Portal:Jordan

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The Jordan Portal

Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories to the west. The Jordan River, flowing into the Dead Sea, is located along the country's western border within the Jordan Rift Valley. Jordan has a small coastline along the Red Sea in its southwest, separated by the Gulf of Aqaba from Egypt. Amman is the country's capital and largest city, as well as the most populous city in the Levant.

Modern-day Jordan has been inhabited by humans since the Paleolithic period. Three kingdoms developed in Transjordan during the Iron Age: Ammon, Moab and Edom. In the third century BC, the Arab Nabataeans established their kingdom centred in Petra. The Greco-Roman period saw the establishment of several cities in Transjordan that comprised the Decapolis. Later, after the end of Byzantine rule, the region became part of the Islamic caliphates of the Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, and the Ottoman. Following the 1916 Great Arab Revolt during World War I, former Ottoman Syria was partitioned, leading to the establishment of the Emirate of Transjordan in 1921, which became a British protectorate. In 1946, the country gained independence and became officially known as the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The country captured and annexed the West Bank during the 1948 Palestine war until it was occupied by Israel in 1967. Jordan renounced its claim to the territory to the Palestinians in 1988 and signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994.

Jordan is a semi-arid country, covering an area of 89,342 km² (34,495 sq mi) with a population of 11.5 million, making it the eleventh-most populous Arab country. The dominant majority, or around 95% of the country's population, is Sunni Muslim, with the rest being mostly Arab Christian. Jordan was mostly unscathed by the violence that swept the region following the Arab Spring in 2010. From as early as 1948, Jordan has accepted refugees from multiple neighbouring countries in conflict. An estimated 2.1 million Palestinian refugees, most of whom hold Jordanian citizenship, as well as 1.4 million Syrian refugees, were residing in Jordan as of 2015. The kingdom is also a refuge for thousands of Christian Iraqis fleeing persecution. While Jordan continues to accept refugees, the large Syrian influx during the 2010s has placed substantial strain on national resources and infrastructure.

The sovereign state is a constitutional monarchy, but the king holds wide executive and legislative powers. Jordan is a founding member of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. The country has a high Human Development Index, ranking 99th, and is considered a lower middle income economy. The Jordanian economy, one of the smallest economies in the region, is attractive to foreign investors based upon a skilled workforce. The country is a major tourist destination, also attracting medical tourism with its well-developed health sector. Nonetheless, a lack of natural resources, large flow of refugees, and regional turmoil have hampered economic growth. (Full article...)

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Smoke rises over Amman during clashes between the Jordanian military and the Palestinian fedayeen, 1 October 1970

Black September (Arabic: أيلول الأسود Aylūl al-ʾAswad), also known as the Jordanian Civil War, was an armed conflict between Jordan, led by King Hussein, and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), led by chairman Yasser Arafat. The main phase of the fighting took place between 16 and 27 September 1970, though certain aspects of the conflict continued until 17 July 1971.

After the 1967 Six-Day War, Palestinian fedayeen guerrillas relocated to Jordan and stepped up their attacks against Israel and what had become the Israeli-occupied West Bank. They were headquartered at the Jordanian border town of Karameh, which Israel targeted during the Battle of Karameh in 1968, leading to a surge of Arab support for the fedayeen. The PLO's strength grew, and by early 1970, leftist groups within the PLO began calling for the overthrow of Jordan's Hashemite monarchy, leading to violent clashes in June 1970. Hussein hesitated to oust them from the country, but continued PLO activities in Jordan culminated in the Dawson's Field hijackings of 6 September 1970. This involved the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) seizing three civilian passenger flights and forcing their landing in the Jordanian city of Zarqa, where they took foreign nationals as hostages and blew up the planes in front of international press. Hussein saw this as the last straw and ordered the Jordanian Army to take action. (Full article...)

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Abdullah El Tell

Abdullah El Tell (Arabic: عبدالله التل, 17 July 1918 – 1973; his surname is also rendered Tal) was a Jordanian military officer. He served as the commander of the 6th regiment of Jordan's Arab Legion during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and was one of the main Jordanian military leaders in the Battle for Jerusalem as well as the West Bank front of the war.

El Tell served as the military governor of the Old City of Jerusalem, a position he was appointed in during the 1948 War. He later fled into exile after he was accused of being a conspirator in the assassination of Jordan's king Abdullah I−which he vehemently denied−and spent many years in exile in Egypt before returning to Jordan in 1967. (Full article...)

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Abdullah II of Jordan Hussein of Jordan Abdullah I of Jordan Haya bint Hussein Druze in Jordan Hashemites Ali Abu Nuwar Hussein, Crown Prince of Jordan Marouf al-Bakhit

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For editor resources and to collaborate with other editors on improving Wikipedia's Jordan-related articles, see WikiProject Jordan.

