Jordan is famous in the Middle East for two things - Petra and its stability. Slap-bang in the middle of the region’s danger zone, it’s a miracle that the Hashemite Kingdom has managed to maintain its balance - it has a functioning parliament (inshallah mentality and kalashinkov wielding MPs aside), a respected King (for the most part), political participation and a thriving expat community that hasn’t been driven out of the Arab world by conflict. In fact, if you go to certain parts of Amman, you’ll hear more foreign voices than Arab ones.
Jordan may not be as resource-rich as the rest of the region - it doesn’t have the oil, water supplies or natural gas reserves of its neighbours - but it is still getting by.
Jordan might be “the boring one” in its Middle Eastern friendship group, but that doesn’t mean it is devoid of its fair share of troubles. Thanks to conflicts raging in Syria and the ongoing turmoil in Iraq - not to mention the time-old Palestinian struggle - a massive chunk of Jordan’s population is made up of non-Jordanians. Considering it shares shores with Egypt, the Middle East’s most populous country of 80 million, Jordan is a drop in the desert with a teeny-weeny population. There are only around seven million people living in the Kingdom and at least three million of those are Palestinian - though estimates vary - who have fled to the East Jordan banks largely due to the Israeli occupation.
Despite the problems it has due to a growing refugee population - and a fairly reluctant host community - Jordan is one of the most diverse and vibrant Middle Eastern states. And it has no war going on! Hurrah!
If you’re a Hashemite naysayer, hold your tongue and let Al Bawaba take you through the 10 reasons why Jordan is the place to be in the Middle East. Long live the King!
Ruling family: Not all kings can say they're direct descendants of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) - unless they're part of JO's Hashemite family. They've been popular since they were installed by the Brits in 1921 and you can’t walk down the street without seeing pictures of King Abdullah, his glam wife or dad Hussein plastered on shop windows.
