Facts at a Glance
Full country name: Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Area: 91,860 sq km
Population: 4.95 million
Capital city: Amman (pop 1.58 million)
People: Arabs (60% Palestinian, many refugees), Circassians, Chechens, Armenians
Language: Arabic
Religion: Islam
Government: Monarchy (fledgling democracy)
Head of State: King Abdullah Hussein
Jordan is bounded to the north by Syria, to the north-east by Iraq, to the east and south by Saudi Arabia and to the west by Israel. Jordan has three distinct geographic zones: the fertile Jordan Valley which runs down the western side of the country; the East Bank plateau, where most of the main towns are; and the East Bank, a desert which stretches east into Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Jordan is a smallish country with a strange shape. An apocryphal story holds that the lumpy eastern border was created by Winston Churchill after a very liquid lunch.
Down a drink with the locals (26K)
The pine forests of the north give way to the cultivated slopes of the Jordan Valley, covered in cedar, olive and eucalypt. Further south, towards the Dead Sea, vegetation can't survive and the landscape is dominated by mud and salt flats. The desert regions of the country support the usual desert fauna - camels, desert fox, sand rats, hares and jerboas - while the hills to the north-east of the Dead Sea are home to boars, badgers and goats. Jordan is particularly noted for its aquatic life, and the Gulf of Aqaba has a huge variety of tropical fish and coral. The country's biggest sanctuary is the Shaumari Wildlife Reserve in the east, where gazelle and oryx, once common throughout Jordan, have been reintroduced.
Climate varies dramatically from one end of the country to the other. The Jordan Valley can be incredibly hot in summer (usually around 40°C), while Amman and Petra occasionally get snow in winter. The Plateau area is usually warm and dry, fluctuating between the low 20s and high 30s, while the desert suffers extremes of temperature - baking dry heat interspersed with freezing winds from Central Asia.
Until the early 20th century, Jordan was part of Palestine, most of which is now the State of Israel. The area is home to one of the oldest civilisations in the world - archaelogical finds from the west bank of the Jordan River have been dated at around 9000 BC. From 3000 BC the area was inhabited by the Canaanites and Amorites, and after them the armies of Sargon, king of Sumer and Akkad. Around 1800 BC Abraham led a group of nomads from Mesopotamia and settled in the mountains of Canaan (which roughly corresponds to present-day Israel). By 1023 BC the Israelites had formed a kingdom, led by Saul and then David, who captured Jerusalem and made it his capital. The unstoppable Roman Empire took Israel in 63 BC and placed it under the control of a series of consuls, including Herod the Great and Pontius Pilate. It was at this time that Jesus was believed to have lived and preached in the area. The increasing insanity of the Empire under Caligula prompted a series of Jewish uprisings, which lasted for years but were finally crushed when Jerusalem was razed and the province of Palestine decreed. This defeat marked the end of the Jewish state and the beginning of the Diaspora, the scattering of the Jewish people.
In 331 AD Emperor Constantine became a Christian and gave his official stamp of approval to the previously illegal religion. Suddenly everyone wanted to know about the Holy Land, and a rash of buildings, including the churches of the Holy Sepulchre and the Nativity, sprang up all over Palestine to mark sites of religious importance. But Christianity's hold over the country was not to last long - in 638 AD Jerusalem fell to Caliph Omar and was declared a Holy City of Islam, on the grounds that the Prophet Mohammed had ascended to heaven from atop the Temple Mount. Christians around the world raised their hackles at this desecration, and by 1099 they'd scrounged a crusading army together and occupied Jerusalem, murdering everyone they could get their hands on and beginning nearly 100 years of Christian rule. But by 1187 the Muslims again had the upper hand - after decades of Christian/Muslim scuffling, the Islamic Mamluks knocked over the last Crusader stronghold in 1291.
The next 500 years were some of the quietest Palestine has seen. Empires rose and fell, and control of the country changed hands with monotonous regularity, eventually coming to rest in the hands of the Ottoman Empire. Much of desert Jordan sidestepped all this change and remained a Bedouin stronghold. When the Ottoman Empire collapsed after WWI, Britain took control of Palestine and created the state of Transjordan, under the rule of King Abdullah.
