Jordan (redirected from Jordan (country))

Jordan, country, Asia

Jordan, officially Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, kingdom (2005 est. pop. 5,760,000), 35,637 sq mi (92,300 sq km), SW Asia. It borders on Israel and the West Bank in the west, on Syria in the north, on Iraq in the northeast, and on Saudi Arabia in the east and south. Amman is the country's capital and largest city. In addition to the capital, important cities include Zarqa, Petra, Irbid, Aqaba, and Salt.

Land and People

Jordan falls into two main geographical regions. Eastern Jordan, which encompasses about 92% of the country's land area, is made up of a section (average elevation: 2,500 ft/760 m) of the Arabian Plateau that in the northeast includes part of the Syrian Desert. In the western part of the plateau are the Jordanian Highlands, which include Jabal Ramm (5,755 ft/1,754 m), Jordan's loftiest point. Extreme western Jordan is made up of a segment of the Great Rift Valley (which continues southward into Africa) and includes the Jordan River, the Dead Sea, and the Arabah (a dry riverbed).

The inhabitants of Jordan are mostly of Arab descent. The Palestinians (about 50% of the population) are also descended from the people who lived in Palestine before the Arab conquest (7th cent.), whereas the inhabitants of E Jordan (many of whom belong to Bedouin tribes) are of predominantly Arab ancestry. There are small minorities of Armenians and Circassians. Arabic, the official language, is spoken by virtually everyone. Many in the higher socio-economic groups also speak English. Over 95% of the people are Sunni Muslims; about 5% are Christians, most of whom are Greek Orthodox.

Economy

In the late 1990s, Jordan had an unemployment rate of almost 25%, while nearly 50% of those who were employed were on the government payroll. Poverty and a large foreign debt remained major problems. Less than 5% of the country's land is arable, and farm output is further limited by the small size of most farms, inefficient methods of tilling the soil, and inadequate irrigation. The principal crops are wheat, barley, lentils, tomatoes, eggplants, citrus fruits, olives, and grapes. Many Jordanians support themselves by raising sheep, goats, and poultry.

Manufactures are largely limited to basic items such as foods, beverages, clothing, construction materials (especially cement), and other consumer goods. Nearly 50% of the country's industry is based in Amman. Numerous artisans make items of leather, wood, and metal. Phosphate rock, fertilizers, and potash are produced in significant quantities. Oil was discovered in 1982, and a small oil industry that includes petroleum refining has been developed. During the 1970s and 80s aid from other Arab countries and remittances from Jordanian workers living abroad were important factors in the country's economy. A slowdown in both sources of income in the 1990s, as well as an influx of refugees, has slowed economic progress.

Jordan's transportation system is limited to a small network of all-weather roads and a narrow-gauge railroad (formerly part of the Hejaz RR) that enters Jordan from Syria and runs through Amman and to Aqaba, the country's only seaport. A modern highway running from Aqaba to Iraq has made trade and transportation more efficient.

The annual cost of Jordan's imports usually far exceeds its earnings from exports. The principal imports are crude oil, machinery, transport equipment, foodstuffs, and manufactured goods; the main exports are phosphates, potash, fertilizers, and agricultural products. Jordan's leading trade partners are the European Union nations, Iraq, India, Saudi Arabia, the United States, and Japan.

Government

Jordan is a constitutional monarchy. Under the 1952 constitution as amended, the most powerful political and military figure in the country is the king. He appoints a cabinet (headed by a prime minister who exercises executive power in his name), which is responsible to the bicameral parliament consisting of a 40-member senate (appointed by the king) and an 110-member house of representatives (popularly elected to four-year terms). The 1989 elections were the first in 22 years, and in 1993 political parties were again permitted to field candidates, resulting in Jordan's first multiparty elections in 37 years. Jordan is divided into 12 administrative governorates (muhafazah).

History

The history section of this article is primarily concerned with the region E of the Jordan River; for the history of the area to the west, see Palestine.

