www.koolpages.com/wael2003/history.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://afrp.org/aboutus.aspx|title=afrp.org|access-date=October 4, 2018}}</ref>

Ramallah's population drastically decreased in the late 20th century from 24,722 inhabitants in 1987 to 17,851 in 1997.{{cn|date=July 2025}} In the [[Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics]] (PCBS) census in 1997, [[Palestinian refugee]]s accounted for 60.3% of the population, which was 17,851.<ref name=pcbs1997>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date= |title=Palestinian Population by Locality, Sex and Age Groups in Years |url=http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_pcbs/phc_97/ram_t6.aspx |website= |location= |publisher=[[Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081119061257/http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_pcbs/phc_97/ram_t6.aspx |archive-date=November 19, 2008 |access-date=July 13, 2025}}</ref> There were 8,622 males and 9,229 females. People younger than 20 years of age made up 45.9% of the population, while those aged between 20 and 64 were 45.4%, and residents aged over 64 constituted 4.7%.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Palestinian Population by Locality, Sex and Age Groups in Years |url=http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_pcbs/phc_97/ram_t1.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081119061326/http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_pcbs/phc_97/ram_t1.aspx |archive-date=November 19, 2008 |website=[[Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics]]}}</ref>

Only in 2005 did the population reach more than 24,000. In a PCBS projection in 2006, Ramallah had a population of 25,467 inhabitants.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Projected Mid -Year Population for Ramallah & Al Bireh Governorate by Locality 2004– 2006 |url=http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_pcbs/populati/pop07.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304011608/http://pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_pcbs/populati/pop07.aspx |archive-date=March 4, 2009 |website=[[Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics]]}}</ref> In the 2007 PCBS census, there were 27,460 people living in the city.<ref name=PCBS07>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date= |title=Table 26 (Cont.): Localities in the West Bank by Selected Indicators, 2007 |url=http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_PCBS/Downloads/book1487.pdf |website= |location= |publisher=[[Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics]] |page=114 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101210081942/http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_PCBS/Downloads/book1487.pdf |archive-date=2010-12-10 |access-date=July 13, 2025}}</ref> Sources vary about the current Christian population in the city, ranging around 25%.<ref name=hall>Hall, Andy. [http://www.eappi.org/ar/news-events/ea-reports/r/browse/17/article/4837/quaker-meeting-in-ramalla.html Quaker Meeting in Ramallah] [[Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel]]. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110225142355/http://www.eappi.org/ar/news-events/ea-reports/r/browse/17/article/4837/quaker-meeting-in-ramalla.html |date=February 25, 2011 }}</ref><ref name=keulemans>Keulemans, Chris. [http://iwp.uiowa.edu/91st/vol4_n1/pdfs/keulemans.pdf Imagination Behind the Wall: Cultural Life in Ramallah] p.2. April 2005. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006013154/http://iwp.uiowa.edu/91st/vol4_n1/pdfs/keulemans.pdf |date=October 6, 2011 }}</ref>

==Health==
[[File:مستشفى هوغو تشافيز، ترمسعيا 02.jpg|thumb|Hugo Chávez Hospital in Ramallah]]
[[File:Istishari Arab Hospital 004.jpg|thumb|Istishari Arab Hospital]]
In the aftermath of the 1936–1939 Arab revolt, the Ramallah Hospital Foundation was established and registered as a tax exempt organization in New York in 1944. It bought large pieces of land in the south-eastern fringes of the city dedicated for the future hospital. In 1963, a hospital was opened.<ref name=nyt96>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/05/world/foes-take-steps-to-cut-tension-in-west-bank.html |title=Foes Take Steps To Cut Tension In West Bank |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 5, 1996 |access-date=February 4, 2015 |archive-date=February 4, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150204185745/http://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/05/world/foes-take-steps-to-cut-tension-in-west-bank.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Religion==
The [[Jamal Abdel Nasser Mosque]] is one of the city's largest [[mosques]]. The [[Orthodox Church of Ramallah]], an [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christian]] [[convent]], [[Melkite Catholic Church]], [[Evangelical Lutheran]] Church, Arab [[Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East|Episcopal]] ([[Anglican]]) Church, Ramallah Local Church ([[Evangelical]]\[[Born again (Christianity)|Born Again]]) and Ramallah [[Baptist]] Church all operate schools in the city.<ref name="RamMuniRel">{{cite web|url=http://www.ramallah.ps/etemplate.aspx?id=3 |title=Religion in Ramallah City |access-date=February 22, 2008 |publisher=Ramallah Municipality |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080319232359/http://www.ramallah.ps/etemplate.aspx?id=3 |archive-date=March 19, 2008 }} Information in text is gathered by several links in the "Religion in Ramallah" page.</ref>

