JORDAN RIVER

Arabic Nahr Al-urdun, Hebrew Ha-yarden, lowest river in the world, flowing southward from Syria across Israel and then dividing Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank on the west from Jordan on the east. It rises on the southeastern slopes of Mount Hermon in Syria (other headstreams rise in Lebanon), flows through a deep trench flanked by high plateaus, andhaving crossed the Hula Valley, the Sea of Galilee, and plains farther southdrains into the Dead Sea at a depth of 1,312 feet (400 m) below sea level. The Jordan is more than 223 miles (360 km) in length, but because its course is meandering, the actual distance between its source and the Dead Sea is less than 124 miles (200 km). Since 1948 the Jordan River has marked the frontier between Israel to the west and Jordan to the east from a few miles south of the Sea of Galilee until the Yabis River flows into it from the left bank. Since 1967, however, when Israeli forces occupied the West Bank (i.e., the territory on the west bank of the river south of its confluence with the Yabis), the Jordan has served as the cease-fire line as far south as the Dead Sea. The river was called the Aulon by the Greeks and is sometimes called ash-Shari'ah (Watering Place) by the Arabs. Christians, Jews, and Muslims alike revere the Jordan; it was in its waters that Jesus was baptized by St. John the Baptist. The Jordan Valley is, in effect, a rift valley running north and south and forming part of the gigantic rift-valley system that extends from southern Turkey southward via the Red Sea and into East Africa. The valley itself is a long and narrow trough averaging about 6 miles (10 km) in width. Throughout its course the valley lies much lower than the surrounding landscape. The valley walls are steep, sheer, and bare, and they are broken only by the gorges of tributary wadis (seasonal watercourses). The Jordan River has three principal sources, all of which rise at the foot of Mount Hermon. The longest of these is the Hasbani, which rises in Lebanon, near Hasbayya, at a height of 1,800 feet (550 m). From the east, in Syria, flows the Baniyas River; between the two is the Dan, the waters of which are particularly fresh. Just inside Israel, these three rivers join together in the Hula Valley. The plain of the Hula Valley was formerly occupied by a lake and by marshes; in the 1950s, however, 15,000 acres (6,000 hectares) were drained to form agricultural land. At the southern end of the valley, the Jordan has cut a gorge through a basaltic barrier. The river then drops sharply down to the Sea of Galilee, itself 686 feet (209 m) below sea level. After crossing the lake, the Jordan receives its main tributary, the Yarmuk River, which marks part of the frontier between Syria and Jordan. It is then joined by two more tributaries, the Harod on the right bank and the Yabis on the left. The Jordan River's plain then spreads out to a width of about 15 miles (24 km) and becomes very regular; this is the Ghawr (Ghor) Plain. Its flat and arid terraces are cut here and there by wadis or rivers into rocky towers, pinnacles, and badlands, forming a maze of ravines and sharp crests that resemble a lunar landscape. The Jordan has cut a valley into the plain of between about 1,300 and 10,000 feet (400 and 3,000 m) in width and from between about 50 and 200 feet (15 and 60 m) in depth. Along this stretch, the Jordan's floodplain is known as the Zor; it describes so many meanders that, although it runs for 135 miles (217 km), the actual distance it covers between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea is only 65 miles (105 km). The Zor, which floods frequently, was formerly covered with thickets of reeds, tamarisk, willows, and white poplars, but since dams were built to control the river's flow, this land has been covered with irrigated fields. Finally, the Jordan drains into the Dead Sea through a vast, gently sloping delta. Although the bordering plateaus receive relatively abundant rainfall, the Jordan Valley itself is not well watered. The Hula Valley receives 22 inches (550 mm) a year, whereas only about 3 inches (75 mm) fall north of the Dead Sea. The Jordan is fed by rains falling on the neighbouring plateaus, the waters then flowing downward through rivers or wadis. The Jordan itself is shallow. Its high-water period lasts from January to March, while its low-water period occurs at the end of the summer and the beginning of autumn. The current is relatively swift, and the river transports a considerable load of silt. The rate of flow, however, diminishes downstream as a result of evaporation losses and the seeping away of water. The existence of thermal springs, notably in the Tiberiade region on the western side of the Sea of Galilee, as well as the frequency of gypsum, give the Jordan's waters a relatively high degree of salinity, thus creating problems when the water is used for irrigation. Where irrigation permits, the Jordan Valley has been settled by Arab and Jewish agricultural communities. Notable settled regions are the Hula Valley in the north; the string of agricultural communities south of the Sea of Galilee on the West Bank, including Deganyathe oldest kibbutz (collective agricultural settlement) in Israel, founded in 1909Afriqim, Ashdot Ya'aqov, and Hawwat Shemu'el; the area along the Ghawr Canal on the East Bank; and the area of the Wadi Fari'ah on the West Bank. Navigation is impossible because of the river's precipitous upper course, its seasonal flow, and its shallow, twisting lower course. The Jordan's waters are of especial importance for irrigation. For a long time the water was not used, except for several oases in the bordering foothillsfor example, at