PRESENTATION OUTLINE
Land size is 35,637 square miles.
Countries that border:
Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Israel.
Population: 6.459 million.
Arabic is the official language, but most people can speak English.
Arabs have a love-hate relationship with America.
A person's honor is the most important thing to them. American culture, a lot of people want to be known as rich, athletic, smart, or popular; but there they want to be known as an honorable person. Even if you catch them lying,stealing or cheating, you can not accuse them of it. Their honor is dependent on their generosity and hospitality.
Capital: Amman.
Around 4 million people, it is one of the oldest cities and is the biggest city in Jordan.
The King of Jordan is King Abdullah II. He is easily the best ruler in the Middle East; he loves his people. His people are loyal to him and he has a good security system. He is a very kind and compassionate man. He often disguises himself as a taxi driver or a construction worker and talks to his people to find out ways he can make their lives better.
Islam is the official religion (more than 92%). There are very few Christians and they are not aloud to talk about their faith or at all. It is against the law for a Muslim to become a Christian, their family is aloud to kill them.
The call of prayer from the mosque sounds 5 times a day.
Ramadan is for 1 month out the year and you can not eat or drink all day, from sunrise till sunset. All restaurants all close during that month.
They gained independence from Britain on May 25, 1946.
Most tourists come to Jordan for Petra. This building was carved out of the wall.
Most people in Jordan don't have cars so taxis and buses(between every little village) are everywhere there and are very cheap.
There are a lot of beggars in Jordan, a lot more kids than adults. They wait by stoplights and wait till the light turns red, go from car to car and sell candy, newspaper, toys, anything.
In Jordan, you eat on the floor with a table cloth and eat with your hands. Men are in one room and women are in another; they don't eat together.
In every neighborhood, there are small corner stores(ducan) that sell basic food supplies and are very cheap.
Tents that Beduins live in there are made of goat hair.
Mafraq is the city I grew up in, the name means crossroads in Arabic. It is 10 minutes south of the Syrian border. It had a population of about 40,000, but because of the war in Syria, many refugees came to Mafraq. now the population is over 100,000.
Just 5 miles outside of Mafraq, the United Nations set up a refugee camp and there about 100,000 more refugees there. It is the biggest refugee camp in Jordan.
Jordan has always welcomed refugees. First Palestinians, then Iraqis, and Syrians. Jordan is not a rich country at all, it doesn't have oil like the other Arab countries.
There are tons of sheep, camels, horses, donkeys, cats and dogs there. In Michigan, there are deer crossing signs; in Jordan there are camel and sheep crossing signs. Often you will have to stop because there would be a huge herd of sheep crossing the road.
