A territory under mandate to Great Britain, Trans-Jordan is situated in Asia Minor on the Dead Sea, bounded by Palestine, Syria, Iraq, and the Arabian Desert. Its area is 34,740 sq. mi. and had a population in 1938 of approximately 300,000 chiefly Arab Moslems; 170,000 are partly or completely nomadic. The capital of the Territory is Amman.
Its principal products are agricultural, chiefly tobacco, and livestock. Potash is found in the Dead Sea, and phosphate deposits have been developed. A metalled road connects Amman with Jerusalem, and there is a railroad from Deraa to Kalaat Muda-wara which passes through the Mandate. In all, there were in 1938, 2,000 kilometers of road suitable for motor traffic. At Amman, there is an airdrome with a Royal Air Force detachment, and the country is policed by the Transjordan Frontier Force, commanded largely by British officers. A total of 172 schools, 70 of them administered by the government, are open to children, and the enrollment in 1938 numbered 12,934 students.
The Territory is governed by a British Resident (A. S. Kirkbride, appointed Feb. 16, 1939), subordinate to and the agent of the High Commissioner for Palestine. The governmental revenues for 1938 amounted to £P459,150 including a grant-in-aid from the Imperial Government of £P19,000. The expenditures were £P462,710 (£P equaled the pound sterling). See ARABIA; PALESTINE.
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