Western Asia · Asia

Jordan

Discover Jordan - home to the rose-red city of Petra, Wadi Rum's Martian landscapes, the Dead Sea, and some of the warmest hospitality in the Middle East.

Where Is Jordan?

Jordan is a country in Western Asia. Its capital is Amman.

Where Jordan isWestern Asia · Capital Amman

Capital Amman
Population 11.5M
Area 89,342 km²

Petra, the Nabataean capital carved into rose-red sandstone, has been a UNESCO site since 1985 and was named one of the New 7 Wonders in 2007. Wadi Rum is a desert of red sand and giant rock walls, the Dead Sea has the lowest land surface on Earth, and Aqaba puts coral reefs on the Red Sea. Several places are on the UNESCO World Heritage List, from the desert of Wadi Rum to the Baptism Site where Jesus is traditionally said to have been baptized.

Amman, the capital, sits over Roman and Islamic ruins; the south is shaped by Bedouin culture. Hospitality shows up at the table: mansaf, the national dish, is served to honor guests. If you're visiting, the Jordan Pass covers over 40 sites, including Petra, Jerash and Wadi Rum, and waives the tourist visa fee if you buy it before arrival and stay at least two nights.

At a glance

Language

Arabic

Currency

Jordanian Dinar (JOD)

Calling Code

+962

Drives On

Right

Internet

.jo

Timezone

EET (UTC+2)

Script

Arabic

Government

Constitutional Monarchy

Independence

1946

By population

Largest cities in Jordan

Amman

Capital, originally built on seven hills and now spread over 19, with a 2nd-century Roman theatre and the hilltop Citadel with its Umayyad Palace

4,920,100

Zarqa

Jordan's second-largest city, behind Amman

929,300

Irbid

Third-largest city, nicknamed the Bride of the North, home to Yarmouk University and the Jordan University of Science and Technology

569,068

Aqaba

Jordan's only coastal city, on the Gulf of Aqaba, with the country's main seaport, a special economic zone since 2000, and more than thirty dive sites

148,398

Jerash

Modern town beside ancient Gerasa, a Decapolis city nicknamed the Pompeii of the Middle East, with Hadrian's Arch and an oval forum

50,745

Wadi Musa

Small town about 3.5 km from Petra, built around the spring Ain Musa, which the Nabataeans channeled to the ancient city

14,000

People

Famous people from Jordan

King Hussein
Politics
Reigned from 1952 to 1999, a 46-year reign, and in 1994 became the second Arab head of state to sign a peace treaty with Israel
Queen Rania
Politics
Founded the Jordan River Foundation in 1995, launched the Madrasati school renovation program in 2008, and became UNICEF's first Eminent Advocate for Children in 2007
King Abdullah II
Politics
King since 7 February 1999, trained at Sandhurst and commanded Jordan's Special Forces from 1994 before taking the throne
Mustafa Wahbi al-Tal
Literature
Known by the pen name Arar, born in Irbid in 1899, widely regarded as Jordan's most prominent poet; the country's top literary award, the Arar Prize, carries his name
Ibrahim Nasrallah
Literature
Jordan-born Palestinian poet and novelist who won the International Prize for Arabic Fiction in 2018 for The Second Dog War
Darin J. Sallam
Film
Jordanian director whose debut feature Farha (2021) won Best Youth Feature at the 2022 Asia Pacific Screen Awards and was Jordan's submission for the Oscars
Ahmad Abughaush
Sport
Won the 68 kg taekwondo final at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Jordan's first Olympic gold medal, as a 20-year-old
Musa Al-Taamari
Sport
Winger from Amman who helped Jordan reach its first AFC Asian Cup final and scored against Argentina at the 2026 World Cup

Food

Traditional cuisine of Jordan

Mansaf: Jordan's national dish, lamb cooked in a sauce of fermented dried yogurt called jameed, served on flatbread with rice and eaten communally from one large platter
Falafel: Deep-fried balls of ground chickpeas and herbs, stuffed into pita with salad, pickles and tahini, a staple street food across the Levant
Maqluba: The name means upside-down: meat, rice and fried vegetables are cooked in a pot, which is flipped onto a platter so the dish comes out like a layer cake
Zarb: Bedouin barbecue in which meat and vegetables cook in a large underground pit
Mujaddara: Lentils and rice topped with roasted onions, a simple Levantine dish served with yogurt or salad
Knafeh: Shredded pastry or semolina layered with soft sweet cheese, soaked in syrup and topped with crushed pistachios; the Nabulsi version is the most common in Jordan
Qatayef: Stuffed folded pancakes filled with cream or nuts and served with syrup, a seasonal treat eaten after iftar during Ramadan
Qahwa Sada: Bedouin-style Arabic coffee of fire-roasted beans and cardamom, served in small cups without sugar or milk

Nature

Nature and landmarks in Jordan

PetraLandmark: UNESCO World Heritage city carved into sandstone by the Nabataeans, where the Treasury stands about 37 m tall and 24 m wide
Wadi RumDesert: UNESCO mixed World Heritage desert of red sand, sandstone arches and Bedouin camps, used as a filming location for Mars in The Martian and other films
Dead SeaLake: Its shore, about 440 m below sea level, is the lowest land elevation on Earth, and the water is about 9.6 times saltier than the ocean, so you float on the surface
Dana Biosphere ReserveNational Park: Jordan's largest nature reserve at about 308 sq km, dropping from 1,500 m to the desert of Wadi Araba across four bio-geographical zones
Wadi MujibCanyon: Nature reserve where the river cuts a gorge down to the Dead Sea, popular for hiking and canyoning among waterfalls and home to Nubian ibex
Gulf of AqabaCoast: Jordan's roughly 26 km of coastline, with coral reefs and the Aqaba Marine Reserve, added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2026
Jabal Umm ad DamiMountain: Jordan's highest point at about 1,840 m, in the Wadi Rum area, roughly 30 km south of Wadi Rum village
Ajloun Forest ReserveForest: Small reserve in the northwest with evergreen oak, carob, terebinth and strawberry trees, a greener side of Jordan than the desert south

Sport

Sports in Jordan

Football: Reached the final of the AFC Asian Cup for the first time (lost 3-1 to Qatar in February 2024) and played in its first FIFA World Cup in 2026
Taekwondo: Ahmad Abughaush won Jordan's first Olympic gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics
Rallying: Rally Jordan, based around the Dead Sea, was on the World Rally Championship calendar in 2008, 2010 and 2011, the first WRC event in the Middle East

Facts

Did you know?

Swiss traveller Johann Ludwig Burckhardt rediscovered Petra in 1812, and the Treasury there was probably built in the 1st century AD, possibly as a tomb for King Aretas IV
Jordan is described as one of the ten most water-scarce countries in the world, which makes water conservation a daily matter
Wadi Rum has been a film set for Lawrence of Arabia (1962), The Martian, Rogue One, Dune and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
The Jordanian dinar is tied to the US dollar at roughly 1.41 dollars per dinar and is divided into 1,000 fils
In the South Theatre at Jerash, a marker stone on the stage lets normal speech be heard throughout the auditorium
Jordan hosts about 2.1 million Palestinian refugees, most of whom hold Jordanian citizenship, and an estimated 1.4 million Syrian refugees (2015 estimates)
The Dead Sea is dropping by more than a meter a year, and its surface area shrank from 1,050 sq km in 1930 to 605 sq km in 2016
The Madaba Map, a 6th-century mosaic in St George's Church in Madaba, uses about two million pieces of colored stone and shows Jerusalem labeled as the Holy City