Jordan
Officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan was founded in 1921 and was recognized by the League of Nations as a state under the British mandate in 1922 known as The Emirate of Transjordan.
In 1946, Jordan became an independent sovereign state officially known as the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
Over half of Jordan is covered by the Arabian Desert. Its capital city is Amman. Jordan’s only access to the sea is a narrow stretch of land at the Gulf of Aqaba with the town of Aqaba the only seaport.
Aqaba has been an inhabited settlement since 4,000 BC profiting from its strategic location at the junction of trading routes between Asia, Africa, and Europe.
In 1965, King Hussein wishing to give Aqaba room to grow he traded land with Saudi Arabia swapping 6,000 square kilometers of desert land in Jordan's interior with 12 kilometers of prime coastline to the south of Aqaba. The swap also gave the country access to the magnificent Yamanieh coral reef.
Best known today as a diving and beach resort, its industrial activity remains important to the area, and the town exports phosphate and some shells.
It is the largest city on the Gulf of Aqaba with the Israeli town of Eilat a stone’s throw across the water.
