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Jordan

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Last reviewed: 05 October 2009

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History

Transjordan was traditionally a sparsely populated, largely Bedouin country. It was ruled from its creation in 1921 by the Amir Abdullah, the second son of Sharif Hussein of Mecca, who started the Arab revolt against the Turks in the First World War (all members of the Hashemite family are entitled to style themselves ‘Sharif' as descendants of Hussein, son of the Fourth Caliph, Ali, and Ali's wife Fatimah, daughter of the Prophet Mohammed). In 1946, the British Mandate over the Amirate of Transjordan ended, Jordan became independent and the Amir became King.

At the end of the British Mandate in Palestine in 1948, the army of Transjordan (the Arab Legion) entered Palestine with other Arab forces. The war ended with the fertile coastal plain in Israeli hands and much of Eastern Palestine (the West Bank) held by the Arabs. The city of Jerusalem was divided; the Old City, containing almost all the holy places, was left in Jordanian hands. Jordan formally claimed the West Bank in 1950. Only Britain and Pakistan supported the claim and formally recognised Jordanian sovereignty over the area. King Abdullah united the West Bank and Transjordan, giving the areas equal representation in the Jordanian Parliament, to create the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Following the assassination of Abdullah, the first King of Jordan, in 1951, his eldest son Talal ruled for less than a year before he was deposed (owing to illness) in favour of his eldest son, King Hussein, who succeeded to the throne in 1952.

During the war of June 1967 Israel occupied the whole West Bank and East Jerusalem. Israeli law was extended to cover East Jerusalem in the same year and the whole city was proclaimed the capital of Israel by a 'Basic Law' in 1980. The West Bank and Gaza were not annexed, but administered by a military government. In 1988 Jordan announced its 'disengagement' from the Occupied Territories, handing over responsibility for the areas, and for speaking on behalf of the Arab inhabitants, to the PLO. But Jordan did not formally renounce sovereignty over the West Bank and East Jerusalem until shortly before King Hussein’s death in 1999. Hussein was succeeded by his eldest son, King Abdullah II.

BBC News Country Timeline: Jordan

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Contacts

Jordan

Address:

Embassy of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
6 Upper Phillimore Gardens
London W8 7HA

Defence Attaché's Office:
16 Upper Phillimore Gardens
London W8 7HB

Telephone:

(020) 7937 3685
(020) 7937 9611 Defence Attaché's Office
(020) 7937 9499 Jordan Information Bureau
(090) 6550 8968 Visa Information Service

Fax:

(020) 7937 8795
(020) 7937 7505 Defence Attaché's Office
(020) 7937 6741 Jordan Information Bureau

Email: info@jordanembassyuk.org

Office hours:

Mon–Fri: 0900–1500

Defence Attaché's Office: Mon–Thurs: 0900–1500 / Fri: 0900-1200
Visa Information Service: Mon-Fri: 1000-1300
Jordan Information Bureau: Mon-Thurs: 0900-1500 / Fri: 0900-1300

Website: www.jordanembassyuk.org