Jerichowhich used the waters of springs that fed the river. The Ghawr region was formerly barren, desolate, and uninhabited, but the Ghawr irrigation canal43 miles (69 km) longwas completed in 1967 on the East Bank and has permitted the cultivation of oranges, bananas, early vegetables, and sugar beets in the region. In Israel, apart from the draining of the Hula Valley and the construction of a canal from the Sea of Galilee to Bet She'an, a water-supply grid has been constructed that permits 11,300,000,000 cubic feet (320,000,000 cubic m) of the Jordan's waters to be pumped each year to the centre and south of Israel. The economy The Jordanian economy was resilient and growing before the 1967 war. The West Bank, prior to its occupation by Israel during the war, contributed about one-third of Jordan's total domestic income. Economic growth continued after 1967 at a slower pace but was revitalized by a series of state economic plans. Trade increased between Jordan and Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War (198090), because Iraq gained access to Jordan's port of Al-'Aqabah. Jordan initially supported Iraqi president Saddam Hussein when Iraq occupied Kuwait during the 199091 Persian Gulf War, but it eventually agreed to the United Nations' trade sanctions against Iraq, its principal trading partner, and thereby put its whole economy in jeopardy. External emergency aid helped Jordan weather the crisis, and the economy was boosted by the sudden influx of 200,000300,000 Palestinians expelled by Kuwait in 1991, many of whom brought in capital. Jordan has increasingly been plagued by recession, debt, and unemployment since the mid-1990s. In September 1997 a third and final agreement was signed to write off the country's debt of more than $1 billion to the United States. The World Bank followed suit and announced another large loan to revitalize Jordan's economy. The economy is primarily based on private enterprise. Mining and manufacturing combined provide the single largest portion of the gross domestic product (GDP), although services account for a larger share overall. Despite efforts by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to boost the private sector, the state remains the largest contributor to Jordan's GDP. The small size of the Jordanian market, the fluctuations in agricultural production because of irregular precipitation, the lack of capital, political instability in the region, and the presence of refugees all make it necessary for Jordan to continue seeking foreign aid. Remittances from Jordanians working abroad remain a major source of foreign exchange. Jordan has also lost much of its skilled labour to neighbouring countriesas many as 400,000 people left the kingdom in the early 1980salthough the problem has eased somewhat. This change is a result both of better employment opportunities within Jordan itself and of a curb on foreign labour by the neighbouring Persian Gulf states. About one-seventh of the male population is unemployed, while income per capita has increased. Although labour unions and employer organizations are legal, the trade-union movement is weak, but this is partly offset by the government, which has its own special procedures for settling labour disputes. Resources and industry Mineral resources include large deposits of phosphates, potash, limestone, and marble, as well as dolomite, kaolin, and salt. More recently discovered minerals include barite (the principal ore of the metallic element barium), quartzite, gypsum (used as a fertilizer), and feldspar, and there are unexploited deposits of copper, uranium, and shale oil. Manufacturing is concentrated around Amman. The extraction of phosphate, petroleum refining, and cement production are the country's major heavy industries. Articles of food, clothing, and a variety of other consumer goods also are produced. Virtually all electric power in Jordan is generated by thermal plants, most of which are oil-fired. The three major power stations, at Amman, Al-'Aqabah, and Az-Zarqa', are linked by a transmission system. By the end of the 20th century the government had nearly completed a program to link the major cities and towns by a countrywide grid. The land Relief and drainage Jordan has three major physiographic regions (from east to west): the desert, the uplands east of the Jordan River, and the Jordan Valley (the northwest portion of the great East African Rift System). The desert is mostly within the Syrian (or North Arabian) Desert and occupies the eastern and southern parts of the country, comprising more than four-fifths of its territory. The desert's northern part is composed of volcanic lava and basalt and its southern part of outcrops of sandstone and granite. The landscape is much eroded, primarily by wind. The uplands east of the Jordan River, an escarpment overlooking the rift valley, have an average elevation of 2,0003,000 feet (600900 metres), which rises to about 5,755 feet (1,754 metres) at Mount Ramm in the south, Jordan's highest point. Outcrops of sandstone, chalk, limestone, and flint extend to the extreme south, where igneous rocks predominate. In the northern uplands several valleys containing perennial streams run west; around Al-Karak they run west, east, and north; south of Al-Karak intermittent valley streams run east toward Al-Jafr Depression. The Jordan Valley drops to an average of 1,312 feet (400 metres) below sea level at the Dead Sea, the lowest point on the Earth's surface. The Jordan River, approximately 186 miles (300 km) in length, meanders south, draining the waters of the Sea of Galilee (Lake Tiberias, or the Hebrew name, Lake Kinneret), the Al-Yarmuk River, and the valley streams of both