Editing Ramallah (section)

=== Christian presence, 17th–21st century ===
[[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/>