Although a small country, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has played a significant role in the struggle for power in the Middle East, partly because of its strategic location at the crossroads of what Christians, Jews and Muslims call the Holy Land.

After World War I, the area east of the Jordan River, known as Transjordania, fell to the British. Their mandate ceased in 1946, at which point Transjordania attained full independence.

Jordanian history and politics since independence have been dominated by the Palestinian issue and relations with Israel. When war broke out in 1948 between the newly-declared state of Israel and the Palestinians, backed by the forces from neighbouring Arab countries, the Jordanian army occupied a 6000sq km area of Palestine bounded by the west bank of the River Jordan.

Until a major change in Jordanian policy in 1988, the West Bank comprised three of Jordan’s eight provinces, while over half of the Jordanian population claimed Palestinian origin. Jordan lost the West Bank after the Six-Day War of 1967, and gained thousands of Palestinian refugees.

Then in 1990, another of Jordan’s other neighbours, Iraq, became the cause of major problems for the Jordanians when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. The ensuing Gulf War of 1991 proved a political and economic disaster for Jordan. Traditionally friendly to both the US and Iraq and, economically reliant on both, Jordan lost out with both sides through its failure to give wholehearted support for the US-led coalition, and by accepting large numbers of Iraqi refugees.

The arrival of King Abdullah to the throne in 1999 meant that the long-awaited call for political, social and economic reform could be put in place.

Unlike many of its neighbours, Jordan does not have any oil and the economy depends largely on services and tourism. The country is dense with history. Above the layers of antiquity lies a land of mesmerising beauty and contrast. The fertile Jordan Valley and the remote and immense desert canyons are not to be missed. Here are splendid castles and hunting lodges, the haunting wilderness of Wadi Rum and restful spas. Here, too, are monuments from every age of humanity, crowned by the rock-carved city of Petra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Jordan also boasts another wonder of the Middle-Eastern world: the Dead Sea, 392m (1286ft) below sea level, and the lowest point on earth, where even the non-swimmer can float.