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Jordan Travel Information
Travel Alert Status
Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution
Time Difference
UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
Travel Climate
Jordan's countryside offers a diversity of climate and scenery. Within easy driving distance of the capital city of Amman, one can visit Irbid's temperate highlands, Ajlun's majestic hills, the fertile Jordan Valley, the southern sandstone mountains, and the arid desert of the eastern plateau.
Inadequate rainfall is a chronic problem. Rainfall usually occurs only from November to April; the rest of the year has bright sunshine daily and low humidity. In the spring, a desert wind brings higher temperatures; daytime summer temperatures can be hot, but nights are usually pleasant, cool, and dry. Autumn is long and pleasant; winter can sometimes bring light snow to the mountains and to Amman; and spring carpets the country's grazing lands with beautiful wildflowers.
Travel Currency
Jordanian dinar (JOD)
Languages
Arabic (official), English widely understood among upper and middle classes
Ethnic Groups
Arab 98%, Circassian 1%, Armenian 1%
National Holiday
Independence Day, 25 May (1946)
Geographic Coordinates
31 00 N, 36 00 E
Location
Middle East, northwest of Saudi Arabia, between Israel (to the west) and Iraq