Early Arab chronicles referred to the river as Al-Urdunn, corresponding to the Hebrew Yarden. The Hebrew Bible (the founding holy text of Judaism, also referred to by Christians as the Old Testament) refers to the area as Hebrew: עבר הירדן, romanized: Ever ha'Yarden, lit.'The other side of the Jordan'. Much of the area that makes up modern Jordan was historically called Transjordan, meaning "across the Jordan", used to denote the lands east of the river. While several theories for the origin of the river's name have been proposed, it is most plausible that it derives from the Hebrew word Yarad ( Hebrew: ירד), meaning "the descender", reflecting the river's declivity. Jordan takes its name from the Jordan River, which forms much of the country's northwestern border. Nonetheless, a lack of natural resources, large flow of refugees, and regional turmoil have hampered economic growth.
The country is a major tourist destination, also attracting medical tourism due to its well developed health sector. The Jordanian economy, one of the smallest economies in the region, is attractive to foreign investors based upon a skilled workforce. Jordan has a high Human Development Index, ranking 102nd, and is considered an upper middle income economy.
While Jordan continues to accept refugees, the recent large influx from Syria placed substantial strain on national resources and infrastructure. The kingdom is also a refuge to thousands of Christian Iraqis fleeing persecution by the Islamic State. An estimated 2.1 million Palestinian and 1.4 million Syrian refugees are present in Jordan as of a 2015 census. From as early as 1948, Jordan has accepted refugees from multiple neighboring countries in conflict. It has been mostly unscathed by the violence that swept the region following the Arab Spring in 2010. Jordan has been repeatedly referred to as an "oasis of stability" in the turbulent region of the Middle East. The dominant majority, or around 95% of the country's population, is Sunni Muslim, with a mostly Arab Christian minority. Jordan is a semi-arid country, covering an area of 89,342 km 2 (34,495 sq mi), with a population of 10 million, making it the eleventh-most populous Arab country. The sovereign state is a constitutional monarchy, but the king holds wide executive and legislative powers. Jordan is a founding member of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation. Jordan renounced its claim to the territory in 1988, and became the second Arab state to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1994. In 1946, Jordan became an independent state officially known as the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan, but it was renamed in 1949 to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan after the country captured the West Bank during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and annexed it until it was lost to Israel in 1967. The Emirate of Transjordan was established in 1921 by the Hashemite, then Emir, Abdullah I, and the emirate became a British protectorate. After the Great Arab Revolt against the Ottomans in 1916 during World War I, the Ottoman Empire was partitioned by Britain and France. Later rulers include the Assyrian Empire, Babylonian Empire, Nabataean Kingdom, the Persian Empire, the Roman Empire, including the latter Byzantine Empire, the Rashidun, Umayyad, and Abassid caliphates, and the Ottoman Empire. Three stable kingdoms emerged there at the end of the Bronze Age: Ammon, Moab and Edom. Modern-day Jordan has been inhabited by humans since the Paleolithic period. Amman is Jordan's capital and largest city, as well as its economic, political, and cultural centre. The Gulf of Aqaba separates Jordan from Egypt. It has a 26 km (16 mi) coastline on the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea to the southwest. Jordan is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south and east, Iraq to the northeast, Syria to the north, and the Palestinian West Bank, Israel, and the Dead Sea to the west. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan River. Al-ʾUrdunn ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in Western Asia.
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