=== Christian presence ===
[[File:2010-08 Ramallah 39.jpg|thumb|An old Christian cemetery in Ramallah|left]]

Ramallah grew dramatically throughout the 17th and 18th centuries as an agricultural village, attracting more (predominantly Christian) inhabitants from all around the region.<ref name=visit>{{Cite web|url=https://visitramallah.ramallah.ps/en/article/19/Greek-Catholic-%E2%80%9CMelkite%E2%80%9D-Church|title=Greek Catholic "Melkite" Church|website=visitramallah.ramallah.ps|access-date=May 17, 2022|archive-date=May 17, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220517203358/https://visitramallah.ramallah.ps/en/article/19/Greek-Catholic-%E2%80%9CMelkite%E2%80%9D-Church|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1700, Yacoub Elias was the first Ramallah native to be ordained by the [[Greek Orthodox Church]] of Jerusalem, the Christian denomination that prevailed in the Holy Land at the time. In the early 19th century, the first Jerusalemite Greek Orthodox Christian church was built. Later, in 1852, the [[Church of Transfiguration, Ramallah|Greek Orthodox Church of the Transfiguration]], was built to replace it; it is the sole [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] in Ramallah today.<ref name="visit" />

There is also a [[Melkite Greek Catholic Church]] in Ramallah, built in 1895.<ref name="visit" /> The [[Roman Catholic Church]] also established its presence in Ramallah the 19th century and constitutes today the second-largest Christian denomination in the city. The Roman Catholic Church established the St. Joseph's Girls' School run by St. Joseph sisters, as well as the co-educational Al-Ahliyyah College high school run by Rosary sisters. In 1913, construction of the Catholic [[Holy Family Church, Ramallah|Holy Family Church]] was started.

{{as of|2022}}, Ramallah also has a [[Coptic Orthodox Church]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://visitramallah.ramallah.ps/en/article/20/Coptic-Church|title=Coptic Church|website=visitramallah.ramallah.ps|access-date=May 17, 2022|archive-date=May 17, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220517203323/https://visitramallah.ramallah.ps/en/article/20/Coptic-Church|url-status=live}}</ref> an [[Lutheranism|Evangelical Lutheran Church]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://visitramallah.ramallah.ps/en/article/21/Evangelical-Lutheran-Church-|title=Evangelical Lutheran Church|website=visitramallah.ramallah.ps|access-date=May 17, 2022|archive-date=May 17, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220517203325/https://visitramallah.ramallah.ps/en/article/21/Evangelical-Lutheran-Church-|url-status=live}}</ref> and an [[Anglicanism|Episcopalian (Anglican) Church]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://visitramallah.ramallah.ps/en/article/22/Episcopalian-Church|title=Episcopalian Church|website=visitramallah.ramallah.ps|access-date=May 17, 2022|archive-date=May 17, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220517203326/https://visitramallah.ramallah.ps/en/article/22/Episcopalian-Church|url-status=live}}</ref> In the 19th century, the [[Quakers|Religious Society of Friends]] ([[Quakers]]) established a presence in Ramallah and built the [[Ramallah Friends Schools]], one for girls and later a boys' school, to alleviate the dearth of education for women and girls. Eli and Sybil Jones opened "The Girls Training Home of Ramallah" in 1869. A medical clinic was established in 1883, with Dr. George Hassenauer serving as the first doctor in Ramallah. In 1889, the girls academy became the Friends Girls School (FGS). As the FGS was also a boarding school, it attracted a number of girls from surrounding communities, including Jerusalem, [[Lydda]], [[Jaffa]], and [[Beirut]]. The Friends Boys School (FBS) was founded in 1901 and opened in 1918. The Quakers opened a Friends Meeting House for worship in the city center in 1910.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.palfriends.org/schoolhistory.php |title=Religious Society of Friends (Palestine) |publisher=Palfriends.org |access-date=November 13, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111029211841/https://www.palfriends.org/schoolhistory.php |archive-date=October 29, 2011 }}</ref> According to the school's official website, most high school students choose to take the [[International Baccalaureate]] exams (IBE) instead of the traditional "Tawjihi" university exams.<ref name="RamMuniRel" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.palfriends.org/fbs/history.asp |title=History of Friends School |access-date=February 22, 2008 |work=Palestine Friends Boys School |publisher=Visuals Active Media |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071101091350/http://www.palfriends.org/fbs/history.asp <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = November 1, 2007}} palfriends.org</ref>

