OFICIAL NAME:             The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan POPULATION: 5,9 million CAPITAL:                        Amman MAIN CITIES:                Amman, Salt, Zarqa, Aqaba, Irbid OFICIAL LANGUAGE: Arabic, although English is used in commerce                                                 and by many Jordanians  Visas      Valid passport, visas may be obtained in advance from Jordanian Consulates and Embassies. Visas may also be issued on arrival in Jordan  Currency The Jordanian Dinar (JD) is divided into 1000 fils Notes: 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 dinars Coins: 25, 50, 100, 250, 500 fils Internationals calls In hotels, you pay obligatory the first three minutes even if you call lasts only for one minute.   Emergency Police                                                 -     191-192 Fire Department or civil protection     -     199 Ambulance and first aid                     -     193 Transportation The Queen Alia International Airport south of Amman is one of the most modern facilities in the Middle East. The RJ Airline links Amman with many of the capitals of Europe, South Asia and the Arab World. Good international roads link Jordan with surrounding countries. Most of the sites in Jordan a visitor would want to see are at most within a few hours drive from Amman. Local buses: maximum 30,- JD or 300 fils. Taxi: 160 fils to start. The maximum cost for a transfer between two points in Amman is 5,-JD.The normal cost for a transfer from the hotel to the down town varies between 1,- JD and 2,- JD, with the proviso of not taking the hotels taxies.      Shopping Jordanian handicrafts represent a tradition of skilled workmanship and art that dates back many thousands of years. The most common Jordanian craft items include Madaba rugs, carved olive wood, mother of pearl, cross stitch embroidery, Palestine pottery, Hebron glass, silver jewellery, carved stone animals, Bedouin jewelry and artifacts, sheepskin and leather goods and Aqaba’s coloured sand bottles. A walk through souk will bring you in touch with hundreds of small everyday items that you may wish to take home as a souvenir of your visit to Jordan.  Food & Drink Eating well is part of the Jordanian tradition, and there are many fine restaurants that offer a wide selection of authentic Arabic food at reasonable prices. Hotels offer a mixed menu of Arabic and continental cuisine. Dishes to try are the national dish mansaf, musukhan, maglouba and of course the basic shish kebab. Locally produced beer, wine and spirits are available throughout the country, as are imported drinks. The local drink that is popular with Arabic dishes is arak, an anise flavoured liquor that is mixed with water & ice.  Electricity 220 volts ac, 50 Hz Time Plus two Hours Greenwich Mean Time   Weather Winter                         from -1˚C to +16˚C                                 Spring                         from +11˚C to + 31˚C Summer                       from +20˚C to +45˚C     Autumn     from +13˚C to + 36˚C   Spring and autumn are long and pleasant throughout Jordan. Rain falls from November to March in the north, but in Aqaba on the Red sea is a warm and sunny winter resort.