The Guinness Encyclopedia

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Extensible Markup Language | 1995-06-13 | 5KB | 19 lines

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> <!DOCTYPE card PUBLIC "-//Apple, Inc.//DTD card V 2.0//EN" "" > <card> <id>25362</id> <filler1>0</filler1> <cantDelete> <false /> </cantDelete> <showPict> <true /> </showPict> <dontSearch> <false /> </dontSearch> <owner>5472</owner> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="stylesheet_3106.css" /> <content> <layer>background</layer> <id>31</id> <text>JORDANOfficial name: Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniya al-Hashemiyah (The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan)Member of: UN, Arab LeagueArea: 88946 km2 (34342 sq mi)Population: 3765000 (1993 est) Capital: Amman 1160000 (1986 est)Other major cities: Zarqa 318000, Irbid 168000, Salt 134000 (1986 est)Language: Arabic (official)Religion: Sunni Islam (over 80%), Shia Islam (minority)GOVERNMENTJordan is a constitutional monarchy. The King appoints the 30 members of the Senate for eight years. The 80-member House of Representatives is elected for four years by universal adult suffrage.GEOGRAPHYThe steep escarpment of the East Bank Uplands ΓÇô which rise to 1754 m (5755 ft) at Jabal Ramm ΓÇô borders the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea. Deserts cover over 80% of the country. Principal rivers: Jordan (Urdun) 321 km (200 mi). Climate: The summers are hot and dry; the winters are cooler and wetter, although much of Jordan experiences very low rainfall.ECONOMYApart from potash ΓÇô the main export ΓÇô Jordan has few resources. Arable land accounts for only 5% of the total area. Foreign aid and money sent back by Jordanians working abroad are major sources of foreign currency. Currency: Jordanian dinar.HISTORYAfter being incorporated into the biblical kingdoms of Solomon and David, the region was ruled, in turn, by the Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian and Seleucid empires. The Nabateans ΓÇô based at Petra ΓÇô controlled Jordan from the 4th century bc until 64 BC, when the area came under Roman rule. Jordan was part of the Byzantine Empire from 394 until 636, when Muslim Arab forces were victorious in the Battle of Yarmouk. At first, Jordan prospered under Muslim rule but declined when the Abbasid caliphs moved their capital to Baghdad. In the 11th and 12th centuries, Crusader states flourished briefly in Jordan. The area was conquered by the (Turkish) Ottoman Empire in the 16th century. In World War I the British aided an Arab revolt against Ottoman rule. The League of Nations awarded the area east of the River Jordan ΓÇô Transjordan ΓÇô to Britain as part of Palestine (1920), but in 1923 Transjordan became a separate emirate. In 1946 the country gained complete independence as the Kingdom of Jordan with Amir Abdullah (1880ΓÇô1951) as its sovereign.The Jordanian army fought with distinction in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and occupied the West Bank territories, which were formally incorporated into Jordan in 1950. In 1951 Abdullah was assassinated. His grandson King Hussein (reigned 1952ΓÇô ) was initially threatened by radicals encouraged by EgyptΓÇÖs President Nasser. In the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Jordan lost the West Bank, including Arab Jerusalem, to the Israelis. In the 1970s, the power of the Palestinian guerrillas in Jordan challenged the very existence of the Jordanian state. After a short bloody civil war in 1979 the Palestinian leadership fled abroad. King Hussein renounced all responsibility for the West Bank in 1988. A ban on party politics ended in 1991. There has since been a growth in support for Islamic fundamentalism. In 1994 Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel.</text> </content> <name>Jordan</name> <script></script> </card>