Jordan ( ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is an Arab country in Southwest Asia spanning the southern part of the Syrian Desert down to the Gulf of Aqaba. It shares borders with Syria to the north, Iraq to the north-east, the West Bank and Israel to the west, and Saudi Arabia to the east and south. It shares control of the Dead Sea with Israel, and the coastline of the Gulf of Aqaba with the State of Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. Much of Jordan is covered by desert, particularly the Arabian Desert; however the north-western area, with the Jordan River, is regarded as part of the Fertile Crescent. The capital city of Amman is in the north-west.

During its history, Jordan has seen numerous civilizations, including such ancient eastern civilizations as the Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Mesopotamian, and Persian empires. Jordan was for a time part of Pharaonic Egypt, and spawned the native Nabatean civilization who left rich archaeological remains at Petra. Cultures from the west also left their mark, such as the Macedonian, Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman Turkish empires. Since the seventh century the area has been under Muslim and Arab cultures, with the exception of a brief period when the west of the area formed part of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem and a short time under British rule.

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a constitutional monarchy with representative government. The reigning monarch is the head of state, the chief executive and the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The king exercises his executive authority through the prime ministers and the Council of Ministers, or cabinet. The cabinet, meanwhile, is responsible before the elected House of Deputies which, along with the House of Notables (Senate), constitutes the legislative branch of the government. The judicial branch is an independent branch of the government.

History

Ancient Jordan

The most prominent early roots of Jordan, as an independent state, can be traced to the Kingdom of Petra, which was founded by the Nabataeans (Arabic: الأنباط, Al-Anbāt) an ancient Aramaic speaking Semitic people from Arabia who invented the North Arabic Script that evolved into the Modern Arabic script. The region of present-day Jordan has been conquered successively by the Persian Empire, the Seleucids (4th cent. BC), Romans (mid-1st cent. AD), and Muslim Arabs (7th. cent.). During its glory, the Nabataean Kingdom controlled regional trade routes by dominating a large area southwest of the fertile crescent, which included the whole of modern Jordan extending from Syria in the North to the northern Arabian Peninsula in the south. As a result, Petra enjoyed independence, prosperity and wealth for hundreds of years until it was absorbed by the emerging Roman Empire.