The activity of foreign churches in Palestine in the late 19th century increased awareness of prosperity in the West. In Ramallah and [[Bethlehem]], a few miles south, local residents began to seek economic opportunity overseas. In 1901, merchants from Ramallah emigrated to the United States and established import-export businesses, selling handmade rugs and other exotic wares across the Atlantic. Increased trade dramatically improved living standards for Ramallah's inhabitants. American cars, mechanized farming equipment, radios, and later televisions became attainable luxuries for upper-class families. As residents of Jaffa and Lydda moved to Ramallah, the balance of Muslims and Christians began to change.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}

In the 21st century, a large community of people with direct descent from the Haddadins who founded Ramallah live in the United States. The town is now predominately Muslim, but still contains a Christian minority. The change in demographics is due mostly to new migration of Muslims to the area, and emigration of Christians from the area.<ref name=laoc/>

<gallery>
File:2010-08 Ramallah 59.jpg|A [[Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria|Coptic]] church
File:2010-08 Ramallah 14.jpg|A local mosque
File:2010-08 Ramallah 07.jpg|Church of Our Lady of the Annunciation
File:2010-08 Ramallah 56.jpg|Holy Family Church
File:Jamal Abdel Nasser Mosque.jpg|[[Jamal Abdel Nasser Mosque]]
File:2010-08 Ramallah 32.jpg|Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hope
</gallery>

==Culture==
[[File:Mausoleo Arafat (Muqata, Ramallah) 01.JPG|thumb|Arafat Mausoleum|left]][[File:Ramallah Moevenpick.jpg|thumb]]
Ramallah is generally considered the most affluent and cultural, as well as the most liberal, of all Palestinian cities,<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/jan/16/biography.features2 Emails from the edge]  [[The Observer]], January 16, 2005</ref><ref>[https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna10704035 Hamas says it will use Islamic law as guide] [[NBC News]], January 29, 2006</ref> and is home to a number of popular Palestinian activists, poets, artists, and [[music of Palestine|musicians]].

In 2004 the Ramallah Cultural Palace opened in the city. The only cultural center of its kind in the Palestinian-governed areas, it houses a 736-seat auditorium, as well as conference rooms, exhibit halls, and movie-screening rooms. It was a joint venture of the Palestinian Authority, the [[United Nations Development Programme]] (UNDP), and the Japanese government.<ref>[http://www.jerusalemites.org/jerusalem/cultural_dimensions/71.htm Jerusalemites.org], cultural dimensions {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101222185339/http://www.jerusalemites.org/jerusalem/cultural_dimensions/71.htm |date=December 22, 2010 }}</ref> Ramallah hosted its first annual international film festival in 2004.