In 1948 Israeli Arabs and Jews went to war with one another - while everyone was distracted, Transjordan snapped up the West Bank and part of Jerusalem, and renamed itself Jordan. In 1953 King Hussein took the throne and Jordan entered a boom period, with a rise in tourism and plenty of aid flowing in from the USA. The Six Day War of 1967 put paid to Jordan's burgeoning tourist industry when Israel retook the West Bank and half of that huge drawcard, Jerusalem. In six days Jordan lost its money spinner and its agricultural land, and replaced them with a few thousand refugees as Palestinians streamed in from the Occupied Territories. By the 1970s, the PLO component of the refugee population was threatening King Hussein's power, and a bloody internal war began, ending when most of the radicals moved to Lebanon.
In 1994 Jordan and Israel signed a peace treaty, agreeing to drop economic barriers and cooperate on security and water. This raised concerns among Palestinians that they will be eased out of the region, as Israel and Jordan divide the spoils between themselves. At the same time, Jordan has been increasing its links with Yasser Arafat's Palestine National Authority and working towards agreements with them. In recent years Jordan has also restored relations - cut during the 1991 Gulf War - with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. King Hussein had begun moving the country towards democracy, with the Islamic Action Front (with its links to the Muslim Brotherhood and fairly fundamentalist policies) the most succesful party so far, but his death in February 1999 has left the future uncertain. The king named his eldest son, Prince Abdullah, successor to the throne just weeks before dying.
GDP: US$36,026,900
GDP per head: US$1373
Annual growth: 5%
Inflation: 9%
Major industries: Minerals, tourism, agriculture
Major trading partners: India, Saudi Arabia, European Union
There isn't much sign of traditional Arabic music in Jordan, but you will find an interesting hybrid of Arab-style singers backed up by orchestras of western and traditional insturments everywhere you go. The Bedouin are still hanging on to their musical traditions, with groups of men singing trance-like chants to accompany a lone belly-dancer
Architecture is the predominant visual art in the Arab world, partly because Islam forbids the depiction of living things. Throughout Jordan you will find spectacular mosques, ancient ruins from the Roman Empire and earlier, and magnificent mosaics. The Qusayr 'Amra is notable for its frescoes, one of which shows a nude woman bathing - an unusual artform for this part of the world. The Qur'an is one of the finest examples of classical Arabic writing, while the Al-Mu'allaqaat is an even older collection of Arab poetry. One of the best-known works of Arab literature is Alf Layla wa Layla, A Thousand and One Nights, a collection of tales from several centuries and countries. Bedouin artworks include silver jewellery, colourful textiles and a wide range of knives.
A cultural mosaic: from tea to tiling (23K)
Hospitality is a cornerstone of Arab life. It is commonplace for Jordanian families, particularly desert dwellers, to welcome strangers into their home. The tradition developed from the harshness of desert life - without food, water and shelter from strangers, most desert travellers would die. Wherever you go in Jordan, you are likely to hear the word, 'Welcome', and you will frequently be invited into people's homes for food or a cup of tea.
Islam is the predominant religion in Jordan. A monotheistic religion, Islam's holy book is the Qur'an, and Friday is its sabbath day. Every day, five times a day, Muslims are called to prayer from the minarets of mosques which dot the country. Islam derives from the same monotheistic roots as Judaism and Christianity, and Muslims generally regard Christians and Jews with respect - in Islam, Jesus is regarded as one of the Prophets of Allah, and Jews and Christians are considered fellow 'people of the Book'. Mohammed was the last Prophet, and it was to him that Allah dictated the Qur'an. Most Jordanian Muslims, including the non-Arab Circassians, belong to the Sunni sect of Islam. The Circassians - as well as the other Jordanian minority, the Chechens - were originally from the Caucasus area of Russia.
Islamic law forbids eating pig and drinking alcohol, and this law is followed to a greater or lesser (generally lesser) extent throughout Jordan. Islam also has a tendency to divide the sexes, and you might find that many eating establishments only welcome men. Most of these will, if asked, show you to the 'family room', an area set aside for women. When Jordanians eat out they will usually order group meals - a selection of mezzeh, or starters, followed by main meals to share. Arabic unleavened bread, or khobz, is eaten with almost everything. The other staples are felafel, deep-fried chickpea balls, shwarma, spit-cooked sliced lamb, and fuul, a paste of fava beans, garlic and lemon. Mensaf is a Bedouin speciality - a whole lamb, head included, on a bed of rice and pine nuts.
