Jordan
Jordanians are Arabs, except for a few small communities of
Circassians, Armenians, and Chechens who have adapted to Arab
culture. The official language is Arabic, but English is used widely
in commerce and government. About 70% of Jordan's population is
urban; less than 6% of the rural population is nomadic or
semi-nomadic. Most of the population lives where rainfall can
support agriculture. Approximately 1.7 million registered
Palestinian refugees and other displaced persons reside in Jordan,
many as citizens. |
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The land that became Jordan is part of the richly historical Fertile
Crescent region. Around 2000 B.C., Semitic Amorites settled around
the Jordan River in the area called Canaan. Subsequent invaders and
settlers included Hittites, Egyptians, Israelites, Assyrians,
Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Arab Muslims, Christian
Crusaders, Mameluks, Ottoman Turks, and, finally, the British. At
the end of World War I, the League of Nations awarded the territory
now comprising Israel, Jordan, the West Bank, Gaza, and Jerusalem to
the United Kingdom as the mandate for Palestine and Transjordan. In
1922, the British divided the mandate by establishing the
semiautonomous Emirate of Transjordan, ruled by the Hashemite Prince
Abdullah, while continuing the administration of Palestine under a
British High Commissioner. The mandate over Transjordan ended on May
22, 1946; on May 25, the country became the independent Hashemite
Kingdom of Transjordan. It ended its special defense treaty
relationship with the United Kingdom in 1957.
Transjordan was one of the Arab states which moved to assist
Palestinian nationalists opposed to the creation of Israel in May
1948, and took part in the warfare between the Arab states and the
newly founded State of Israel. The armistice agreements of April 3,
1949 left Jordan in control of the West Bank and provided that the
armistice demarcation lines were without prejudice to future
territorial settlements or boundary lines.
In 1950, the country was renamed the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to
include those portions of Palestine annexed by King Abdullah I.
While recognizing Jordanian administration over the West Bank, the
United States maintained the position that ultimate sovereignty was
subject to future agreement.
Jordan signed a mutual defense pact in May 1967 with Egypt, and it
participated in the June 1967 war between Israel and the Arab states
of Syria, Egypt, and Iraq. During the war, Israel gained control of
the West Bank and all of Jerusalem. In 1988, Jordan renounced all
claims to the West Bank but retained an administrative role pending
a final settlement, and its 1994 treaty with Israel allowed for a
continuing Jordanian role in Muslim holy places in Jerusalem. The
U.S. Government considers the West Bank to be territory occupied by
Israel and believes that its final status should be determined
through direct negotiations among the parties concerned on the basis
of UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338.
The 1967 war led to a dramatic increase in the number of
Palestinians living in Jordan. Its Palestinian refugee
population--700,000 in 1966--grew by another 300,000 from the West
Bank. The period following the 1967 war saw an upsurge in the power
and importance of Palestinian resistance elements (fedayeen) in
Jordan. The heavily armed fedayeen constituted a growing threat to
the sovereignty and security of the Hashemite state, and open
fighting erupted in June 1970.
No fighting occurred along the 1967 Jordan River cease-fire line
during the October 1973 Arab-Israeli war, but Jordan sent a brigade
to Syria to fight Israeli units on Syrian territory. Jordan did not
participate in the Gulf war of 1990-91. In 1991, Jordan agreed,
along with Syria, Lebanon, and Palestinian representatives, to
participate in direct peace negotiations with Israel sponsored by
the U.S. and Russia. It negotiated an end to hostilities with Israel
and signed a peace treaty in 1994. Jordan has since sought to remain
at peace with all of its neighbors. |
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