The Palestinian state was officially declared by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1988, claiming sovereignty over the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, though without clear borders. The Palestinian National Authority, based in the West Bank, has been recognized as the legitimate representative of the Palestinians since the 1990s.
Currently, 145 countries recognize Palestine as a state. Most did so after the PLO declared independence of Palestine in 1988, including the Soviet Union, China, Yugoslavia and India. In recent decades, countries such as South Africa, the Philippines and Rwanda have also recognized this.
In the twenty-first century, countries such as Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela recognized Palestine. In 2011, the Palestinian National Authority applied for full membership of the UN but was rejected. However, in the same year UNESCO accepted Palestine as a member. Also in 2011, Iceland was the first Western European country to recognize Palestine, followed by Sweden in 2014. In 2018, Colombia officially recognized Palestine as part of a state, and in 2024, President Gustavo Petro opened an embassy in Ramallah after severing relations with Israel. In the same year, the Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Barbados also recognized Palestine.
Today, 24 Latin American countries recognize that Palestine has sovereignty and independence, all except Mexico and Panama. Although Mexico supports the creation of a Palestinian state, it does not yet formally recognize it, and in 2023 opened an embassy in the occupied Palestinian territories.
