History UsefulNotes / Jordan

Jordan ('''Arabic:''' الأردن‎ al-Urdun), also known as the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan ('''Arabic:''' المملكة الأردنية الهاشمية‎ al-Mamlakah al-Urdunīyah al-Hāshimīyah) is a country in West Asia, bordering UsefulNotes/{{Israel}} and UsefulNotes/{{Palestine}} to the west, UsefulNotes/{{Iraq}} to the east, UsefulNotes/{{Syria}} to the north, and UsefulNotes/SaudiArabia to the south. It received its name from the River Jordan, which forms its western border.

Jordan initially did not take Israel's founding well, and participated in the first UsefulNotes/ArabIsraeliConflict. Jordan held the [[UsefulNotes/{{Palestine}} West Bank]] until 1967, when it was taken by Israel. It later renounced its claim to the West Bank on King Hussein's orders, saying that it was now the Palestinians' responsibility to gain independence from Israel. Later, it became the second Arab country (after UsefulNotes/{{Egypt}}) to sign a peace treaty with Israel, and relations between the two countries are nowadays cordial; Israel has helped Jordan to modernize with its technological expertise, while those Muslim pilgrims who want to visit the Holy Land can do so via a transit in Jordan.

Jordan is mostly composed of Arabs, with a Circassian minority from UsefulNotes/TheCaucasus. These are descendants of refugees from UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} who came in the 1800s due to religious and ethnic persecution. Some of them form an elite royal guard over the King. As one of the most stable nations in the region, Jordan hosts an enormous population of Palestinian refugees from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; it's estimated that as many as a half of the population are Palestinians. In fact, the current king's wife, Rania, is a Palestinian. Since the start of the Syrian Civil War, Jordan has been hosting more than 650,000 Syrian refugees, the third largest number in the world.

Jordan ('''Arabic:''' الأردن‎ al-Urdun), also known as the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan ('''Arabic:''' المملكة الأردنية الهاشمية‎ al-Mamlakah al-Urdunīyah al-Hāshimīyah) is a country in Western Asia, bordering UsefulNotes/{{Israel}} and UsefulNotes/{{Palestine}} to the west, UsefulNotes/{{Iraq}} to the east, UsefulNotes/{{Syria}} to the north, and UsefulNotes/SaudiArabia to the south. It received its name from the River Jordan, which forms its western border.