什麼是約旦

正式名稱約旦雜湊姆王國（Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan）

阿拉伯語作Al-Urdun

南亞阿拉伯國家，位於約旦河東岸。鄰敘利亞、伊拉克、沙烏地阿拉伯和以色列。有臨亞喀巴灣19公里的海岸線。面積88,946平方公里。人口約5,132,000（2001）。首都︰安曼。多數人民為阿拉伯人，約60%是巴勒斯坦阿拉伯人，他們大多是以阿戰爭後從以色列和西岸移民至約旦的。語言︰阿拉伯語（官方語）。宗教︰伊斯蘭教（國教），逾90%的人口信奉遜尼派。貨幣︰約旦第納爾（JD）。約旦4/5的領土是沙漠，低於1/10的土地是可耕地。該國最高點是拉姆山（海拔1,754公尺），位於約旦河東岸的丘陵區。約旦河谷地區包含了死海。約旦經濟主要仰賴製造業和服務業（包含旅遊業）；出口品有磷酸鹽、鉀礆、藥物、水果、蔬菜及肥料。政府形式為君主立憲政體，兩院制。國家元首暨政府首腦是國王，由總理輔佐。

約旦與以色列共有許多相同的歷史，因為兩者均曾佔領了史稱巴勒斯坦的這個地方。今日約旦東部許多地區在西元前1000年左右是受以色列的大衛和所羅門統治。西元前330年淪入塞琉西王國手中，西元7世紀受穆斯林阿拉伯人統治。1099年十字軍將耶路撒冷王國擴大至約旦河東部。16世紀時約旦臣服於鄂圖曼土耳其的統治。1920年包含約旦的地區（當時稱為外約旦）與英國託管的巴勒斯坦結合。1927年外約旦成為獨立國家，雖然英國的託管直到1948年才結束。與以色列的敵意到1949年中止，約旦包含了約旦河的西岸地區，這個地區的統治權在1967年六日戰爭後由以色列取得。1970～1971年約旦因政府與巴勒斯坦解放組織（PLO）游擊隊的戰事而國力日弱，經過一番奮鬥，約旦將巴解組織逐出。1988年國王胡笙重新對所有約旦人宣佈西岸歸巴解組織所有。1994年約旦和以色列簽署全面的和平條約。

Jordan

ArabicAl-UrdunArab state, South Asia, lying east of the Jordan River. It is bordered by Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Israel. Jordan has 12 miles (19 km) of coastline on the Gulf of Aqaba. Area: 34,342 sq mi (88,946 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 4,522,000. Capital: Amman. The vast majority of the population are Arabs, about 60% of whom are Palestinian Arabs who emigrated to Jordan from Israel and the West Bank as a result of the Arab-Israeli Wars. Language: Arabic (official). Religion: Islam (official), with more than 90% of the population Sunnite. Currency: Jordan dinar. Four-fifths of Jordan is occupied by desert, and less than one-tenth of the country's land is arable. The country's highest point, Mount Ramm (5,755 ft, or 1,754 m), lies in the uplands region on the East Bank of the Jordan River. The Jordan Valley region contains the Dead Sea. Jordan's economy is based largely on manufacturing and services (including tourism); exports include phosphate, potash, pharmaceuticals, fruits and vegetables, and fertilizers. It is a constitutional monarchy with two legislative houses; the head of state and government is the king, assisted by the prime minister. Jordan shares much of its history with Israel, since both occupied the area known historically as Palestine. Much of present-day eastern Jordan was incorporated into Israel under David and Solomon c. 1000 BC. It fell to the Seleucids in 330 BC and to Muslim Arabs in the 7th century AD. The Crusaders extended the kingdom of Jerusalem east of the Jordan River in 1099. Jordan submitted to Ottoman Turkish rule during the 16th century. In 1920 the area comprising Jordan (then known as the Transjordan) was established within the British mandate of Palestine. Transjordan became an independent state in 1927, although the British mandate did not end until 1948. After hostilities with the new state of Israel ceased in 1949, Jordan annexed the West Bank of the Jordan River, administering the territory until Israel gained control of it in the Six-Day War of 1967. In 1970-71 Jordan was wracked by fighting between the government and guerrillas of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), a struggle that ended in the expulsion of the PLO from Jordan. In 1988 King Hussein renounced all Jordanian claims to the West Bank in favor of the PLO. In 1994 Jordan and Israel signed a full peace agreement.