<gallery heights="200" widths="150" mode="packed">
File:Kebap a Ramallah01.JPG|[[Kebab]] stand in Ramallah
File:2010-08 Ramallah 22.jpg|Lion sculptures in Ramallah's central square
File:Ramallah square.jpg|Monument and [[Palestinian flag]] at Al Sa’a Square/Yasser Arafat Square
File:2010-08 Ramallah 51.jpg|Ceramic mural
File:French-German Cultural Center, Ramallah (2019) 1.jpg|French-German Cultural Center
File:2010-08 Ramallah 10.jpg|DownTown Cafe
File:Ramallah Martyrs Memorial.jpg|Ramallah Martyrs Memorial
</gallery>

===Palestinian costume===
{{Main|Palestinian traditional costumes}}

Until the 1940s, traditional Palestinian costumes reflected a woman's economic and marital status and her town or district of origin, with knowledgeable observers discerning this information from the [[fabric]], colours, [[Cut (clothing)|cut]], and [[embroidery]] motifs (or lack thereof) used in the apparel.<ref name=Grutz>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/199101/woven.legacy.woven.language.htm|author=Jane Waldron Grutz|date=January–February 1991|title=Woven Legacy, Woven Language|magazine=Saudi Aramco World|access-date=December 6, 2012|archive-date=February 19, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070219004053/http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/199101/woven.legacy.woven.language.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

Villages in the Levant under Ottoman rule remained isolated due to the difficulty of travel in the 19th century. As a result, clothing and accessories became a statement of region. In Ramallah, the back panels of dresses often incorporated a palm tree motif embroidered in cross-stitch.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.palestineheritage.org/Newsletter_July_2005.htm |title=Heritage Newsletter of the Palestinian Heritage Foundation Volume 6 |publisher=Palestineheritage.org |access-date=November 13, 2011 |archive-date=September 29, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929234755/http://www.palestineheritage.org/Newsletter_July_2005.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
<gallery>
File:Ramallah-Family-1905.jpg|[[Palestinian Christians|Christian]] family from Ramallah wearing typical Palestinian Ottoman-period clothing, c. 1905
File:Ramallah woman2.jpg|Young woman of Ramallah wearing [[dowry]] headdress, c. 1898–1914 ([[American Colony]] Collection)
File:Ramlah costumewo.jpg|Ramallah woman, c. 1920 ([[The Matson Photo Service]])
File:Arabic-traditional-Dress.jpg|Traditional Women's Dress in Ramallah. [[Khalil Raad]], c. 1920.
File:American Colony, Ramallah peasant spinning wool 18417-020u.jpg|A man from Ramallah [[Spinning (textiles)|spinning wool]]. Hand tinted photograph from 1919, restored ([[American Colony]] Collection)
File:OIMpalcost1.jpg|Ramallah dress at the Oriental Institute Museum
</gallery>

== International relations ==
Many foreign nations have located their diplomatic missions to the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, including, {{As of|2010|lc=y}}, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Korea, South Africa, Norway, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, China, Poland, Portugal, The Netherlands, Russia, Jordan, Brazil, Finland, Denmark, Ireland, Germany, India, Japan, the Czech Republic, Canada and Mexico.<ref name="Toameh" />

