Portal:Jordan

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 of West Bank 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.

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 centered 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 100th, 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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The Disi Water Conveyance Project is a water supply project in Jordan. It is designed to pump 100,000,000 cubic metres (2.2×10¹⁰ imp gal) of water per year from the Disi aquifer, which lies beneath the desert in southern Jordan and northwestern Saudi Arabia. The water is piped to the capital, Amman, and other cities to meet increased demand. Construction began in 2009 and was mostly completed in July 2013 when the project was inaugurated by King Abdullah of Jordan. Its total cost was US$1.1 billion.

An independent study revealed the water to be radioactive and potentially dangerous to drink, initially surrounding the project with controversy. Jordan's Ministry of Water and Irrigation has stated that the radioactivity is not a problem because the water is to be diluted with an equal amount of water from other sources, although it remains disputed if this would be enough to bring the water up to standards. The Ministry said the independent study was inaccurate, as it did not test water from any of the wells that will be used in the project. The President of the Jordanian Geologists Association Bahjat Al Adwan stated that the radiation is present in the water in the form of radon, and thus dissipates harmlessly when the water is exposed to air on the surface. (Full article...)

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Selected biography -

Hashemite banner.

The Hashemites (Arabic: الهاشميون, romanized: al-Hāshimiyyūn), also House of Hashim, are the royal family of Jordan, which they have ruled since 1921, and were the royal family of the kingdoms of Hejaz (1916–1925), Syria (1920), and Iraq (1921–1958). The family had ruled the city of Mecca continuously from the 10th century, frequently as vassals of outside powers, and ruled the thrones of the Hejaz, Syria, Iraq, and Jordan following their World War I alliance with the British Empire.

The family belongs to the Dhawu Awn, one of the branches of the Ḥasanid Sharifs of Mecca, also referred to as Hashemites. Their eponymous ancestor is traditionally considered to be Hashim ibn Abd Manaf, great-grandfather of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Another claimed ancestor is Ali ibn Abi Talib, the usurped successor of the prophet Muhammad according to Shia Islam. The Ḥasanid Sharifs of Mecca (from whom the Hashemite royal family is directly descended), including the Hashemites' ancestor Qatadah ibn Idris, were Zaydī Shīʿas until the late Mamluk or early Ottoman period, when they became followers of the Shāfiʿī school of Sunnī Islam. (Full article...)

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

WikiProject

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

General images -

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

Image 1The critically endangered sociable lapwing (from Wildlife of Jordan)
Image 2The Dana Biosphere Reserve in south central Jordan. (from Wildlife of Jordan)
Image 3First election in Transjordan's history on 2 April 1929. (from History of Jordan)
Image 4Tourists photograph Al Khazneh (not visible) upon arriving in Petra. The Siq can be seen on the right.
Image 5Jordan 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 6The Moabite Stone, first revealed to the western world by Sattam bin Fendi (from History of Jordan)
Image 7Zahir Al Umar, who during his reign fought both the Bani Sakher and the Adwan (from History of Jordan)
Image 8Al-Khazneh in Petra (from Tourism in Jordan)
Image 9Ajloun Castle (from Tourism in Jordan)
Image 10The south gate in the ancient city of Jerash (from Tourism in Jordan)
Image 11Tourist police kiosk at Petra (from Tourism in Jordan)
Image 12Jerusalem on the Madaba Map (from Tourism in Jordan)
Image 13Desert vegetation in Wadi Rum, southern Jordan. (from Wildlife of Jordan)
Image 14A young Emir Sattam bin Fendi in 1848 (from History of Jordan)
Image 15This 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)
Image 16Amman Citadel (from History of Jordan)
Image 17Petra (from Culture of Jordan)
Image 18Jerash Festival, 2018 (from Culture of Jordan)
Image 19Wadi Rum (from Tourism in Jordan)
Image 20Thorny burnet (Sarcopoterium spinosum) (from Wildlife of Jordan)
Image 21Image showing the approximate land exchanged in 1965 between Jordan (gaining green) and Saudi Arabia (gaining red). (from History of Jordan)
Image 22Majid 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 23The Kerak Castle, used by the Majalis for centuries (from History of Jordan)
Image 24Petra, 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 25Prince Fendi Al-Fayez in the 1870s (from History of Jordan)
Image 26King Hussein Mosque in Amman (from Tourism in Jordan)
Image 27A large plate of Jordanian mezze in Petra (from Culture of Jordan)
Image 28Egyptian mongoose (from Wildlife of Jordan)
Image 29The 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 30Qasr Amra a desert castle from the era of the Islamic Empire (from Tourism in Jordan)
Image 31Dead Sea (from Tourism in Jordan)
Image 32Suleiman Mousa, who did groundbreaking work on the modern history of Jordan and the Arab Revolt. (from History of Jordan)
Image 33The Mesha Stele (c. 840 BCE), a royal Moabite inscription commemorating the victory of Moab over the Kingdom of Israel. (from History of Jordan)
Image 34Al-Karak castle (from Tourism in Jordan)
Image 35Mahis in northwestern Jordan (from Wildlife of Jordan)

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Clockwise from the left top: Aqaba's skyline, Aqaba Fort and Aqaba Fields, Al-Hammamat Al-Tunisyya Street in Down Town, Resort in Aqaba, Ayla old City, Aqaba Port, Aqaba Flagpole.

Aqaba (English: /ˈækəbə/ AK-ə-bə, US also /ˈɑːk-/ AHK-; Arabic: الْعَقَبَة, romanized: al-ʿAqaba, pronounced [ælˈʕæqɑba, ælˈʕæɡæba]) is the only coastal city in Jordan and the largest and most populous city on the Gulf of Aqaba. Situated in southernmost Jordan, Aqaba is the administrative center of the Aqaba Governorate. The city had a population of 148,398 in 2015 and a land area of 375 square kilometres (144.8 sq mi). Aqaba has significant trade and tourism. The Port of Aqaba also serves other countries in the region.

Aqaba's strategic location at the northeastern tip of the Red Sea between the continents of Asia and Africa has made its port important for thousands of years. The ancient city was called Elath, known in Latin as Aela) and in Arabic as Ayla. Its strategic location and proximity to copper mines made it a regional hub for copper production and trade in the Chalcolithic period. (Full article...)

List of selected cities
Amman Irbid Zarqa Russeifa Ajloun Madaba Huwwarah Al-Salt Aydoun Jerash 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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Religions in Jordan

Arab states

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This is a list of recognized content, updated weekly by JL-Bot (talk · contribs) (typically on Saturdays). There is no need to edit the list yourself. If an article is missing from the list, make sure it is tagged (e.g. {{WikiProject Jordan}}) or categorized correctly and wait for the next update. See WP:RECOG for configuration options.

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Culture of Jordan

Dabke is a traditional native Levantine folk dance often performed at weddings.
Jordan is one of the larger producers of olives in the country and as such Jordanian cuisine relies heavily on the use olive oil.
Many Western films requiring desert scenes, such as Lawrence of Arabia and The Hurt Locker have been shot in Jordan, especially in the Wadi Rum.
Jordanians primarily speak a dialect of Arabic called Jordanian Arabic, with the occasional usage of English, especially amongst the upper classes.

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Selected picture -

Credit: Daniel Case

Wadi Rum's resemblance to the surface of Mars has made it a popular filming and tourist attraction

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