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The Jordan Portal.svg)  Jordan, officially theHashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in theSouthern Levant region ofWest Asia. Jordan is bordered bySyria to the north,Iraq to the east,Saudi Arabia to the south, and bothIsrael andPalestine (West Bank) to the west. TheJordan River, flowing into theDead Sea, is located along the country's western border within theJordan Rift Valley. Jordan has a small coastline along theRed Sea in its southwest, separated by theGulf of Aqaba fromEgypt.Amman is the country's capital andlargest city, as well as themost populous city in the Levant. Inhabited by humans since thePaleolithic period, three kingdoms developed inTransjordan during theIron Age:Ammon,Moab andEdom. In the third century BC, the ArabNabataeans establishedtheir kingdom centered inPetra. TheGreco-Roman period saw the establishment of several cities in Transjordan that comprised theDecapolis. After the end ofByzantine rule, the region became part of the Islamic caliphates of theRashidun,Umayyad,Abbasid, and theOttoman. Following the 1916Great Arab Revolt duringWorld War I, formerOttoman Syria waspartitioned, leading to theestablishment of theEmirate of Transjordan in 1921, which became a British protectorate. In 1946, Jordan gained independence and became officially known as the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Jordancaptured and annexed theWest Bank during the1948 Palestine war until it was occupied by Israelin 1967. Jordanrenounced its claim to the territory to thePalestinians in 1988 and signed apeace treaty with Israel in 1994. Jordan is asemi-arid country, covering an area of 89,342 km2 (34,495 sq mi) with a population of 11.5 million, making it theeleventh-most populous Arab country. The dominant majority, or around 95% of the country's population, isSunni Muslim, with the rest being mostlyArab Christian. Jordan was mostly unscathed by the violence that swept the region following theArab Spring in 2010. From as early as 1948, Jordan has accepted refugees from multiple neighbouring countries in conflict. An estimated 2.1 millionPalestinian refugees, most of whom hold Jordanian citizenship, as well as 1.4 millionSyrian refugees, were residing in Jordan in 2015. The kingdom is also a refuge for thousands ofChristian 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 aconstitutional monarchy, but the king holds wide executive and legislative powers. Jordan is a founding member of theArab League and theOrganisation of Islamic Cooperation. Jordan has a highHuman Development Index, ranking 100th, and is considered a lower middle income economy. TheJordanian economy, one of the smallest economies in the region, is attractive to foreign investors based upon a skilled workforce. Jordan is a major tourist destination, also attracting medical tourism withits well-developed health sector. Nonetheless, a lack of natural resources, large flow of refugees, and regional turmoil have hampered economic growth. (Full article...) Selected article -show another Three airliners were destroyed by explosion at Dawson's Field on 12 September 1970. In September 1970, members of thePopular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)hijacked four airliners bound forNew York City and one forLondon. Three aircraft were forced to land atDawson's Field, a remote desert airstrip nearZarqa,Jordan, formerlyRoyal Air Force Station Zarqa, which then became PFLP's "Revolutionary Airport". By the end of the incident, one hijacker had been killed and one injury reported. This was the second instance of mass aircraft hijacking, after three aircraft from communist Czechoslovakia werehijacked and taken to Munich, West Germany, in 1950. On 6 September,TWA Flight 741 fromFrankfurt (aBoeing 707) andSwissair Flight 100 fromZürich (aDouglas DC-8) were forced to land at Dawson's Field. On the same day, the hijacking ofEl Al Flight 219 fromAmsterdam (another 707) was foiled: hijackerPatrick Argüello was shot and killed, and his partnerLeila Khaled was subdued and handed over to British authorities in London. Two PFLP hijackers, who were prevented from boarding the El Al flight, hijacked insteadPan Am Flight 93, aBoeing 747, diverting the large aircraft first toBeirut and then toCairo, rather than to the small Jordanian airstrip. On 9 September, a fifth aircraft,BOAC Flight 775, aVickers VC10 coming from Bahrain, was hijacked by a PFLP sympathizer and taken to Dawson's Field in order to pressure the British to free Khaled. (Full article...) Selected biography -show another Portrait of Abu Nuwar, 1956 Ali Abu Nuwar (Arabic:علي أبو نوار; surname also spelledAbu Nuwwar,Abu Nawar orAbu Nowar; 1925 – 15 August 1991) was a Jordanian military officer who served as chief of staff of theJordanian Armed Forces from May 1956 to April 1957. He participated in the1948 Arab–Israeli War as an artillery officer in the Jordanian army's predecessor, theArab Legion, but his vocal opposition to British influence in Jordan led to his virtual exile toParis as military attaché in 1952. There, he forged close ties with Jordanian crown princeHussein, who promoted Abu Nuwar after his accession to the throne. Abu Nuwar's enmity withGlubb Pasha, the Arab Legion's powerful British chief of staff, his insistence on establishing Arab command over the army and his influence with Hussein led the latter to dismiss Glubb Pasha and appoint Abu Nuwar in his place. However, Abu Nuwar's ardent support for thepan-Arabist policies ofEgyptian presidentGamal Abdel Nasser contributed to Jordan's increasing isolation from the UK and the US, which were major sources of foreign aid to Jordan. At the same time, existing dissatisfaction with Abu Nuwar's leadership by palace officials and veteranBedouin army units culminated into violent confrontations at the large army barracks inZarqa between royalist and Arab nationalist units. Two principal accounts emerged regardingthe events at Zarqa, with the royalist version holding that the incident was an abortive coup by Abu Nuwar against Hussein, and the dissident version asserting that it was a staged, American-backed counter-coup by Hussein against the pan-Arabist movement in Jordan. In any case, Abu Nuwar resigned and was allowed to leave Jordan forSyria. He was subsequently sentenced to 15 yearsin absentia. (Full article...) WikiProjectFor editor resources and to collaborate with other editors on improving Wikipedia's Jordan-related articles, seeWikiProject Jordan. General images -load new batchThe following are images from various Jordan-related articles on Wikipedia.
Selected city -show another Ruins of Azraq Castle and a street in Azraq Azraq (Arabic:الأزرق,lit. 'blue') is a small town inZarqa Governorate in central-easternJordan, 100 kilometres (62 mi) east ofAmman. The population of Azraq was 9,021 in 2004. TheMuwaffaq Salti Air Base is located in Azraq. (Full article...)
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Categories Select [►] to view subcategories Selected picture -show another Credit: U.S. Department of State An aerial view of part of theZaatari refugee camp, which houses Syrian refugees, in July 2013. Associated WikimediaThe followingWikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
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