=== Twin towns – sister cities ===
[[File:Ramallah city hall.jpg|thumb|Ramallah City Hall]]
[[File:2010-08 Ramallah 05.jpg|thumb|Ramallah Municipality building]]
Ramallah is [[Sister city|twinned]] with:<ref>{{cite web|title=International Relations of Ramallah Municipality|url=https://www.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=7f43a26bf8094241bcd6ff064bd65f1a|website=arcgis.com|publisher=ArcGIS|access-date=2020-05-28|archive-date=December 6, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206143441/https://www.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=7f43a26bf8094241bcd6ff064bd65f1a|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=International Links – Ramallah|url=https://www.oxford.gov.uk/info/20139/oxford_international_links/1344/international_links_-_ramallah|website=oxford.gov.uk|publisher=Oxford City Council|access-date=2020-05-28|archive-date=March 26, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326064859/https://www.oxford.gov.uk/info/20139/oxford_international_links/1344/international_links_-_ramallah|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
*{{flagicon|FRA}} [[Bordeaux]], France
*{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Hounslow]], England, United Kingdom
*{{flagicon|RSA}} [[Johannesburg]], South Africa
*{{flagicon|BEL}} [[Liège]], Belgium
*{{flagicon|USA}} [[Muscatine, Iowa|Muscatine]], Iowa, United States
*{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Oxford]], England, United Kingdom
*{{flagdeco|USA}} [[Paterson, New Jersey]], United States<ref>Adely, Hannan. [https://archive.today/20230628175900/https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/passaic/paterson/2023/06/26/paterson-nj-sister-city-ramallah-palestine/70343619007/ "In nod to its Palestinian community, Paterson signs sister city agreement with Ramallah"], ''[[The Record (North Jersey)|The Record]]'', Archived from the [https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/passaic/paterson/2023/06/26/paterson-nj-sister-city-ramallah-palestine/70343619007/ original] on June 26, 2023. Accessed May 19, 2025.</ref>
*{{flagicon|TUR}} [[Sur, Diyarbakır|Sur]], Turkey
*{{flagicon|NOR}} [[Trondheim]], Norway
*{{flagicon|IRL}} [[Dublin]], Ireland
<!--rest - not twinning-->
{{div col end}}

==Notable people==
* [[Paul Ajlouny]] (b. 1933), Palestinian-American publisher and businessman
* [[Hamze Awawde]] (b. 1990), Palestinian peace activist<ref>{{Cite web |last=Awawde |first=Hamze |date=2012-06-27 |title=The new Palestinian |url=https://www.jpost.com/opinion/op-ed-contributors/the-new-palestinian |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=The Jerusalem Post |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":22">{{Cite news |last=Lough |first=Catherine |date=2023-11-28 |title=Bereaved Israeli and Palestinian families to march together in anti-hate vigil |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/11/28/bereaved-israelis-palestinians-march-together-london-vigil/ |access-date=2023-11-29 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}</ref>
* [[Mahmoud Eid]] (b. 1993), professional footballer
* [[Amber Fares]], Lebanese Canadian filmmaker{{dubious|Her article doesn't mention her being Palestinian, just "Lebanese roots".|date= January 2024}}
* [[Yasmeen Mjalli]] (born 1996), American and Palestinian fashion designer, photographer and anti-[[street harassment]] activist.<ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC 100 Women 2024: Who is on the list this year? - BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-4f79d09b-655a-42f8-82b4-9b2ecebab611 |access-date=2025-06-23 |website=News |language=en-GB}}</ref>
* [[Jibril Rajoub]] (b. 1953), Palestinian political leader, former militant<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/sep/03/israel|title=The summit of Middle East tension|first=Brian|last=Whitaker|date=September 3, 2001|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=December 17, 2016|archive-date=January 2, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102005326/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/sep/03/israel|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Mosab Hassan Yousef]] (b. 1978), Palestinian ex-militant and defector{{Citation needed|date=June 2025}}

==See also==
* [[Palestinian Christians]]
* [[Economy of the State of Palestine]]
*[[Al-Ram]], Palestinian town few km southeast of Ramallah

