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Amman

Capital of JordanAmman spreads across the hills of the East Bank Plateau in north-western Jordan, between about 700 and 1,100 m above sea level. Three large valleys, called wadis, run through the city.

Why it's the capital

Amman was resettled in 1878 by several hundred Circassians from the North Caucasus, and the Hejaz Railway later helped turn the small village into a trading hub. In 1921 Emir Abdullah I made it the capital of the new Emirate of Transjordan.

Fun facts

  1. In ancient times the Ammonites called the city Rabat Amman, and the word Rabat meant 'capital'.
  2. Ptolemy II renamed the city Philadelphia, and under the Romans it was rebuilt with a large theatre and a temple to Hercules.
  3. At Ain Ghazal, on the outskirts of Amman, archaeologists dug up statues thought to be the oldest large-scale human statues ever found.

Finding it on the globe

Find the Dead Sea: Amman is a short way north-east of its northern end, up on the high ground east of the Jordan Valley.

Sources: Wikipedia: Amman