Early History to Independence

The region of present-day Jordan roughly corresponds to the biblical lands of Ammon, Bashan, Edom, and Moab. The area was conquered by the Seleucids in the 4th cent. B.C. and was part of the Nabatean empire, whose capital was Petra, from the 1st cent. B.C. to the mid-1st cent. A.D., when it was captured by the Romans under Pompey. In the period between the 6th and 7th cent. it was the scene of considerable fighting between the Byzantine Empire and Persia. In the early 7th cent. the region was invaded by the Muslim Arabs, and after the Crusaders captured Jerusalem in 1099, it became part of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. In 1516 the Ottoman Turks gained control of what is now Jordan, and it remained part of the Ottoman Empire until the 20th cent.

After the fall of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, the region came under (1919) the government of Faisal I, centered at Damascus. When Faisal was ejected by French troops in July, 1920, Transjordan (as Jordan was then known) was made (1920) part of the British League of Nations mandate of Palestine. In 1921, Abdullah I (Abdullah ibn Husayn), a member of the Hashemite dynasty and the brother of Faisal, was made emir of Transjordan, which was administered separately from Palestine and was specifically exempted from being part of a Jewish national home. A Jordanian army, called the Arab Legion, was created by the British, largely through the work of Sir John Bagot Glubb.

In a treaty signed with Great Britain in 1928, Transjordan became a constitutional state ruled by a king, to be hereditary in the family of Abdullah I, who was placed on the throne by the British. The country supported the Allies in World War II, and, by a treaty with Great Britain signed in 1946, it became (May 25) independent as the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan.

Crisis and Conflict

By an agreement signed in 1948, Britain guaranteed Transjordan an annual military subsidy. Abdullah opposed Zionist aims, and when Palestine was partitioned and the state of Israel was established in 1948, Transjordan, like other members of the Arab League, sent forces to fight Israel (see Arab-Israeli Wars). The troops of the Arab Legion gained control of most of that part of W central Palestine that the United Nations had designated as Arab territory. In Apr., 1949, the country's name was changed to Jordan, thus reflecting its acquisition of land W of the Jordan River. In Dec., 1949, Jordan concluded an armistice with Israel, and early in 1950 it formally annexed the West Bank, a move that was deeply resented by other Arab states, which favored the establishment of an independent state of Palestine. The annexation of the West Bank increased Jordan's population by about 450,000 persons, many of them homeless refugees from Israel.

In 1951, Abdullah was assassinated in Jerusalem by a Palestinian and was succeeded the following year by his grandson Hussein I. After a series of anti-Western riots in Jordan, Hussein early in 1956 dismissed Glubb as commander of the Arab Legion, and following the Suez crisis later in the year he ended Jordan's treaty relationship with Great Britain. In Feb., 1958, Jordan and Iraq formed the Arab Federation as a countermove to the newly formed United Arab Republic (UAR), but Hussein dissolved it in August, following the coup in Iraq that toppled the monarchy.

At the same time, the UAR called for the overthrow of the governments in Jordan and Lebanon. At the request of the Jordanian government, Britain sent troops to Jordan; tensions were soon reduced and by Nov., 1958, the troops had been withdrawn. For the next few years Jordan remained on poor terms with Iraq and the UAR. In 1961, Hussein was among the first to recognize Syria after it withdrew from the UAR. Following the establishment in 1963 of a revolutionary Jordanian government-in-exile in Damascus, a state of emergency was declared in Jordan. The crisis ended only after the United States and Great Britain announced their support of Hussein and the U.S. 6th Fleet was placed on alert.

In the mid-1960s, Jordanian politics were calm, Jordan's economy expanded as international trade increased, and Jordan was on good terms with Egypt. Following Egypt's declaration in 1967 of a blockade of Israeli shipping in the Gulf of Aqaba, Hussein signed a mutual defense pact with Egypt. Despite Israeli attempts to urge Jordan to abstain from battle, the two nations became embroiled in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. As a result of the war, Israel captured and occupied the West Bank—the previously Jordanian territory located W of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea.

Jordan and the Palestinians

A large number of Palestinian refugees fled to Jordan during and after the war, and soon there was growing hostility between the Jordanian government and the Palestinian guerrilla organizations operating in Jordan. The guerrillas sought to establish an independent Palestinian state, a goal that conflicted with Hussein's intention of reestablishing Jordan's control over the West Bank. There was major fighting between the guerrillas and the Jordanian army in Nov., 1968; in Sept., 1970, the country was engulfed in a bloody 10-day civil war, which ended when other Arab countries (especially Egypt) arranged a cease-fire. The Palestinians suffered heavy casualties, and many of them fled to Lebanon and Syria, which shifted the locus of the Palestinian refugee problem. In July, 1971, the army carried out a successful offensive that destroyed the remaining guerrilla bases in Jordan. In Nov., 1971, Prime Minister Wasfi al-Tal was assassinated in Cairo by members of the "Black September" Palestinian guerrilla organization, which took its name from the month of the civil war in Jordan.

