Jordan is a young state that occupies an ancient land, one that bears the traces

of many civilizations. Separated from ancient Palestine by the Jordan River,

the region played a prominent role in biblical history. The ancient biblical
kingdoms of Moab, Gilead, and Edom lie within its borders, as does the famed
red stone city of Petra, the capital of the Nabatean kingdom and of the Roman
province of Arabia Petraea. British traveler Gertrude Bell said of Petra, “It is
like a fairy tale city, all pink and wonderful.” Part of the Ottoman Empire until
1918 and later a mandate of the United Kingdom, Jordan has been an
independent kingdom since 1946. It is among the most politically liberal
countries of the Arab world, and, although it shares in the troubles affecting
the region, its rulers have expressed a commitment to maintaining peace and
stability.

The capital and largest city in the country is Amman—named for

the Ammonites, who made the city their capital in the 13th
century BCE. Amman was later a great city of Middle Eastern
antiquity, Philadelphia, of the Roman Decapolis, and now serves as
one of the region’s principal commercial and transportation
centres as well as one of the Arab world’s major cultural capitals.
Land
Slightly smaller in area than the country of Portugal, Jordan is bounded to the
north by Syria, to the east by Iraq, to the southeast and south by Saudi Arabia,
and to the west by Israel and the West Bank. The West Bank area (so named
because it lies just west of the Jordan River) was under Jordanian rule from
1948 to 1967, but in 1988 Jordan renounced its claims to the area. Jordan has
16 miles (26 km) of coastline on the Gulf of Aqaba in the southwest, where Al-
ʿAqabah, its only port, is located.
Relief
Jordan has three major physiographic regions (from east to west): the desert,
the uplands east of the Jordan River, and the Jordan Valley (the northwest
portion of the great East African Rift System).

The desert region is mostly within the Syrian Desert—an extension of

the Arabian Desert—and occupies the eastern and southern parts of the
country, comprising more than four-fifths of its territory. The desert’s
northern part is composed of volcanic lava and basalt, and its southern part of
outcrops of sandstone and granite. The landscape is much eroded, primarily
by wind. The uplands east of the Jordan River, an escarpment overlooking the
rift valley, have an average elevation of 2,000–3,000 feet (600–900 metres)
and rise to about 5,755 feet (1,754 metres) at Mount Ramm, Jordan’s highest
point, in the south. Outcrops of sandstone, chalk, limestone, and flint extend
to the extreme south, where igneous rocks predominate.

The Jordan Valley drops to about 1,410 feet (430 metres) below sea level at

the Dead Sea, the lowest natural point on Earth’s surface.
Drainage
The Jordan River, approximately 186 miles (300 km) in length, meanders
south, draining the waters of Lake Tiberias (better known as the Sea of
Galilee), the Yarmūk River, and the valley streams of both plateaus into the
Dead Sea, which occupies the central area of the valley. The soil of its lower
reaches is highly saline, and the shores of the Dead Sea consist of salt marshes
that do not support vegetation. To its south, Wadi al-ʿArabah (also called
Wadi al-Jayb), a completely desolate region, is thought to contain mineral
resources.

In the northern uplands several valleys containing perennial streams run west;

around Al-Karak they flow west, east, and north; south of Al-
Karak intermittent valley streams run east toward Al-Jafr Depression.
Soils
The country’s best soils are found in the Jordan Valley and in the area
southeast of the Dead Sea. The topsoil in both regions consists of alluvium—
deposited by the Jordan River and washed from the uplands, respectively—
with the soil in the valley generally being deposited in fans spread over various
grades of marl.
Climate of Jordan

Jordan’s climate varies from Mediterranean in the west to desert in the east
and south, but the land is generally arid. The proximity of the Mediterranean
Sea is the major influence on climates, although continental air masses and
elevation also modify it. Average monthly temperatures at Amman in the
north range between 46 and 78 °F (8 and 26 °C), while at Al-ʿAqabah in the
far south they range between 60 and 91 °F (16 and 33 °C). The prevailing
winds throughout the country are westerly to southwesterly, but spells of hot,
dry, dusty winds blowing from the southeast off the Arabian
Peninsula frequently occur and bring the country its most uncomfortable
weather. Known locally as the khamsin, these winds blow most often in the
early and late summer and can last for several days at a time before
terminating abruptly as the wind direction changes and much cooler air
follows.