a kingdom in SW Asia: coextensive with the biblical Moab, Gilead, and Edom; made a League of Nations mandate and emirate under British control in 1922 and became an independent kingdom in 1946; territories west of the River Jordan and the Jordanian part of Jerusalem (intended to be part of an autonomous Palestine) were occupied by Israel after the war of 1967. It contains part of the Great Rift Valley and consists mostly of desert. Official language: Arabic. Official religion: (Sunni) Muslim. Currency: dinar. Capital: Amman. Pop: 9 702 353 (2017 est). Area: 89 185 sq km (34 434 sq miles)

the chief and only perennial river of Israel and Jordan, rising in several headstreams in Syria and Lebanon, and flowing south through the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea: occupies the N end of the Great Rift Valley system and lies mostly below sealevel. Length: over 320 km (200 miles)

Michael (Jeffrey). born 1963, US basketball player

Neil. born 1950, Irish film director and writer; his films include The Company of Wolves (1984), Mona Lisa (1986), The Crying Game (1992), Michael Collins (1996), The End of the Affair (2000), and The Brave One (2007)