In 1972, Hussein proposed the creation of a United Arab Kingdom that would include the West Bank with the rest of Jordan. Predicated on Israel's withdrawal from the West Bank, the proposal was rejected by the other Arab states as well as Israel. Hussein survived an assassination attempt by a Palestinian in Dec., 1972. Jordan played a minor role in the Arab-Israeli War of Oct., 1973, sending a small number of troops to fight on the Syrian front. In 1974, Hussein complied with the Arab League's ruling that the PLO (see Palestine Liberation Organization) was to be the single legitimate representative of the Palestinians.

Recent History

Jordan moved closer to Syria in the late 1970s and, along with other Arab countries, opposed the Camp David accords and the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty (1979). Jordan sided with Iraq in the Iran-Iraq War, despite Syrian threats, and sent large amounts of war materials to Iraq. In 1988, Hussein formally relinquished claim to the West Bank in acknowledgment of Palestinian sovereignty. He approved the creation of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank, and Arabs residing in that area lost their Jordanian citizenship.

Plagued by serious economic problems since the mid-1980s, Jordan received increased economic aid from the United States in 1990. However, the outbreak (1991) of the Persian Gulf War led to a repeal of U.S. aid to Jordan due to Hussein's support of Iraq (Jordan's major source of oil). Jordan also suffered a loss of aid from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait during the war. The country endured further economic hardship when approximately 700,000 Jordanian workers and refugees returned to Jordan as a result of the fighting in the Persian Gulf, causing housing and employment shortages. Not until 2001 did an accord again permit Jordanians to work in Kuwait.

Peace talks between Israel, Syria, Lebanon, and a joint Palestinian-Jordanian delegation began in Aug., 1991. In 1994 a peace agreement between Jordan and Israel ended the official state of war between the two nations, and Hussein went on to encourage peace negotiations between other Arab states and Israel. The country's economy continued to decline, however, and the government became less tolerant of dissent. Laws restricting freedom of the press were instituted in 1997, and that same year Islamic parties boycotted the legislative elections, claiming they were unfair.

Hussein died in 1999 and was succeeded by his son, Abdullah II, who pledged to work toward a more open government and to ease restrictions on public expression. Although there has been some progress in terms of economic development, the country remains dependent on tourism, which has been hurt by its location between Israel and Iraq. Political liberalization has been slow in coming. In 2001 parliament's term expired without new elections being called; they were postponed out of fear that popular sympathy for the Palestinians in their renewed conflict with Israel would lead to a victory for the Islamic parties. The June, 2003, parliamentary elections resulted in a majority for the king's supporters; Islamists won 18 seats. In Apr., 2006, Jordan accused Hamas of planning attacks against targets in Jordan, saying that it had detained militants and seized weapons that had come in from Syria.

Bibliography

See P. J. Vatikiotis, Politics and the Military in Jordan (1967); N. H. Aruri, Jordan: A Study in Political Development, 1921–1965 (1972); E. Kanovsky, The Economic Development of Jordan (1976); A. H. Cordesman, Jordanian Arms and the Middle East Balance (1983); C. Bailey, Jordan's Palestinian Challenge, 1948–1983, A Political History (1985); R. F. Nyrop, ed., Jordan (3d ed. 1987); J. Lunt, Hussein of Jordan (1989).

