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Christians are now a small minority in the land of Christianity's birth — roughly one to two percent of the population of Israel and the Palestinian territories, most of them Arab Christians belonging to the ancient churches, alongside Armenians and others. Their numbers have thinned through a century of conflict and emigration, and the future of some communities is genuinely uncertain. Yet they remain: worshipping in the oldest churches in the world, keeping custody of the holy places, an unbroken living link to the first believers of Jerusalem.
- Christians are roughly 1–2% of the population of Israel and the Palestinian territories.
- Most are Arab Christians of the ancient churches, with Armenians and others.
- A century of conflict and emigration has thinned the communities, but they endure at the holy sites.
What the evidence showsThe presence, composition and decline of the modern Christian communities of the Holy Land are documented in censuses and studies (e.g. Daphne Tsimhoni's work).
Where it stopsFigures and trends are contested and politically charged, and this card reports the broad picture rather than taking sides in a live and painful dispute.
Sources & further reading