Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (in English: Jordan), is an Arab country located in Southwest Asia. It lies at the heart of the Middle East, situated in the southern part of the Levant and to the north of the Arabian Peninsula.
Jordan is named after the Jordan River, which runs along its western border. Jordan is a country that brings together a remarkable variety of Arab cultures and dialects, and it is separated from its Arab neighbors by no natural boundaries other than the Jordan River and the Yarmouk River, which form, respectively, part of its borders with Palestine and Syria. The rest of its borders extend into the Badia al-Sham in the north and east, the Sahara al-Nafuz in the south, and Wadi Araba to the southwest.
Jordan’s terrain varies greatly. Its most important mountain ranges are the Ajloun Mountains in the northwest and the Sharah Mountains in the south. The highest peak is Mount Umm al-Dami at 1,854 meters, and the lowest point is the Dead Sea, which is the lowest point on Earth, at 408 meters below sea level.
In general, most of Jordan’s terrain consists of a desert plateau in the east and highlands in the west. The Great Wadi al-Akhdud separates the eastern and western banks of the Jordan River. Jordan’s terrain comprises three regions: the Jordan Valley Depression (the Jordan Valley Rift), the mountainous highlands, and the desert Badia Plateau.
Map of Jordan showing Jordanian cities
Location:
Geographically, Jordan is located between latitudes 33° and 29° north and longitudes 39° and 34° east. Jordan is situated among the countries of the Arab Mashreq and the Arabian Peninsula; it is bordered to the north by the Syrian Arab Republic along a 375-km border, to the east and south by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia along a 744-km border, and to the east by the Republic of Iraq along an 181-km border, while to the west it is bordered by the West Bank and the territories of the Palestinian National Authority along a 97-km border, and by Israel along a 238-km border.
This makes it the country with the longest border with Saudi Arabia; it is also the Arab country with the longest border with Israel. Its coastline is 26 km long, and its territorial waters extend three nautical miles. Although Jordan is a small country, its terrain and topography reflect its climatic diversity.
Area:
Jordan has an area of 89,213 square kilometers.
Population:
As of September 1, 2020, Jordan's population was 10.726 million.
Capital:
Amman
Major Cities:
Amman (the capital), Irbid, Zarqa, Salt.
Flag of Jordan:
The flag of Jordan is the official flag of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. It was first officially adopted on April 16, 1928. It is derived from the flag of the Great Arab Revolt, which was declared by the Sharif of Mecca, Sharif Hussein bin Ali, against the Ottoman Empire in 1916. It consists of four colors.
The Jordanian flag is twice as long as it is wide and is divided into three equal, parallel bands: the top band is black, the middle band is white, and the bottom band is green. On the hoist side, there is a red triangle (not a right triangle) whose base is equal to the width of the flag and whose height is equal to half its length. Within this triangle is a white seven-rayed star whose area is that which can be contained within a circle whose diameter is one fourteenth of the flag’s length. This star is positioned so that its center lies at the point where the lines connecting the triangle’s angles intersect, and so that the axis passing through one of its vertices is parallel to the base of the triangle.
The colors represent the following:
Black is the flag of the Abbasid Caliphate.
White is the flag of the Umayyad Caliphate.
Green is the flag of the Fatimid Caliphate.
Red is the flag of the Great Arab Revolt.
Jordanian currency:
The Jordanian dinar is the official currency of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and is issued by the Central Bank of Jordan. The Jordanian dinar is divided into 1,000 fils, or 100 qirsh. Banknotes are available in denominations of 50, 20, 10, 5, and 1 dinar. Coins are available in denominations of 0.5 and 0.25 dinars, as well as 100, 50, 25, 10, and 5 fils. The dinar’s exchange rate against the U.S. dollar is generally stable, with 1.41 U.S. dollars equal to one Jordanian dinar.
Resources:
Jordan is a small country with limited resources, but its economy has been steadily improving since it declared independence. Approximately 10% of Jordan’s land is arable; groundwater resources are limited; and rainfall is low and varies greatly from one region to another and from one year to the next. Many groundwater sources are non-renewable.
Jordan’s most important resources are phosphate, potash, fertilizers and their derivatives, as well as tourism, remittances from abroad, and foreign aid. Jordan lacks coal and hydroelectric power reserves, has no extensive areas of forests or tree cover, and has few oil deposits.
Jordan relies on natural gas for 10% of its domestic energy needs. Jordan relied on Iraq for oil imports until the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, and it is classified as an emerging economy.
The Kingdom’s economy relies primarily on the service, trade, and tourism sectors, as well as on certain extractive industries such as fertilizers and pharmaceuticals, as Jordan is poor in natural resources. Phosphate mines are located in the south of the Kingdom, making Jordan the third-largest exporter of this material in the world. Other major extracted materials include potash, salts, natural gas, and limestone.
Since King Abdullah II ibn Al-Hussein assumed his constitutional powers as king in 1999, he has implemented liberal economic policies, leading to a decade-long period of prosperity that lasted until 2009. Jordan is now one of the freest and most competitive economies in the Middle East, ranking higher than the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon.
Jordan’s banking sector is advanced and modern, making it a preferred destination for investment as a result of its conservative policies, which helped the Central Bank of Jordan weather the global financial crisis in 2009. Jordan is pinning its hopes on tourism and uranium exports, as well as oil shale, trade, and information and communications technology, to achieve future economic growth.
Kings of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan:
1- Abdullah I ibn Al-Hussein: May 25, 1946, to July 20, 1951.
2- Talal ibn Abdullah: July 20, 1951, to August 11, 1952.
3- Al-Hussein bin Talal: August 11, 1952, to February 7, 1999.
4- Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein: February 7, 1999, to present.
