Stamps issued: 1946-PRESENT
A kingdom occupying the territory east of the Jordan River in western Asia. Under Turkish control from 1516 to 1918, the area was occupied from 1918 to 1946 by Great Britain. Abdullah, second son of King Hussein of Hejaz, became amir of the Trans-Jordan in 1921 and king when the area became independent in 1946. Jordan seized a large territory on the western bank of the Jordan River in 1948, but the area was occupied by Israel in 1967. By 1970, the growing power of Palestinian guerrillas in Jordan provoked a reaction by King Hussein and his Beduoin supporters. A bitter campaign ensued, and Palestinian strength in the country was broken by mid-1971. In 1990-91, King Hussein, long regarded as a moderate in the Arab world, was among the few in the region who did not oppose Iraq, following its invasion of Kuwait. In 1994, Jordan and Israel formally ended the state of war that had existed between them since 1948.
