Church of Transfiguration, Ramallah

Ramallah (UK: rə-MAL-ə, US: rə-MAH-lə; Arabic: رام الله, romanized: Rām Allāh, lit. 'God's Height') is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank that serves as the de facto administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, 10 km (6 miles) north of Jerusalem, at an average elevation of 872 meters (2,861 ft) above sea level, adjacent to al-Bireh.Ramallah has buildings containing masonry from the period of Herod the Great, but no complete building predates the Crusades of the 11th century. The modern city was founded during the 16th century by the Hadadeens, an Arab Christian clan descended from Ghassanids. In 1517, the city was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire, and in 1920, it became part of British Mandatory Palestine after it was captured by the United Kingdom during World War I. The 1948 Arab–Israeli War saw the entire West Bank, including Ramallah, occupied and annexed by Transjordan. Ramallah was later captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. Since the 1995 Oslo Accords, Ramallah has been governed by the PNA as part of Area A of the West Bank. In recent years, Ramallah has emerged as a key political, cultural, and economic center. 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. While historically a predominantly Christian town, Muslims constituted a majority of Ramallah's 38,998 residents by 2017, with Christians making up a significant minority.

The Chinese Ambassador to Palestine is the official representative of the People's Republic of China to the State of Palestine.

Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center (مركز خليل السكاكيني الثقافي) is a leading Palestinian arts and culture organization that aims to create a pluralistic, critical liberating culture through research, query, and participation, and that provides an open space for the community to produce vibrant and liberating cultural content. Located in Ramallah, KSCC is housed in a renovated building, dating back to the early 20th century, based on traditional Palestinian architecture. Initially established in May 1996 as a branch of the Palestinian Ministry of Culture, KSCC was registered as a non-profit non-governmental organization (NGO) in 1998. The center is named after the Jerusalemite scholar, poet, and nationalist, Khalil Sakakini. The centre holds art exhibits, book readings, poetry readings, children's activities and film screenings. Additionally to long term projects KSCC has also transferred some of its activities to facilities outside Ramallah, such as to Birzeit, Gaza City, and Bethlehem, to enable continuation of the projects during Israeli imposed curfews.Adila Laidi was the first director of the centre between 1996 and 2005. Yazan Khalili has been the director since 2015.

Al-Kasaba Theatre and Cinematheque (Arabic: القصبة مسرح وسينماتك) is a cinema in the city of Ramallah, West Bank, Palestine. It was established in 1970 during Israeli occupation for playwrights and eventually began presenting films. Al-Kasaba is the only official multipurpose cinema in the Palestinian territories.

The 2000 Ramallah lynching was a violent incident that took place on October 12, 2000 – early in the Al-Aqsa Intifada – at the el-Bireh police station, where a Palestinian crowd of passing funeral marchers broke in and killed and mutilated the bodies of two Israel Defense Forces reservists.Vadim Nurzhitz and Yosef "Yossi" Avrahami had accidentally entered the Palestinian Authority-controlled city of Ramallah in the West Bank and were taken into custody by Palestinian Authority policemen, 13 of whom were injured while trying to stop the lynching. Tensions had been escalating prior to the incident; over 100 Palestinians, nearly two dozen of them minors, had been killed in the preceding two weeks; the escalating violence had been condemned just five days beforehand by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1322.The incident was filmed by several media outlets, and caused a stir in Israel and elsewhere.

Al-Manara Square is a town square located in Ramallah, West Bank, Palestine. It has been called "one of Palestine’s renowned public spaces."

Qaddura Refugee Camp (Arabic: مخيّم قدورة) is a Palestinian refugee camp in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate, located just outside downtown Ramallah in the central West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the Camp had a population of 1,558 inhabitants in mid-year 2006. Qaddura camp was established in 1948, but is not recognized as an official UNRWA camp.

Al-Quds Open University (Arabic: جامعة القدس المفتوحة) is an independent, distance education public university in Palestine. It was created by a decree issued by the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1991.QOU is the first Open Learning institute in the Palestinian territories. It has 60,000 students studying in 19 branches and centers distributed all over the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Jamal Abdel Nasser Mosque (Arabic: مسجد جمال عبد الناصر Masjid Jamal 'Abd an-Nasser) is the largest mosque in al-Bireh, West Bank, Palestine. Located in the Downtown district of the city, the mosque is named after the late Egyptian president and Arab leader Gamal Abdel Nasser.On March 14, 2002, the Israeli Army (IDF) took over the mosque and used its minaret for sniping, killing four Palestinians.On September 22, 2007, dozens of wives of Hamas-affiliated political prisoners and other female Hamas members marched from the Jamal Abdel Nasser Mosque to Al-Manara Square in protest of what they saw as the politically motivated detentions of their relatives by the Palestinian Authority (PA). They were prevented from reaching the square when PA security forces used tear gas to disperse them.

See Muqata'ah for the Ottoman instrument for financing state expenses. This article deals mainly with the Mukataa of Ramallah.Mukataʿa (Arabic: المقاطعة al-muqāṭaʿah) is an Arabic word for headquarters or administrative center. Mukataas were mostly built during the British Mandate as Tegart forts and were used both as British government centers and as dwellings for the British administrative staff. Some Mukataas also included police stations and prisons. After the British left, the buildings often functioned similarly under the Jordanians, and then the Israelis. After the Oslo Accords, the Mukataas were used as governmental offices and headquarters for the Palestinian National Authority. The Mukaatas in Ramallah and Gaza, the two major Palestinian cities, were also used as headquarters to the high Palestinian Authority leadership, including as office for Yasser Arafat, long-time Palestinian Authority president. During Operation Defensive Shield in April 2002, the Israeli Defence Forces raided the Mukataas in the West Bank. Some Mukataas, including the Mukataa in Hebron, were entirely demolished.

al-Am'ari Refugee Camp (Arabic: مخيّم الأمعري) is a Palestinian refugee camp in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate, located 2 kilometers South of Al Bireh in the central West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the camp had a population of 5,719 inhabitants in mid-year 2006. The al-Am'ari camp has 10,377 registered refugees.

Al-Bireh, al-Birah, or el-Bira (Arabic: البيرة; also known historically as Castrum Mahomeria, Magna Mahomeria, Mahomeria Major, Birra, or Beirothah) is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank, 15 kilometers (9.3 mi) north of Jerusalem. It is the capital of the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the central ridge running through the West Bank and is 860 meters (2,820 ft) above sea level, covering an area of 22.4 square kilometers (8.6 sq mi). Al-Bireh is under the administration of the Palestinian National Authority (as part of Area A). Because of its location Al-Bireh served as an economic crossroad between the north and south, along the caravan route between Jerusalem and Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the city had a population of approximately 39,202 in the 2007 census.