==References==
{{Reflist|25em}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book | editor = Barron, J.B. | title = Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922 | url = https://archive.org/details/PalestineCensus1922 | publisher = Government of Palestine | year = 1923 }}
*{{cite journal|last=Ben-Arieh|first=Yehoshua|title=The Sanjak of Jerusalem in the 1870s|url=http://www.ybz.org.il/_Uploads/dbsAttachedFiles/Article_36.8.pdf|journal=Cathedra|volume=36|pages=73–122|date=1985|language=he|access-date=November 30, 2018|archive-date=July 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200722211520/http://www.ybz.org.il/_Uploads/dbsAttachedFiles/Article_36.8.pdf|url-status=live}} 
* {{cite book|last1=Conder|first1=C.R.|author-link1=Claude Reignier Conder|last2=Kitchener|first2=H.H.|author-link2=Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener|year=1883|url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp03conduoft|title=The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology|location=London|publisher=[[Palestine Exploration Fund|Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund]]|volume=3}} 
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Finkelstein |editor1-first=I. |editor1-link=Israel Finkelstein |editor2-last=Lederman |editor2-first=Zvi |year=1997 |title=Highlands of many cultures |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wb4xmgEACAAJ |location=[[Tel Aviv]] |publisher=Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University Publications Section |isbn=965-440-007-3 |access-date=January 3, 2019 |archive-date=August 10, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810004958/https://books.google.com/books?id=Wb4xmgEACAAJ |url-status=live }}
*{{cite book | title = First Census of Population and Housing. Volume I: Final Tables; General Characteristics of the Population | author = Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics | year = 1964 | url = http://cs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/JordanCensus1961bits.pdf | access-date = December 10, 2018 | archive-date = April 3, 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150403115045/http://cs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/JordanCensus1961bits.pdf | url-status = live }}
*{{cite book|title=Village Statistics, April, 1945|url=http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nli/Hebrew/library/Pages/BookReader.aspx?pid=856390|author=Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics|year=1945|access-date=November 10, 2015|archive-date=April 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402072744/http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nli/hebrew/library/pages/bookreader.aspx?pid=856390|url-status=live}} 
* {{cite journal | author = Grant, E. | author-link=Elihu Grant| title = Ramallah. Signs of the early occupation of this and other sites | journal = Quarterly Statement – Palestine Exploration Fund | pages = 186–195 | year = 1926 | volume=58| issue=4| doi=10.1179/peq.1926.58.4.186 | issn=0031-0328 }} 
* {{cite book|last=Guérin|first=V.|author-link=Victor Guérin|title=Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine|url=https://archive.org/details/descriptiongogr04gugoog|volume=2: Samarie, pt. 2|year=1875|publisher=L'Imprimerie Nationale|location=Paris|language=fr}} (pp. [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongogr04gugoog#page/n61/mode/1up 40]- 41) 
* {{cite book|title=Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine|url=http://www.palestineremembered.com/Articles/General-2/Story3150.html|first=S.|last=Hadawi|author-link=Sami Hadawi|year=1970|publisher=Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center|access-date=August 23, 2014|archive-date=December 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181208215837/http://www.palestineremembered.com/Articles/General-2/Story3150.html|url-status=live}}
*{{cite journal | last = Hartmann | first = M. | author-link = Martin Hartmann | title = Die Ortschaftenliste des Liwa Jerusalem in dem türkischen Staatskalender für Syrien auf das Jahr 1288 der Flucht (1871) | journal = Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins | volume = 6 | pages = 102–149 | url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_BZobAQAAIAAJ | year = 1883 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Hütteroth |first1=W.-D.|author-link1=Wolf-Dieter Hütteroth|first2=K. | last2=Abdulfattah |author-link2=Kamal Abdulfattah  |title=Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wqULAAAAIAAJ |year=1977 |publisher=Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft |isbn=3-920405-41-2 |access-date=December 10, 2018 |archive-date=October 14, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191014140930/https://books.google.com/books?id=wqULAAAAIAAJ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book | editor = Mills, E. | title = Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas | url = https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas | publisher = Government of Palestine | location = Jerusalem | year = 1932 }} 
* {{cite book|last=Palmer|first=E.H.|author-link=Edward Henry Palmer|year=1881|url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp00conduoft|title=The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer|publisher=[[Palestine Exploration Fund|Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund]]}} 
* {{cite book|title=Secular buildings in the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: an archaeological Gazetteer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-_NbE5obqRMC|last= Pringle |first= D.|author-link=Denys Pringle|year=1997|isbn=0521-46010-7|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|access-date=November 15, 2015|archive-date=June 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200608230937/https://books.google.com/books?id=-_NbE5obqRMC|url-status=live}} 
* {{cite book|last=Rey|first=E.G.|author-link=:fr:Emmanuel Guillaume-Rey|title=Les colonies franques de Syrie aux XIIme et XIIIme siècles|url=https://archive.org/details/lescoloniesfran00reygoog|year=1883|publisher=A. Picard|location=Paris|language=fr}} 
* {{cite book|last1=Robinson|first1=E.|author-link1=Edward Robinson (scholar)|last2=Smith|first2=E.|author-link2=Eli Smith|year=1841|url=https://archive.org/details/biblicalresearc00smitgoog|title=Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838|location=Boston|publisher=[[Crocker & Brewster]]|volume=2}} 
* Shaheen, Azeez (1982): ''Ramallah: Its history and genealogies''. [[Birzeit University]] Press
*{{cite journal | last = Schick | first = C. | author-link = Conrad Schick | title = Zur Einwohnerzahl des Bezirks Jerusalem | journal = Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins | volume = 19 | pages = 120–127 | url = https://archive.org/details/zeitschriftdesde19deut | year = 1896 }} 
*{{cite journal | last = Socin | first = A. | author-link = Albert Socin | title = Alphabetisches Verzeichniss von Ortschaften des Paschalik Jerusalem | journal = Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins | volume = 2 | pages = 135–163 | url = https://archive.org/details/zeitschriftdesde01deut | year = 1879 }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Ramallah}}
{{wikivoyage|Ramallah}}
* [http://www.ramallah.ps/english.aspx Ramallah City] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121016091841/http://www.ramallah.ps/english.aspx |date=October 16, 2012 }}
* [http://www.palestineremembered.com/GeoPoints/Ramallah_527/index.html Welcome To The City of Ramallah]
* Survey of Western Palestine, Map 17:  [http://www.iaa-archives.org.il/zoom/zoom.aspx?folder_id=93&type_id=6&id=8379 IAA], [[:File:Survey_of_Western_Palestine_1880.17.jpg|Wikimedia commons]]
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070510140935/http://www.ramallah-city.org/history.htm Ramallah History]}}
* [http://www.ramallahunderground.com/ Music and Art from Ramallah] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090121112339/http://ramallahunderground.com/ |date=January 21, 2009 }}
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20071101092030/http://www.eappi.org/eappi.nsf/index/rep-ah-05012804.html Quaker Meeting in Ramallah]}}
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080311235308/http://www.ourfatherlutheran.net/biblehomelands/palestine/westbank.htm West Bank/Palestine]}}
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20071012082330/http://prc.org.uk/palestine%2048/ramallah.html Ramallah]}}
* [http://www.alkasaba.org/ Al Kasaba Theatre]
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20050813024438/http://www.sakakini.org/ Khalil Sakakini Cultural Centre]}}
* [http://www.sirreyeh.org/ First Ramallah Group]
* [http://www.ramallahfilmfestival.org/ Ramallah International Film Festival] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130617212922/http://www.ramallahfilmfestival.org/ |date=June 17, 2013 }}
* [http://www.ramallahonline.com/ RamallahOnline.com]
* [http://www.RamallahClubDetroit.com/ Ramallah Club of Metro Detroit]
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20120219044805/http://www.jnewswire.com/article/862 Jnewswire.com]}}, Ramallah ancient synagogue
* [http://annebrunswic.fr/69-Welcome-to-Palestine-chronicles-of Anne Brunswic's book Welcome to Palestine, English translation]

{{Cities in the West Bank}}
{{List of Asian capitals by region}}
{{Capitals of Arab countries}}
{{Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Ramallah| ]]
[[Category:Capitals in Palestine]]
[[Category:Cities in the West Bank]]
[[Category:Palestinian Christian communities]]
[[Category:Populated places established in the 16th century]]
[[Category:Municipalities of Palestine]]