Travel in Amman - Jordan - Culture - WorldTravelGate.net®-

Jordan is part of the eastern Mediterranean weather system and boasts one of the world's most pleasant climates. There are marked seasonal contrasts, however. Summers are dry and warm-to-hot and winters are wet and cool-to-cold, with occasional snowstorms. In the highlands there are often strong, cool breezes on summer nights and the low-lying areas enjoy pleasant, moderately cool winters.

Archaeological cave excavations north of Amman indicate that both conquering and indigenous people have populated Jordan for the last 100,000 years. Called Philadelphia during Graeco-Roman rule, it is one of the best-preserved Roman cities in the region with a number of ancient sites, such as an Odeon, a 6000-seater amphitheatre, a temple of Hercules and a Roman citadel. Thirty miles from Amman is the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth at 400 meters below sea level and believed to be the site of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. To the south, are the ruins of the 2000-year-old city of Petra, carved out of sandstone cliffs and used in the final sequence of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Further south are more historical sites including a 12th-century crusader castle and Wadi Rum, made famous by Lawrence of Arabia.

Jordanian food is similar to that of Lebanon, Syria, Greece and Turkey, although most restaurant menus include European as well as local dishes. Many starters (meze) are based on pulses and cracked wheat such as humus, fuul, falafel, kube and tabouleh. A main course speciality is mensaf, stewed lamb with yoghurt sauce served on a bed of rice and traditionally eaten with the fingers. Other typical dishes are musakhan, chicken roasted in olive oil and onions with Arab bread and 'Mahshi Waraq inab', vine leaves stuffed with minced meat, rice and spices. Bottled mineral water, beer, wine and soft drinks are widely available. There are no licensing laws, but during Ramadan smoking and drinking in public is forbidden between sunrise and sunset. Capital of jordan with 1,2 million inhabitants. Commercial, industrial and administrative centre of Jordan. Diverse industry, but phosphate extraction and petroleum refining is of the largest importance. Amman has an excellent infrastructure. Amman has grown quickly after World War II, much because of the influx of Palestinian refugees.