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Palestine (from [[Latin]]: Palaestina; [[Hebrew]]: ארץ־ישראל‎ Eretz-Yisra'el, formerly also פלשתינה Palestina; Arabic: فلسطين Filasṭīn, Falasṭīn, Filisṭīn) is one of several names for the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River and various adjoining lands.

Palestine (Arabic: فلسطين‎ Filasṭīn, Falasṭīn, Filisṭīn; Greek: Παλαιστίνη, Palaistinē; Latin: Palaestina; Hebrew: פלשתינה Palestina) is a geographic region in Western Asia between the [[Mediterranean Sea]] and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_River Jordan River]. It is sometimes considered to include adjoining territories. The name was used by Ancient Greek writers, and was later used for the Roman province [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syria_Palaestina Syria Palaestina], the Byzantine [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palaestina_Prima Palaestina Prima] and the Umayyad and Abbasid province of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jund_Filastin Jund Filastin]. The region is also known as the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_of_Israel Land of Israel] (Hebrew: ארץ־ישראל Eretz-Yisra'el),[1] the Holy Land, the Southern Levant, Cisjordan, and historically has been known by other names including Canaan, Southern Syria and Jerusalem.

Different geographic definitions of Palestine have been used over the millennia, and these definitions themselves are politically contentious. In recent times, the broadest definition of Palestine has been that adopted by the British Mandate, and the narrowest is that used in contemporary politics today, called the Palestinian territories, which are the [[West Bank]] and [[Gaza Strip]].

Situated at a strategic location between [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt Egypt], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syria Syria] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabia 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptians Ancient Egyptians], http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaan Canaanites], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israelites Israelites], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyrians Assyrians], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonians Babylonians], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achaemenid_Empire Persians], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greeks Ancient Greeks], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Rome Romans], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Empire Byzantines], the Sunni [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Caliphate Arab Caliphates], the Shia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatimid_Caliphate Fatimid Caliphate], Crusaders, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayyubids Ayyubids], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mameluks Mameluks], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottomans Ottomans], the British and modern Israelis and Palestinians.

Other English names for this region include: [[Canaan]], Land of Israel, and Holy Land.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestine]

[[Boundaries]] of the region have changed throughout [[history]], and were last defined in modern times by the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franco-British_boundary_agreement_(1920) Franco-British boundary agreement] (1920) and the Transjordan memorandum of 16 September 1922, during the mandate period.[3] Today, the region comprises the State of Israel and Palestinian territories in which the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Palestine State of Palestine] was declared.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestine]

[[Category: General Reference]]

[[Category: Geography]]