"Historical Kingdom of Jordan" Jordan by triplehelix

Jordan... I dare dream to visit this tiny country surrounded by neighbors in turmoil. While Jordan may very well be in a hot zone, I just had to visit. In mid 2005, I was flipping channels looking for something good. I settled on the Travel Channel and low and behold, they did a piece on Jordan. An American reporter traveled there and was given a tour by his royal majesty King Abdullah bin al Hussein II. I was shocked to see what the country had to offer. Up until then, I would never have considered visiting the Middle East! The segment on Petra moved me to plan it out. Of course money was a problem and traveling to the other side of the world (literally) would pose a major task for me. I immediately checked into my finances and planned it out. My first route was to try an organized tour. After failing to find a suitable format, I was going to give it up. Surely I wouldn't be able to do it by myself! Shortly after, I met a woman who started working with me. Her profile stated she worked for King Hussein I and traveled abroad to various other odd countries. My daily conversations with her always included the Middle East. I finally decided to go it alone with her encouragement. If a lone woman could do the Middle East, why couldn't I? About a year later, I found myself standing in Queen Alia Airport at 4am, luggage-less, and suffering from 21 hours of jet lag. I wouldn't have traded that for the world :)

Aqaba

Following World War I and the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, the UK received a mandate to govern much of the Middle East. Britain separated out a semi-autonomous region of Transjordan from Palestine in the early 1920s, and the area gained its independence in 1946; it adopted the name of Jordan in 1950. The country's long-time ruler was King HUSSEIN (1953-99). A pragmatic leader, he successfully navigated competing pressures from the major powers (US, USSR, and UK), various Arab states, Israel, and a large internal Palestinian population, despite several wars and coup attempts. In 1989 he reinstituted parliamentary elections and gradual political liberalization; in 1994 he signed a peace treaty with Israel. King ABDALLAH II, the son of King HUSSEIN, assumed the throne following his father's death in February 1999. Since then, he has consolidated his power and undertaken an aggressive economic reform program. Jordan acceded to the World Trade Organization in 2000, and began to participate in the European Free Trade Association in 2001. After a two-year delay, parliamentary and municipal elections took place in the summer of 2003. The prime minister appointed in November 2005 stated the government would focus on political reforms, improving conditions for the poor, and fighting corruption.

GEOGRAPHY:
Capital: Amman
Location: Middle East, northwest of Saudi Arabia
Geographic coordinates: 31 00 N, 36 00 E
Area: total: 92,300 sq km, land: 91,971 sq km, water: 329 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Indiana
Land boundaries: total: 1,635 km - border countries: Iraq 181 km, Israel 238 km, Saudi Arabia 744 km, Syria 375 km, West Bank 97 km
Coastline: 26 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea: 3 nm
Climate: mostly arid desert; rainy season in west (November to April)
Terrain: mostly desert plateau in east, highland area in west; Great Rift Valley separates East and West Banks of the Jordan River
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m, highest point: Jabal Ram 1,734 m
Natural resources: phosphates, potash, shale oil
Land use: arable land: 3.32%, permanent crops: 1.18%, other: 95.5% (2005)
Irrigated land: 750 sq km (2003)
Natural hazards: droughts; periodic earthquakes
Environment - current issues: limited natural fresh water resources; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands - signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note: Strategic location at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba and as the Arab country that shares the longest border with Israel and the occupied West Bank

PEOPLE:
Ethnic groups: Arab 98%, Circassian 1%, Armenian 1%
Religions: Sunni Muslim 92%, Christian 6% (majority Greek Orthodox, but some Greek and Roman Catholics, Syrian Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, and Protestant denominations), other 2% (several small Shi'a Muslim and Druze populations) (2001 est.)
Languages: Arabic (official), English widely understood among upper and middle classes

source: https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/jo.html