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Jordan, river, Asia

Jordan, river, c.200 mi (320 km) long, formed in the Hula basin, N Israel, by the confluence of three headwater streams and meandering S through the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea; the region of Palestine's longest and most important river and the world's lowest river below sea level. It flows through the northern section of the Jordan trough, a part of the Great Rift Valley; between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea, the Jordan valley is called the Ghor. There it forms the border between Israel and the West Bank (W) and the nation of Jordan (E). The Jordan is fed by many small streams, with headwaters in Syria and Lebanon. The Yarmuk River is its largest tributary. Deep and turbulent during the rainy season, the Jordan is reduced to a sluggish, shallow stream during the summer. As it nears the Dead Sea, its salinity increases. Although the river is not navigable, its waters are valuable for irrigation. Israel's National Water Carrier Project uses the Sea of Galilee as a reservoir, and Jordan's East Ghor project diverts water from the Yarmuk River. Other irrigation projects, in Syria and Lebanon, divert water from the Jordan's headstreams. The river is mentioned in the New Testament as the scene of Jesus' baptism.

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Jordan, river, United States

Jordan, river, 60 mi (97 km) long, draining Utah Lake N into Great Salt Lake, N central Utah; it passes through Salt Lake City. Fed by numerous streams flowing off the Wasatch Range, the Jordan is used for irrigation and forms the heart of the Utah Oasis. Mormons settled along its banks in the mid-1800s.

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Jordan

 officially Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

Country, Middle East, southwestern Asia, lying east of the Jordan River. Jordan has 16 mi (26 km) of coastline on the Gulf of Aqaba. Area: 34,495 sq mi (89,342 sq km). Population (2006 est.): 5,505,000. Capital: Amman. The vast majority of the population are Arabs, about one-third of whom are Palestinian Arabs who fled to Jordan from neighbouring Israel and the West Bank as a result of the Arab-Israeli wars. Language: Arabic (official). Religion: Islam (official; predominantly Sunni). Currency: Jordan dinar. Four-fifths of the country is desert; less than one-tenth of the land is arable. The highest point of elevation, Mount Ramm (5,755 ft [1,754 m]), rises in the uplands region on the east bank of the Jordan River. The Jordan Valley region contains the Dead Sea. Jordan's economy is based largely on manufacturing and services (including tourism); exports include clothing, phosphate, potash, pharmaceuticals, fruits and vegetables, and fertilizers. Jordan is a constitutional monarchy with two legislative houses; the head of state and government is the king, assisted by the prime minister. Jordan shares much of its history with Israel, since both occupy parts of the area known historically as Palestine. Much of present-day Jordan was once part of the kingdom of Israel under David and Solomon (c. 1000 BC). It fell to the Seleucids in 330 BC and to Muslim Arabs in the 7th century AD. The Crusaders extended the kingdom of Jerusalem east of the Jordan River in 1099. The region became part of the Ottoman Empire during the 16th century. In 1920 the area comprising Jordan (then known as Transjordan) was established within the British mandate of Palestine. Britain recognized Transjordan's partial independence in 1923, although the British mandate did not end until 1948. In 1950, after the end of hostilities with the new State of Israel, Jordan annexed the West Bank and east Jerusalem, administering the territory until Israel gained control of it in the Six-Day War of 1967. In 1970–71 Jordan was wracked by fighting between the government and guerrillas of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), a struggle that ended with the PLO being expelled from Jordan. In 1988 King Hussein renounced all Jordanian claims to the West Bank in favour of the PLO. In 1994 Jordan and Israel signed a full peace agreement. Hussein died in 1999 and was succeeded by his son Abdullah II.

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Jordan¹

1. Michael (Jeffrey). born 1963, US basketball player

2. Neil. born 1950, Irish film director and writer; his films include The Company of Wolves (1984), Mona Lisa (1986), The Crying Game (1992), Michael Collins (1996), and The End of the Affair (2000)

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Jordan²

1. a kingdom in SW Asia: coextensive with the biblical Moab, Gilead, and Edom; made a League of Nations mandate and emirate under British control in 1922 and became an independent kingdom in 1946; territories west of the River Jordan and the Jordanian part of Jerusalem (intended to be part of an autonomous Palestine) were occupied by Israel after the war of 1967. It contains part of the Great Rift Valley and consists mostly of desert. Official language: Arabic. Official religion: (Sunni) Muslim. Currency: dinar. Capital: Amman. Pop.: 5 613 000 (2004 est.). Area: 89 185 sq. km (34 434 sq. miles)

2. the chief and only perennial river of Israel and Jordan, rising in several headstreams in Syria and Lebanon, and flowing south through the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea: occupies the N end of the Great Rift Valley system and lies mostly below sea level. Length: over 320 km (200 miles)