The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a Middle Eastern monarchy located along the east bank of the Jordan River that separates it from the Palestine region. Known for its role in the Arab-Israeli Conflict, Jordan has been a traditional enemy of Israel, although King Abdullah II of Jordan has been friendlier to Israel, the United States, and the Western world. Its capital is the city of Amman.
History[]
King Hussein I of Jordan
Jordan was proclaimed on 31 January 1949 to replace Transjordan, a former emirate of the United Kingdom. Officially known as the "Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan", Jordan is ruled by the Hashemites, a family of Arab rulers who came from the Kingdom of Hedjaz. Jordan's capital is the city of Amman, where the royal palace is located.
Jordan started out on the eastern bank of the Jordan River, bordering Israel and the Palestinian-controlled West Bank to the east across the Jordan River, Saudi Arabia to the south, where they share a border near the port city of Aqaba, Syria to the north, and Iraq to the northeast. Jordan has large desert areas to the "handle" to the northeast, which is sparsely inhabited. Much of the people of Jordan live along the Jordan River, where they have easy access to water and other necessary supplies and materials for living.
In 1949, Transjordan became Jordan after it was recognized by Israel and the United States. Jordan was given control of the West Bank and East Jerusalem by the Arab League when Israel was partitioned into a Jewish and Muslim state; the Jewish state expanded to larger borders than originally planned. Jordan clashed with Israel in the 1950s and 1960s along their disputed borders, and in 1967 they took part in the Six-Day War with Israel as an ally of Egypt and Syria. Their air force was destroyed in one day and their armies were routed due to poor leadership and supplies, and the war ended within seven days. Jordan lost control of East Jerusalem to the Israelis, and Israel doubled the size of its territory and gained more lands along the Jordan River that were easily-defensible.
Jordan still clashed with Israel and in 1973 they supplied an expeditionary force to assist the Egyptians and Syrians in their new conflict with Israel in the Yom Kippur War. The Jordanians cut off their oil supply to the United States as a result of America's assistance to Israel, increasing the oil price from $.34 to $3.40 for a single gallon and causing Americans to endure the hottest summers and coldest winters from 1973 to 1977 in an oil embargo that damaged America's economy forever. Jordan remained an enemy of Israel under King Hussein I of Jordan, but when King Abdullah II of Jordan came to rule the country in 1999, Jordan took a turn for the better. Their international relations increased and they made peace with Israel and the United States, and became friendly with America. King Abdullah II was a frequent visitor to the United States for free-time activities such as motorcycle touring and skydiving, while he also helped American filmmakers when he sent military helicopters to move film equipment to their locations while the movie "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" was being filmed. Jordan also assisted in the Syrian Civil War intervention by the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, France, Canada, Germany, and many Arab countries by bombing Islamic State targets in Syria. In doing so, they helped to hold back the dangerous terrorist group from operating on their own soil; border clashes between the Islamic State and the countries of Israel, Lebanon, and Turkey proved to be very dangerous to the security of the respective countries, so Jordan decided to intervene to defend their own borders.
Culture[]
Today, Jordan has a population of 9,930,491 people. 98% of Jordanians are Arabs, 1% are Circassians, and 1% are Armenians. 92% of the population adheres to Islam, 6% are Christian, and 2% are other religions such as Jewish. The national dish is Mansaf, made of lamb cooked in a sauce of fermented dried yogurt served with rice. The Jordanian Gallery of Fine Arts showcases some of the finest Arab art in the contemporary world. In addition, it had the 5th-freest press out of 19 Arab countries, and Jordan is an increasingly-Westernizing nation that is friendly towards Europe. It has some of the best health of the region of the Middle East, and the adult literacy rate is 97%. Jordan receives international aid money that is used for water management, energy issues, and agriculture. The issue of water distribution along the Jordan River has been a major health and political dispute in the countries of Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, and Syria, causing a brief 1965-1967 war between Israel and the allied countries of Syria and Lebanon. The Senate is the upper house of Jordan while the lower house is the Chamber of Deputies, and it is a unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy, limiting the power of the king in making arbitrary decisions. In effect, the government of Jordan is ruled by the Prime Minister, while the king still plays a major role in leading the country's people and also representing the country abroad. It is also a part of the Euro-Mediterranean free trade area, trading with other countries of the Mediterranean and in Europe, causing their economy to boost.
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