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The following are images from various Jordan-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1A large plate of Jordanian mezze in Petra (from Culture of Jordan)
Image 2Thorny burnet (Sarcopoterium spinosum) (from Wildlife of Jordan)
Image 3Rujm Al-Malfouf, a watchtower dating to 1000 BCE found in Amman. The city was known then as Rabbah of the Ammonites, and served as the capital city of the Ammonites. (from History of Jordan)
Image 4Jerash Festival, 2018 (from Culture of Jordan)
Image 5Majid Sultan Al Adwan at Shunet Nimrin, Paramount Sheikh of the Adwan in the early 20th century, and the great-great-great-great-grandson of Salih ibn Adwan. (from History of Jordan)
Image 6Egyptian mongoose (from Wildlife of Jordan)
Image 7Petra (from Culture of Jordan)
Image 8The Mesha Stele (c. 840 BCE), a royal Moabite inscription commemorating the victory of Moab over the Kingdom of Israel. (from History of Jordan)
Image 9The Al-Jizah reservoir, dating back to the Pax Romana, and the Mamluk building which was refitted by the Ottoman for Sattam to govern from. (from History of Jordan)
Image 10Jordan 1948–1967. The East Bank is the portion east of the Jordan river, the West Bank is the part west of the river (from History of Jordan)
Image 11Dead Sea (from Tourism in Jordan)
Image 12King Hussein Mosque in Amman (from Tourism in Jordan)
Image 13Wadi Rum (from Tourism in Jordan)
Image 14Jerusalem on the Madaba Map (from Tourism in Jordan)
Image 15Petra, the capital of the Nabatean kingdom, is where the Nabatean alphabet was developed, from which the current Arabic alphabet further evolved. (from History of Jordan)
Image 16Tourist police kiosk at Petra (from Tourism in Jordan)
Image 17The critically endangered sociable lapwing (from Wildlife of Jordan)
Image 18The south gate in the ancient city of Jerash (from Tourism in Jordan)
Image 19Prince Fendi Al-Fayez in the 1870s (from History of Jordan)
Image 20Ibn Hathal, the Paramount Sheikh of the Anazzah (from History of Jordan)
Image 21Tourists photograph Al Khazneh (not visible) upon arriving in Petra. The Siq can be seen on the right.
Image 22Al-Karak castle (from Tourism in Jordan)
Image 23The Kerak Castle, used by the Majalis for centuries (from History of Jordan)
Image 24Zahir Al Umar, who during his reign fought both the Bani Sakher and the Adwan (from History of Jordan)
Image 25Southern Levant during Iron Age II (c. 830 BCE) (from History of Jordan)
Image 26Desert vegetation in Wadi Rum, southern Jordan. (from Wildlife of Jordan)
Image 27Statue of an Ammonite deified king on display at the Jordan Museum. The statue was found near the Amman Citadel and is thought to date to 8th century BC. (from History of Jordan)
Image 28Suleiman Mousa (1919–2008), pioneer in the modern history of Jordan and Arab Revolt. (from History of Jordan)
Image 29Amman Citadel reflects 7,000 years of Jordanian history (from History of Jordan)
Image 30Iron Age ramparts in Tulul adh-Dhahab, sometimes identified with the Israelite city of Mahanaim mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. (from History of Jordan)
Image 31Mahis in northwestern Jordan (from Wildlife of Jordan)
Image 32A young Emir Sattam bin Fendi in 1848 (from History of Jordan)
Image 33First election in Transjordan's history on 2 April 1929. (from History of Jordan)
Image 34The Dana Biosphere Reserve in south central Jordan. (from Wildlife of Jordan)
Image 35The Moabite Stone, first revealed to the western world by Sattam bin Fendi (from History of Jordan)
Image 36Ajloun Castle (from Tourism in Jordan)
Image 37Image showing the approximate land exchanged in 1965 between Jordan (gaining green) and Saudi Arabia (gaining red). (from History of Jordan)
Image 38Al-Khazneh in Petra (from Tourism in Jordan)
Image 39Qasr Amra a desert castle from the era of the Islamic Empire (from Tourism in Jordan)
Image 40This basalt stone is incised with a scene showing two animals, probably gazelles. From Dhuweila, eastern Jordan, c. 6200 BCE. British Museum (from History of Jordan)

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The Greco-Roman city of Gerasa and the modern Jerash in the background.

Jerash (Arabic: جرش Ǧaraš; Greek: Γέρασα, romanized: Gérasa; Attic Greek: [gérasa], Koinē Greek: [ˈgerasa]) is a city in northern Jordan. The city is the administrative center of the Jerash Governorate, and has a population of 50,745 as of 2015. It is located 30.0 miles north of the capital city Amman.

The earliest evidence of settlement in Jerash is in a Neolithic site known as Tal Abu Sowan, where rare human remains dating to around 7500 BC were uncovered. Jerash flourished during the Greek, Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods until the mid-eighth century AD, when the 749 Galilee earthquake destroyed large parts of it, while subsequent earthquakes contributed to additional destruction. However, in the year 1120, Zahir ad-Din Toghtekin, atabeg of Damascus ordered a garrison of forty men to build up a fort in an unknown site of the ruins of the ancient city, likely the highest spot of the city walls in the north-eastern hills. It was captured in 1121 by Baldwin II, King of Jerusalem, and utterly destroyed. Then, the Crusaders immediately abandoned Jerash and withdrew to Sakib (Seecip); the eastern border of the settlement. (Full article...)

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Amman Irbid Zarqa Aqaba Russeifa Ajloun Madaba Huwwarah Al-Salt Aydoun Ma'an Al Husn Azraq refugee camp Azraq, Jordan Al-Karak Der Abi Saeed Tafilah Anjara

See also: List of cities in Jordan

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Religion in Jordan

The vast majority of Jordanians practice Sunni Islam, the state religion.
In addition to civil and special courts, Jordan has special religious courts which enforce Sharia law.
Jordan has Christian minorities, mostly in major cities, and several Druze communities exist in the country's north.

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