Plan your trip to Jordan

Jordan lies between Israel and Saudi Arabia in the Middle East. Mostly arid desert, the kingdom has few natural resources but has played a pivotal role in the region thanks to its strategic location. The land is part of the historic Fertile Crescent region and since around 2000 B.C. settlers have included Semitic Amorites, Hittites, Egyptians, Israelites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Arab Muslims, Christian Crusader, Mameluks, Ottoman Turks and the British. Which is to say, there have been a lot of settlers. After World War I, the United Kingdom was awarded governance of the area following the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Britain separated Transjordan from Palestine in the early 1920s, the area gaining independence in 1946 and the name of Jordan in 1950. Today, most Jordanians are Arab, about 70 percent of which live in urban areas like the capital of Amman.

In Amman, modern hotels, restaurants and art galleries stand next to traditional cafés and artisans’ workshops in the commercial center. On the western border, the Dead Sea offers the delightful buoyancy of water 10 times saltier than average sea water. To the south, the most popular destination in Jordan is the ancient city of Petra, carved into the rock by settlers over 2,000 years ago. An important junction linking trade routes between China, India and Southern Arabia with Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome, the entrance to the city is through the Siq Gorge, a narrow gorge over half a mile long with surrounding cliffs soaring over 260 feet above. You’ll recognize the Treasury from the climactic scene from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.