Factbook
History of Jordan — Timeline
Key dates in the history of Jordan, from the Magna Factbook and the Universal Encyclopedia.
1921In 1921, Britain demarcated from Palestine a semi-autonomous region of Transjordan and recognized ABDALLAH I from the Hashemite family as the country's first leader.
1925The Hashemites also controlled the Hijaz, or the western coastal area of modern-day Saudi Arabia, until 1925, when IBN SAUD and Wahhabi tribes pushed them out.
1946Independence: 25 May 1946 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration).
1946The country gained its independence in 1946 and thereafter became the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
1948In 1948, Jordan took control of the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the first Arab-Israeli War, eventually annexing those territories in 1950 and granting its new Palestinian residents Jordanian citizenship.
19531953-99) successfully navigated competing pressures from the major powers (US, UK, and Soviet Union), various Arab states, Israel, and Palestinian militants, the latter of which led to a brief civil war in 1970 that is known as "Black September" and ended in King HUSSEIN ousting the militants.
1967After Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 War, it authorized the Jordanian-controlled Islamic Trust, or Waqf, to continue administering the Al Haram ash Sharif/Temple Mount holy compound, and the Jordan-Israel peace treaty reaffirmed Jordan's "special role" in administering the Muslim holy shrines in Jerusalem.
1967In 1967, Jordan lost the West Bank and East Jerusalem to Israel in the Six-Day War but retained administrative claims to the West Bank until 1988, when King HUSSEIN permanently relinquished Jordanian claims to the West Bank in favor of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
1994King HUSSEIN signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, after Israel and the PLO signed the Oslo Accords in 1993.
1999King HUSSEIN died in 1999 and was succeeded by his eldest son and current King ABDALLAH II.
2009In 2009, ABDALLAH II designated his son HUSSEIN as the Crown Prince.
2023During his reign, ABDALLAH II has contended with a series of challenges, including the Arab Spring influx of refugees from neighboring states, the COVID-19 pandemic, the effects of the war in Ukraine, a perennially weak economy, and the Israel-HAMAS conflict that began in October 2023.
2023Generation mix — fossil fuels: 76.9% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); solar: 15.3% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); wind: 7.7% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); hydroelectricity: 0.1% of total installed capacity (2023 est.) Energy use: 32.909 million Btu/person (2023 est.).
2023Industries: tourism, information technology, clothing, fertilizer, potash, phosphate mining, pharmaceuticals, petroleum refining, cement, inorganic chemicals, light manufacturing Agriculture: tomatoes, milk, chicken, potatoes, olives, cucumbers/gherkins, onions, chillies/peppers, peaches/nectarines, sheep milk (2023) Electricity access: 100% (2022 est.).
2023Languages: Arabic (official), English (widely understood among upper and middle classes) Religions: Muslim 97.1% (official; predominantly Sunni), Christian 2.1% (majority Greek Orthodox, but some Greek and Roman Catholics, Syrian Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, and Protestant denominations), Buddhist 0.4%, Hindu 0.1%, Jewish <0.1%, folk <0.1%, other <0.1%, unaffil Urban population: 92% of total population (2023).
2023Major urban areas: 2.232 million AMMAN (capital) (2023) upper-middle-income Middle Eastern economy; high debt and unemployment, especially for youth and women; global events triggering trade slump and decreased revenue from tourism; growing manufacturing and agricultural sectors; key US foreign assistance recipient; natural-resource-poor and import-reliant Inflation: 1.6% (2024 est.).
2024Military spending: 4.5% of GDP (2024 est.).
2025Population: 11.3 million (2025 estimate).
