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troperville

Jordan is a country in West Asia, bordering Israel and Palestine to the west, Iraq to the east, Syria to the north, and Saudi Arabia to the south. It received its name from the River Jordan, which forms its western border.

This desert kingdom arose when the Ottoman Empire imploded after World War I. It was put under British supervision until 1946, when it was named the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan. It, like the other countries, did not took Israel's founding well, and started the first Arab Israeli Conflict. Jordan held the West Bank until 1967, when it was taken by Israel. It later renounced its claim to the West Bank on the King's orders, telling that it was now the Palestinians' responsibility to gain independence from Israel. Today, it was struggling to improve its standard of living and the King had to contend with protests for more economic opportunities and political freedom.

Jordan is mostly composed of Arabs, with a Circassian minority from the Caucasus. These are descendants of refugees from Russia in the 1800s due to religious and ethnic persecution. Some of them form an elite royal guard over the King.

Unlike other Arab countries, it does have little to no oil, but it had the luck of having ample phosphate deposits which it developed. The fact that it was the site of ancient states like Ammon as well as being the site of the Roman city of Petra, a Mecca for Christian pilgrims, did helped its bottom line. However, it still has high unemployment rate.

By the way, the current King, Abdullah II, is a Star Trek fanboy and even guested for a while in Star Trek: Voyager.

Israel

UsefulNotes/The Middle East