plateaus into the Dead Sea, occupying the central area of the valley. The soil of its lower reaches is highly saline, and the shores of the Dead Sea consist of salt marshes that do not support vegetation. To its south, Wadi al-'Arabah (also called Wadi al-Jayb), a completely desolate region, is thought to contain mineral resources. Climate Jordan's climate varies from Mediterranean in the west to desert in the east and south, but the land is generally arid. The proximity of the Mediterranean Sea is the major influence on climates, although continental air masses and elevation modify it. Average monthly temperatures at the capital in the north range between 46 and 78 F (8 and 26 C), while at Al-'Aqabah in the far south they range between 60 and 91 F (16 and 33 C). The prevailing winds throughout the country are westerly to southwesterly, but spells of hot, dry, dusty winds blowing from the southeast off the Arabian Peninsula frequently occur and bring the country its most uncomfortable weather. Known locally as the khamsin, these winds blow most often in the early and late summer and can last for several days at a time before terminating abruptly as the wind direction changes and much cooler air follows. Precipitation occurs in the short, cool winters, decreasing from 16 inches (400 mm) annually in the northwest near the Jordan River to less than 4 inches (100 mm) in the south. In the uplands east of the Jordan River the annual total is about 14 inches (355 mm). The valley itself has a yearly average of 8 inches (200 mm), and the desert regions receive one-fourth of that. Occasional snow and frost occur in the uplands but are rare in the rift valley. As the population increases, water shortages in the major towns are becoming one of Jordan's crucial problems. The people Ethnic and religious groups Nearly all the people are Arabic-speaking, and there are various dialects with local inflections and accents. In addition, there is a significant difference between the written, or classic, Arabic and the colloquial, spoken form. The Qaysi-Yemeni dichotomya pre-Islamic split that was introduced to the area during the Arab conquests and cut across religious and ecological lineswas once an important broad social division. The Arabs, whether Muslim or Christian, used to trace their ancestry from the northern Arabian Qaysi (Ma'di, Nizari, Adnani, or Isma'ili) tribes or from the southern Arabian Yemeni (Banu Kalb or Qahtani) groups. Only a few tribes and towns have continued to observe this division. The vast majority of the population (more than 95 percent) are Sunnite Muslims; Christians constitute most of the rest, of whom two-thirds adhere to the Rum, or Greek Orthodox church. Other Christian groups include the Greek Catholics, also called the Melchites, or Catholics of the Byzantine rite, who recognize the supremacy of the Roman pope; the Roman Catholic community, headed by a pope-appointed patriarch; and the small Syrian Orthodox, or Jacobite, church, whose members use Syriac in their liturgy. Most non-Arab Christians are Armenians, and the majority belong to the Gregorian, or Armenian, Orthodox church, while the rest attend the Armenian Catholic church. There are several Protestant denominations representing communities whose converts came almost entirely from other Christian sects. The Druze, an offshoot of the Isma'ili Shi'ite sect, number a few hundred and reside in and around Amman. About 1,000 Baha'iwho in the 19th century also split off from Shi'ite Islamlive in Al-'Adasiyah in the Jordan Valley. The Armenians, Druze, and Baha'i are at both religious and ethnic communities. The Shishan (Chechen) are a Circassian Shi'ite Muslim group, numbering about 1,000, who are descendants of 19th-century immigrants from the Caucasus Mountains. Along with the Cherkess (Circassians), who are Sunnite, the Shishan make up the most important non-Arab minority. Another small non-Arab group consists of some Turkmen. Demographic trends The population structure is predominantly young; persons under the age of 15 constitute the largest component of the population. The birth rate is high, and the country's population growth rate is about double the world average. Internal migration from rural to urban centres has added a burden to the economy; however, a large number of Jordanians live and work abroad. About half of Jordan's population are Palestinians. The influx of Palestinian refugees not only altered Jordan's demographic map but has also affected its political, social, and economic life. Jordan's population in the late 1940s was between 200,000 and 250,000. After the 194849 Arab-Israeli War and the annexation of the West Bank, Jordanian citizenship was granted to some 400,000 Palestinians, who were residents of and remained in the West Bank, and to about half a million refugees from the new Israeli state. Many of these refugees settled east of the Jordan River. Between 1949 and 1967 Palestinians continued to move east in large numbers. After the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, an estimated 310,000 to 350,000 Palestinians, mostly from the West Bank, sought refuge in Jordan; thereafter immigration from the West Bank continued at a lower rate. During the 199091 Persian Gulf War, some 300,000 additional Palestinians fled Kuwait (or were expelled) to Jordan. Most Palestinians are employed and hold full Jordanian citizenship. By the mid-1990s approximately 1.3 million Palestinians, representing about one-third of Jordan's population, were registered with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which provided education, medical care, relief assistance, and social services. About one-sixth of these refugees live in camps in Jordan.