People have lived in Jordan for more
than 200,000 years. Ancient Jordan was
part of the area known as Palestine.
Early kingdoms—including Ammon,
Moab, and Edom—ruled from the
1200s BC.
Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Seleucids,
and the Roman Empire later controlled
the region. In the AD 600s Arab
invaders brought Islam to the area. The
Ottoman Empire ruled from the 1500s
until 1918.
In 1920 Great Britain took control of
what is now Jordan. The territory, then
called Transjordan, gained full independence
in 1946. Abdullah of the Hashimites,
a powerful Arab family, became
king.
Jordan soon became involved in conflicts
with its neighbors. In 1948 the
country of Israel was created out of part
of Palestine. Jordan joined other Arab
nations in a war against Israel. A large
number of Palestinians were forced out
of Palestine and into Jordan.
In 1967 Jordan fought another war with
Israel. Jordan lost theWest Bank and the
eastern part of Jerusalem to Israel. The
losses increased the number of Palestinians
who moved to Jordan.
Jordan began moving toward peace and
stability in the 1980s. In 1988 Jordan
gave up its claims to theWest Bank. In
1994 Jordan signed a peace treaty with
Israel. In the early 21st century Jordan
continued to work for peace in the
Middle East.
..More to explore
Amman • Jordan River • Middle East
• Palestine
A large tomb, called the Treasury, was cut
into the sandstone cliffs in Petra, Jordan,
thousands of years ago.
Jordan’s Queen Rania visits with
local children.
Facts About
JORDAN
Population
(2008 estimate)
5,844,000
Area
34,495 sq mi
(89,342 sq km)
Capital
Amman
Form of
government
Constitutional
monarchy
Major cities
Amman,
Az-Zarqa#, Irbid,
Ar-Rusayfah,
Wadi Essier,
Al-!Aqabah
34 Jordan BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
Jordan, Michael
Michael Jordan was one of the best basketball
players of all time. He led the
Chicago Bulls to six National Basketball
Association (NBA) championships. He
was called Air Jordan because of how he
soared toward the basket for spectacular
slam dunks.
Early Life
Michael Jeffrey Jordan was born on February
17, 1963, in Brooklyn, New York.
He grew up inWilmington, North
Carolina. In 1981 he entered the University
of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill. As a freshman he scored the winning
basket in the 1982 college championship
game. Jordan was named college
basketball player of the year in 1983 and
1984. He left North Carolina after his
junior year.
Olympics
Jordan led the U.S. basketball team to a
gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympic
games in Los Angeles, California. In
1992 he earned another gold medal at
the Summer Olympics in Barcelona,
Spain. He and the other U.S. players
were called the Dream Team.
Success with the Bulls
Jordan first played for the Bulls in the
1984–85 season. In 1985 he was named
Rookie of the Year.With his help the
Bulls won the NBA championship three
years in a row, from 1991 to 1993. Jordan
was named most valuable player
(MVP) of each championship series.
Jordan retired from basketball in 1993
to play professional baseball. He
returned to the Bulls in March 1995.
Again he led the team to three NBA
championships in a row, from 1996 to
1998. Jordan was the MVP of each
championship series.
WashingtonWizards and
Retirement
Jordan retired from basketball again in
1999, but in 2001 he returned to the
NBA. He played two seasons for the
WashingtonWizards.
Jordan retired for a third and final time
in 2003. His career totals included
32,292 points, 2,514 steals, 5 MVP
awards, and 10 scoring titles. He played
in 13 NBA All-Star games.
#More to explore
Basketball
Jordan helped
the Bulls win
72 games in
the 1995–96
season.
Michael Jordan of the Chicago
Bulls tries to slam-dunk a ball
during an NBA All-Stars competition
in 1987.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Jordan, Michael 35
Jordan River
The Jordan River, in the Middle East, is
the lowest river in the world. It ends in
the Dead Sea, at a depth of 1,312 feet
(400 meters) below sea level. The river is
important to Christians, Jews, and Muslims
because of its location in an area
that is holy to all three.
The Jordan River is more than 223
miles (360 kilometers) long. It starts on
the slopes of Mount Hermon, on the
border of Lebanon and Syria. It flows
southward through northern Israel to
the Sea of Galilee. There the river drops
sharply, to 686 feet (209 meters) below
sea level.
South of the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan
divides Israel and the Israeli-occupied
West Bank on the west from Jordan on
the east. It flows through a deep, narrow
valley with steep sides. Finally it empties
into the Dead Sea.
Little rain falls in the Jordan River valley.
This makes the river’s water very
important to farmers in the region. Irrigation
systems pump water from the
Jordan River to farm fields in Jordan
and Israel.
#More to explore
Dead Sea • Irrigation • River
Judaism
The religion of the Jewish people is
Judaism. Judaism has more than 14 million
followers throughout the world,
more than a third of whom live in the
United States. Many other Jews live in
Israel, a country at the eastern edge of
the Mediterranean Sea.
Beliefs
Like Christianity and Islam, Judaism
