About Jordan

Location

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is strategically located in the Middle East. Bound by Syria to the north, Iraq to the northeast, Saudi Arabia to the east and south, the Red Sea to the south, and Israel and the Palestinian National Authority to the west, Jordan covers a diversity of landscapes. The country has an area of 89,213 square kilometers, with approximately 75% of that space being taken up by desert.

Jordan is a land steeped in history. It has been home to some of mankind's earliest settlements and villages, and relics of many of the world's great civilizations can still be seen today.

As the crossroads of the Middle East, the lands of Jordan and Palestine have served as a strategic nexus connecting Asia, Africa and Europe. Thus, since the dawn of civilization, Jordan's geography has given it an important role to play as a conduit for trade and communications, connecting east and west, north and south. Jordan continues to play this role today.

The climate in Jordan is characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, wet winters, with annual average temperatures ranging from 12 to 25 C and summertime highs reaching the 40 C in the desert regions. Rainfall averages vary from 50 mm annually in the desert to 800 mm in the northern hills, some of which falls as snow

Geographically, Jordan enjoys a range of geographical features, starting from the Jordan Rift Valley in the West ending at the desert plateau of the East, with a range of small hills running the length of the country in between.

Jordan is home to the Dead Sea, which is considered the lowest point on earth lying - 408 meters below the Sea Level. The highest point in Jordan, in contrast, is Jebel Umm El Dami, which lies 1854 meters above sea level.

Major cities in Jordan include the capital Amman in the northwest, Irbid and AL Zarqa, both in the north. Karak and Aqaba in the south.

Politics

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a relatively modern State, carved out of the desert in the aftermath of the great Arab Revolt and the destruction of the Ottoman Empire and its present King is only the fourth generation of his family to occupy the Hashemite throne

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a constitutional monarchy with representative government, based on a Constitution established in 1952. The reigning monarch, His Majesty King Abdullah II is the head of state, the chief executive and the commander-in-chief of the Jordanian armed forces. The King exercises his executive authority through the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, or Cabinet. The Cabinet, meanwhile, is responsible before the elected House of Deputies which, along with the House of Notables (Senate), constitutes the legislative branch of the Government. The judicial branch in Jordan is an independent branch of the Government.

While the Kingdom itself may be young, the people who inhabit it have, like their ruling family, an immensely long and distinguished past. The land that is now Jordan lies in a position of strategic and geographic importance, a crossroads where the Spice and Silk Routes from eastern Asia to the Mediterranean met the north-south axis of the trade routes from Turkey and Syria down to Arabia and Yemen.

Jordan has a reputation for dynamism, moderation and peace brokering in the Middle East. His Majesty King Abdullah II rules over a state, which has peacefully absorbed Palestinian refugees over the past thirty years. Jordan with a majority Islamic population and a Christian minority remains an oasis of peace in a troubled region.

Population

Jordan currently has a population of around 6 .3 million people, nearly 2 million of which make their home in the capital Amman. Jordan also has a young population, with 41% falling below the age of 15.

Education and literacy rates and measures of social well-being are relatively high compared to other countries with similar incomes.

Economy

Jordan is a small country with limited natural resources. The country is currently exploring ways to expand its limited water supply and use its existing water resources more efficiently, including through regional cooperation. Jordan depends on external sources for the majority of its energy requirements.

Jordan is classified by the World Bank as a "lower middle income country." The GDP per capita of $ 5,749 .

Tourism

In addition to the country's political stability, the geography offered makes Jordan an attractive tourism destination. Tourism is of vital importance to the national economy of Jordan. It is the Kingdom's largest export sector, its second largest private sector employer, and it's second highest producer of foreign exchange. Tourism contributes more than US$800 million to Jordan "s economy and accounts for approximately 10 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).

Jordan's major tourist activities include numerous ancient places including Petra, its unique desert castles and unspoiled natural locations to its cultural and religious sites.

Some of Jordan's historical treasures and many major attractions are distributed in all the cities, which are: