Jordan is a kingdom on the
East Bank of the River
Jordan. The country borders
Saudi Arabia to the east and
south-east, Iraq to the
north-east, Syria to the
north and the West Bank and
Israel to the west, sharing
control of the Dead Sea.
Jordan's only port is at its
south-western tip, at the
Gulf of Aqaba, which is
shared with Israel, Egypt,
and Saudi Arabia. Over half
of Jordan is covered by the
Arabian Desert. However, the
western part of Jordan is
arable land and forests. The
capital city is Amman.
Modern Jordan was founded in
1921, and it was recognized
by the League of Nations as
a state under the British
mandate in 1922 known as The
Emirate of Transjordan. In
1946, Jordan joined the
United Nations as an
independent sovereign state
officially known as the
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
Jordan became a heartland
for the Arabic Islamic
Empire and therefore secured
several centuries of
stability and prosperity,
which allowed the coining of
its current Arabic Islamic
identity. In the 11th
century, Jordan witnessed a
phase of instability, as it
became a battlefield for the
Crusade wars which ended
with defeat by the Ayyubids.
