 Jordan
is situated in the Middle East and borders with Israel,
the Syrian Arab Republic, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. The
capital, Amman dominates the Dead Sea Depression at a
height of 800m on a plateau that extends 324km from the
Syrian Arab Republic to Ras en Naqab in the south. It is
surrounded to the north by undulating hills with
cultivated fields and forests as well as desert
escarpments to the south that are grazed by the sheep
and goat herds of nomadic tribes. Jordan’s official
language is Arabic and English is also widely spoken.
Jordan looks out on to the Red Sea at Aqaba, a narrow
strip of land teeming with underwater treasures, while
in the northeast the flat desert spreads out, scattered
occasionally by oases. The desert in the southeast is a
spectacular wind-eroded region with brightly colored
sandstone cliffs.
Jordan’s rich history and religious culture offers some
magnificent sites, notably Petra, one of the Seven
Wonders of the World, with the breathtaking rock-hewn
city of the Nabateans, which turns rose pink in the
light of the setting sun. Wadi Rum is also a striking
example of Jordan’s heritage and shares the beauty of
Petra.
The climate varies with warm winters and hot summers in
Aqaba and the Jordan Valley and cold winters and
intensely hot summers in the Eastern Desert. There can
be snow in the hills and rainfall is between November
and March. |