Not surprisingly, Jordanian holidays and festivals are mostly Islamic. The big one is Ramadan, a month (around December) where everyone fasts between sunup and sunset to conform to the fourth pillar of Islam. If you're in Jordan at this time, be sensitive to the fact that most of the people around you are very, very hungry. Ramadan ends with a huge feast, Eid al-Fitr, where everyone prays together, visits friends, gives presents and stuffs themselves. Eid al-Adah, held around February, is the other big feast of the year, and marks the time when Muslims should make the pilgrimage to Mecca. Non-religious holidays include Independence Day, on 25 May.
Visas: All foreigners need a visa to enter Jordan. You can get one at the border or airport when you arrive, or from consulates in your country. Visas are valid for two weeks from entry, but can be easily extended up to three months. Cost depends on where you're from: Australians get in free, Americans pay US$60. Keep your passport on you whenever you're near the Israeli border, as there are lots of military checkpoints.
Health risks: No particular risks, but you should consider vaccinations for hepatitis, typhoid, polio and tetanus and diphtheria.
Time: GMT/UTC plus 2 hours
Electricity: 220V, 50 Hz
Weights & measures: Metric (see the conversion table.)
Money & Costs
Currency: Jordanian dinar
Relative costs:
- Budget meal: US$1-2
- Restaurant meal: US$5-7
- Budget room: US$5-7
- Mid-range hotel: US$20-30
Jordan is at the top end of the Middle Eastern range - cheaper than Israel, but more expensive than Egypt. Although you could conceivably get by on $15 a day, you'll be living on felafel and slumming it in some pretty dodgy dives. If you want the odd beer, soft drink or restaurant meal, and if you'd like a hot shower occasionally, plan for about $20 a day. If you want a little more luxury - a couple of restaurant meals a day, a room with its own bathroom, a fair bit of travel and entry to at least one sight a day - budget around $50.
Haggling hard in the bazaars of Amman (24K)
You shouldn't have a problem changing any hard currency in Jordan. Most banks will change travellers' cheques, and the British Bank of the Middle East takes Eurocheques. Everywhere will charge you about JD5 to change cheques. Amex are the most widely accepted. If you find you can get a good rate outside the country, buy up, as you can import as much Jordanian currency as you want.
Higher end restaurants will expect a tip of 10%, but most other places don't go in for tipping. Bargaining, particularly for souvenirs, is essential, but you are unlikely to get shopkeepers to stray far from their original price.
The best time to visit Jordan is in spring or autumn, when you can dodge the baking sun of summer and the freezing winds of winter. Although winter can be bitterly cold in most of the country, the Red Sea area and Aqaba are still very pleasant. If you're planning to travel through the rest of the Middle East, try heading north into Turkey around spring, or south into Egypt by autumn.
Amman, Jordan's capital, will certainly never win any prizes as the most interesting city in the world and, in fact, has only a few attractions. It's a busy, chaotic jumble of traffic and poor planning, but all roads lead to Amman, so you're bound to wind up here sooner or later. At least 5000 years old, Amman is sprinkled with Roman ruins, including a citadel and a forum. Downtown Amman is at the bottom of four of the city's many hills, and its where you'll find cheap hotels, banks and the sights. Flash places to stay and eat and embassies are on the main hill, Jebel Amman. Despite its drawbacks, Amman can be a very pleasant city, and it's certainly one of the friendliest you're likely to visit.
Amman's artists turn their hand to the movies (22K)
The restored Roman theatre, just to the east of Downtown, is the most impressive remnant of the Roman city of Philadelphia. Built in the 2nd century AD, it holds 6000 people and is cut into the side of a hill that once served as a giant graveyard. To the east stands the Odeon, built around the same time and used mainly for musical performances. The city's main fountain, or nymphaeum, is to the west. North of these ruins, on its own hill, is the Roman citadel, the garrison for centurions. Most of the buildings are now rubble, but you can see Roman, Byzantine and Muslim architecture. There's also a National Archaeological Museum on the site.
If Roman ruins aren't your cup of tea, you'll find little to excite you in Amman. Give the Folklore Museum and the Traditional Jewels & Costumes Museum, both in the Roman theatre, a try. To the north of the city you'll find the Monument to the Unknown Soldier, which includes a small museum on Jordan's military history.
Downtown Amman is thick with cheap hotels, charging from JD1.5 and up. It's also littered with shwarma stalls, cheap restaurants, western-style fast-food joints and the odd Chinese. This is also the area for pubs if you fancy a tipple. Head north-west, out to Shmeisani, if you want genuine overpriced western junk food or pricier cosmopolitan and Arab food. For top-end digs, try Jebel Amman, to the west of the Downtown area.
