Jordan (Arabic: الأردنّ‎ al-ʾUrdunn), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Middle East. It shares control of theDead Sea with Israel and the Palestinan Authority. Jordan's only port is at its southern tip, at the Red Sea's Gulf of Aqaba, which it shares with Israel, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. Much of Jordan is covered by the Arabian Desert. However, the north-western part of Jordan is part of theAncient Fertile Crescent. The capital city is Amman.

During its history, Jordan has seen numerous civilizations, including such ancient eastern ones as the Canaanite and later other Semiticpeoples such as the Edomites, and the Moabites. Other civilizations possessing political sovereignty and influence in Jordan were:  Akkadian, Assyrian, Judean, Babylonian, and  Persian empires. Jordan was for a time part of  Pharaonic Egypt, the Hasmonean Dynasty of the Maccabees, and also spawned the native Nabatean civilization which left rich archaeological remains at Petra, one of the New Seven Wonders of the World located in the Ma'an Governorate. Cultures from the west also left their mark, such as the Macedonian, Roman, Byzantine, andOttoman Turkish empires. Since the seventh century the area has been under Muslim and Arab cultures, with the exception of a brief period when the west of the area formed part of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem and a short time under British rule.

Jordan is a modern Arab nation, its population is mostly Sunni Muslim with a small Christian minority. Jordanian society is predominantly urbanized. Jordan is classified as an emerging market with a free market economy by the CIA World Fact Book. Jordan has more Free Trade Agreements than any other country in the Arab World. Jordan is a pro-Western regime with very close relations with the United States . It became a major non-NATO ally in 1996, and is one of only two Arab nations, the other being Egypt, that have diplomatic relations withIsrael.  It is a founding member of the Arab League,^[12] the WTO, the AFESD, the Arab Parliament,  the  AIDMO, the  AMF,  the  IMF, the International Criminal Court, the UNHRC, the GAFTA, the ESCWA, the ENP and the United Nations. Jordan is also currently undergoing close integration with the European Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council. Jordan expects to receive "advanced status" with the EU by 2011.