100 free Jordan trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Jordan packs a rose-red city carved by the Nabataeans, the lowest point on dry land, a desert that has doubled for Mars and Arabia on film, the reputed baptism site of Jesus and the mountain where Moses saw the Promised Land into a country not much bigger than Portugal. It has also been ruled by one family since 1921 and has taken in more refugees per head than almost anyone. This Jordan trivia quiz covers all of it. Fifty-one questions run from geography (Amman, Aqaba, the Dead Sea, Wadi Rum, Jabal Umm al Dami) through ancient history (Ammon, the Nabataeans, Petra, Trajan, the Decapolis, Jerash) and the Islamic and Crusader centuries (Yarmuk, Karak, Ajloun) to the modern kingdom (the Arab Revolt, Transjordan, Abdullah I, Hussein, 1967, Black September, the 1994 treaty, Abdullah II) and culture and sport (the flag, the dinar, mansaf, taekwondo gold, the Asian Cup final). Roughly a third are easy, a third medium, and the rest are for people who really know the Levant. Every answer has been checked against encyclopaedia and official pages, so the dates, numbers and names are ones you can rely on.
30 of 100 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What is the capital and largest city of Jordan?
Amman
With around five million people it is the largest city in the Levant and the seventh-largest in the Arab world.
Q 02What is Jordan's ruling royal house, descended from the Sharif of Mecca, called?
Hashemite
The Hashemites, descendants of the Prophet Muhammad through Sharif Hussein of Mecca, have ruled since 1921.
Q 03Which ancient rock-cut city, capital of the Nabataeans, is Jordan's most famous attraction?
Petra
Its inhabitants called it Raqmu; the pink sandstone earned it the nickname "Rose City", and it is one of the New 7 Wonders of the World.
Q 04Which Swiss traveller rediscovered the Nabataean rock-cut city for the Western world in 1812?
Johann Ludwig Burckhardt
He spoke fluent Arabic and was on his way to explore the Niger when he heard tales of a dead city holding the tomb of Aaron.
Q 05Al-Khazneh, "the Treasury", is believed to be the mausoleum of which Nabataean king?
Aretas IV
The elaborate first-century AD facade is 24 m wide and 37 m tall and echoes the architecture of Alexandria.
Q 06In which year did Emperor Trajan annex the Nabataean kingdom for Rome?
106 AD
He rebuilt the ancient King's Highway, which became known as the Via Traiana Nova.
Q 07The Greek cities of Transjordan, such as Gerasa and Pella, formed which ten-city league under Rome?
The Decapolis
Pella and Arbila (Irbid) were members too, and Emperor Hadrian visited Gerasa on his way to Palestine.
Q 08Which Jordanian city, ancient Gerasa, is nicknamed the "Pompeii of the Middle East"?
Jerash
It is one of the best-preserved Roman cities in the East and hosts an annual music festival.
Q 09What was Jordan's capital called after the Greeks conquered it in the 3rd century BC?
Philadelphia
The Rashidun conquerors restored the original name in the 7th century; in the Iron Age it had been Rabbath Ammon.
Q 10Rabat Aman, on the site of today's capital, was the capital of which Iron Age kingdom?
Ammon
Moab lay in the highlands east of the Dead Sea and Edom around Wadi Araba in the south.
Q 11The 'Ain Ghazal site in eastern Amman is home to what record-holding artefacts?
The world's oldest human statues
The Neolithic limestone figures are now displayed in the Jordan Museum alongside some of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Q 12At which 636 battle just north of Transjordan did the Muslims decisively defeat the Byzantines?
Yarmuk
Seven years earlier the Byzantines and their Ghassanid allies had held off a Muslim force at Mu'tah in today's Karak governorate.
Q 13Al-Karak and Montreal castles were built in Transjordan by which power?
The Crusaders
They formed part of the Lordship of Oultrejordain; Saladin's victory at Hattin in 1187 ended Crusader rule.
Q 21Jordan and which neighbouring kingdom, ruled by a royal cousin, formed the 1958 Arab Federation?
Iraq
The union answered Nasser's United Arab Republic and lasted six months, until the Iraqi king was killed in a coup.
Q 22In which war did Jordan lose control of the West Bank to Israel?
Six-Day War of 1967
Jordan had annexed the West Bank in 1950 and formally renounced its claim to the Palestinians in 1988.
Q 23After Black September in 1970, Palestinian fighters were expelled from Jordan to which country?
Lebanon
Support for the fedayeen had surged after the 1968 Battle of Karameh, when Jordanian troops and the PLO repelled an Israeli attack.
Q 14Ajloun Castle was built by which dynasty as an outpost against the Frankish invaders from Europe?
The Ayyubids
Founded by Saladin, the dynasty ruled from 1187 to 1260, when the Mamluks took over.
Q 15Fleeing Russian persecution, which Muslim people first settled the long-abandoned site of Amman in 1867?
Circassians
Together with Chechens they still hold three reserved seats in the House of Representatives.
Q 16The Hejaz Railway, completed across Transjordan in 1908, linked Damascus with which holy city?
Medina
The line turned the region into a stopover for pilgrims and was later attacked repeatedly during the Arab Revolt.
Q 17On what date in 1921 was the Emirate of Transjordan established under its first emir?
11 April
The British had reluctantly accepted him after a six-month trial; the League of Nations recognised the state in September 1922.
Q 18In which year did Jordan gain independence from Britain and become a kingdom?
1946
The Treaty of London was signed on 22 March and the kingdom proclaimed on 25 May, though English usage kept "Transjordan" until 1949.
Q 19Jordan's first king was assassinated in 1951 at which holy site in Jerusalem?
Al-Aqsa Mosque
Rumours that he planned a peace treaty with Israel were behind the killing; his son Talal wrote the modern constitution in 1952.
Q 20Which king ruled Jordan for nearly 50 years until his death in 1999?
Hussein
He came to the throne at 17 after his father abdicated through illness and Arabised the army command in 1956.
Q 24In which year did Jordan sign its peace treaty with Israel?
1994
It was signed on 26 October after talks agreed at the 1991 Madrid Conference.
Q 25Who became King of Jordan on 7 February 1999?
Abdullah II
His economic liberalisation fed a boom that lasted until 2008 and laid the foundations for Aqaba's free-trade zone.
Q 26The 2005 hotel bombings in Amman that killed 60 people were carried out by al-Qaeda under which leader?
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
Three hotel lobbies were hit on 9 November; extremists resent Jordan's treaty with Israel and its largely secular laws.
Q 27Jordan's only coastline, 26 km long, lies on which body of water?
The Red Sea
The shore is on the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Port of Aqaba is the country's only port.
Q 28What is the lowest point in Jordan, and the lowest land point on Earth?
The Dead Sea
Its shore sits more than 400 m below sea level, and it is the deepest hypersaline lake in the world.
Q 29What is Jordan's highest point, at 1,854 m?
Jabal Umm al Dami
It stands in the far south near the Saudi border; most of the east of the country is arid desert.
Q 30Which desert valley in southern Jordan provided locations for both Lawrence of Arabia and The Martian?
Wadi Rum
David Lean's 1962 epic kick-started the country's tourism industry, and the valley has been a UNESCO site since 2011.