Whet your appetite with Amman's ruins, then head 50 km north to Jerash, a beautifully preserved Roman city. The area has probably been inhabited since Neolithic times, and at one time was part of Emperor Pompey's Decapolis, a commercial league of ten cities throughout the Middle East. Jerash reached its peak at the beginning of the 3rd century, but went into a decline after a series of Christian and Muslim invasions, followed by earthquakes in 747. Although excavations began in the 1920s, it's estimated that only 10% of the city has been uncovered. The entrance to Jerash was once a Triumphal Arch, but the main entrance now is the South Gate. Inside the city wall you will see a Temple of Zeus and a Forum, unusually oval-shaped. Behind the Temple is the South Theatre, built in the 1st century, which once held 5000 spectators and, running up to the north, a 600m long colonnaded street. The biggest building on the site is the Temple of Artemis, right in the centre.
Holding up the sky, Artemis Temple, Jerash (22K)
There's nowhere to stay in Jerash, but you can get a fairly expensive meal or a street snack. In any event, it's an easy day-trip from Amman - catch a service taxi or a minibus from the Abdali bus station.
It's hard to overrate Petra. There's no other sight in Jordan, or perhaps the whole Middle East, as compelling - the locals know it, and they'll charge you accordingly. Once the capital of the Nabateaeans, a 3rd century BC Arab dynasty, Petra is a stunning city carved from a cliff face. Forgotten for 1000 years and only rediscovered in 1812, Petra raised its public profile with an appearance in the movie Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade. Since its discovery and up until the 1980s, it was home to a number of Bedouin families who have since been relocated, an arrangement they are less than happy with. Don't expect a serene and contemplative visit: up to 3000 people come here every day.
Stretching for superlatives: Petra (26K)
You really need to spend a couple of days here to get the feel of the place, which means paying the JD20 entry fee more than once. Set in a deep canyon and only accessible through a narrow winding cleft (or siq) in the rock, Petra is carved from sandstone that takes on deep rusty hues interlaced with bands of grey and yellow. The most famous ruin is the Khazneh, or treasury, whose beautifully carved facade is the first thing you'll see when you enter from the siq. The monastery is equally imposing, and if you climb to the top you'll get stunning views. Other ruins include an 8000-seat amphitheatre and the Temple of the Winged Lions, still in the process of excavation.
The area surrounding Petra is on a very steep development curve. Petra itself and the neighbouring village of Wadi Musa are crawling with hotels and there are plenty more underway. There also plenty of places to eat, ranging from markets through street stalls to expensive restaurants. If you don't want to stay over, you can do the 150 km day trip from Amman, but this option is definitely only for those with very limited time.
This easy-going little town 30 km south of Amman is best known for its beautiful Byzantine-era mosaics, including the 'Madaba map', a 6th century mosaic map of Palestine. Made of two million pieces, the Madaba map shows the Nile, the Dead Sea and Jerusalem, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. You can see this mosaic, possibly Madaba's most interesting, in the Greek Orthodox St George's Church. Most of Madaba is now a carefully restored Archaeological Park, including the 7th century churches of the Virgin and the Prophet Elias, and the older Hippolytus Hall. The hall includes a spectacular mosaic depicting scenes from the tragedy of Phaedre and Hippolytus. There are a couple of places to stay in Madaba, or you can catch a bus from Amman.
No one really knows who built this town, 10 km from the Syrian border and about 20 km east of Mafraq. The strange black basalt settlement is in the south of the city of Hauran. It is thought to have been founded in the 2nd century AD, and at one stage was part of the defensive line of Rome's Arab outposts. It continued to flourish into Umayyad times, but the earthquakes which hit Jordan in 747 wiped out Umm Al-Jimal, and the city was never rebuilt.
Most of the remaining buildings were once the houses and shops of ordinary people. Among the few larger buildings still standing are a combined barracks/church building, and a ruin known as the Western Church. You can visit Umm Al-Jimal in a day trip from Amman.
Out in the desert east of Amman lies a string of castles, the work of the 7th century Umayyad dynasty. Some were originally Roman buildings, and others date back to the Nabataeans. The best way to get around the loop is by hire car or taxi. You can see the main castles in a day and without travelling too far off the road, but if you want to do the whole loop you will need a couple of days, a 4WD and a guide.
Desert Patrollers keep a steely eye on the border (24K)
Qasr al-Hallabat was originally a Roman fort, but was taken over by the Umayyads and converted into a pleasure palace. A few km down the road is Hammam as-Sarakh, a bathhouse and hunting lodge. The buildings have been almost completely restored, and you can see the channels that were used for hot water and steam. One hundred km east of Amman, the oasis town of Azraq has a large castle built from black basalt. This was Lawrence of Arabia's headquarters during the Arab Revolt. Heading back towards Amman, the Qusayr 'Amra is the best preserved of the desert castles, with walls covered in frescoes.
Wadi Rum has some of the most spectacular desert scenery anywhere in the world. Lawrence of Arabia spent quite a bit of time here during the Arab Revolt, and many of the scenes from the film were shot here. Don't expect sweeping sand dunes: Wadi Rum is a landscape of bizarre, soaring rock formations, known as jebels. Although more and more tourists are coming here, it hasn't lost any of its forbidding majesty. The only residents of the area are around 4000 villagers and Bedouin nomads, and the only buildings are goat hair tents, a few concrete shops and houses and the fort headquarters of the Desert Patrol Corps. There is no hotel.
Lawrence of Arabia's 'stupendous hills', Wadi Rum (25K)
Around the village of Rum, there are a few things to see. Lawrence's Well is a spring two km south-west of the village. It's really just a stagnant pool, but the views are stunning. There's a much prettier spring at the base of Jebel Rum. The Nabatean empire, responsible for Petra, also left a ruined temple in Rum, and the area is covered in Thamudic and Kufic rock art. But the real attraction of the area is the desert itself, and you get out into it in a hired 4WD or on a camel. Some people just do a few hours, but if you take a guide its worth doing a trip of several days, staying overnight with Bedouin families or camping in the desert.
One of the best diving spots in the world is the coast south of Aqaba (in the far south of Jordan) down to the Saudi border. The Gulf of Aqaba here throngs with tropical fish and coral. There are at least four dive centres in Aqaba offering PADI courses for beginners up. If you are into hiking, try the areas around Petra and Wadi Rum. Wadi Rum is also good for climbing, with basic gear available on-site. You can also go camel trekking around Wadi Rum.
Down among the fishies in the Gulf of Aqaba (24K)
Amman has an international airport, with flights from Beirut, Cairo, Damascus and further afield. The departure tax is JD10. Buses travel between Amman and Damascus (about seven hours), Baghdad (14 hours), Jeddah, Dammam and Riyadh (about 24 hours). There are indirect buses to Jerusalem, and direct buses from Aqaba to Eilat. You can also catch service taxis from Jordan to Syria and Iraq, or a train from Amman to Damascus (Monday only). The departure tax is JD4 (free to the West Bank). A ferry/bus service runs from Aqaba to Cairo, or you can get a fast boat between Aqaba and Nuweiba in Sinai. The departure tax is JD6.
The only domestic air route is between Amman and Aqaba. JETT bus company runs from Amman to Aqaba, the King Hussein Bridge, Petra and Hammamat Ma'in. Private buses run from Amman to Irbid and Aqaba. Minibuses travel between the smaller towns on an irregular service - usually they leave when they're full. Service taxis cover much the same routes. They're more expensive than minibuses, but a lot faster.
Rental's expensive, but you get a lot of car for your money (22K)
- Kingdom of the Film Stars: Journey Into Jordan by Annie Caulfield tells the story of the author's relationship with a Bedouin man. It's part of Lonely Planet's Journeys travel literature series.
- Treks and Climbs in the Mountains of Rum and Petra by Tony Howard is an excellent handbook of walks, climbs and car and camel treks.
- A History of the Arab Peoples by Albert Hourani gives a feel for the evolution of Muslim Arab socieities.
- Seven Pillars of Wisdom by TE Lawrence is Lawrence of Arabia straight from the camel's mouth.
- Freya Stark in the Levant by Malise Ruthuen is a selection of photos from this remarkable British travel writer of the early 20th century.
Lonely Planet
Guides
Travellers' Reports
On-line Info
Environment
History
Economic Profile
Culture
Events
Facts for the
Traveller
When to Go
Attractions
Off the Beaten Track
Activities
Getting There & Away
Getting Around
Recommended Reading
