Present-day Jordan, inhabited by the Arab tribe of the Nabateans since the sixth century BC, is since 100 BC a Roman province. It is between 395 and 634 part of the East Roman Empire. In 633 the region is conquered by the Caliphate. The Arab rule is interupted between 1099 and 1187, when European christians establish the Kingdom of Jerusalem of which parts of the area are part. From 1187 the area is ruled by the rulers of Egypt.

This changes in 1517, when it is conquered by the Ottoman Empire. After the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, it is seized by the United Kingdom in 1917/1918. The League of Nations awards the territory now comprising Israel, Jordan, the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem as the mandate for Palestine and Transjordan to the United Kingdom. In 1922 Britain divides the mandate by establishing the semiautonomous Emirate of Transjordan (Sharqi al-Urdunn), ruled by the hashemite prince Abdullah, while continuing the administration of Palestine under a British High Commissioner. Transjordan gets its own non-partisan prime minister and on behalf of Britain a British resident is appointed. The mandate over Transjordan ends in 1946 and it becomes independent as the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan. Transjordan is an absolute monarchy.

Transjordan takes part in the warfare between the Arab states and the newly founded State of Israel. The armistice agreements of 1949 leave Jordan in control of the Westbank and provide that the armistice demarcation lines are without prejudice to future territorial settlements or boundary lines. In 1950 the country is renamed the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to include those portions of Palestine annexed by king Abdullah.

In 1952 Husayn ibn Talal becomes king and that year more or less democratic institutions are introduced. Since 1957 all parties are banned and the king rules as an absolute monarch. In 1958 Iraq and Jordan form the Arab Union. Jordan signs a mutual defense pact in 1967 with Egypt and it participates in the 1967 war between Israel and the Arab states of Syria, Egypt and Iraq. During this war Israel gains control of the West Bank and all of Jerusalem. The 1967 war leads to a dramatic increase in the number of Palestinians living in Jordan. Its Palestinian refugee population (700,000 in 1966) grows by another 300,000 from the West Bank. The period following the 1967 war sees an upsurge in the power and importance of Palestinian resistance elements (fedayeen) in Jordan. The heavily armed fedayeen constitute a growing threat to the sovereignty and security of the Hashemite state, and open fighting erupts in 1970. In 1988 Jordan abandons its claims to the West Bank but retains an administrative role pending a final settlement. During his rule Husayn survives a number of challenges to his rule, drawing on the loyalty of his military and serving as a symbol of unity and stability for both the East Bank and Palestinian communities in Jordan. In 1989 and 1993 Jordan holds free and fair parliamentary elections, but real power remains in the hands of the king. Political parties are legalized since 1992. Controversial changes in the election law leads Islamist parties to boycott the 1997 elections. King Abdullah II succeeds his father following the latter's death in 1999. Jordan's continuing structural economic difficulties, burgeoning population and more open political environment leads to the emergence of a variety of political parties. MIn 2001 parliament is dissolved by the king. Elections are held in 2003. The king dissolves the government in 2003, appointing a new prime minister. The cabinet declares its commitment to accelerated economic and political reforms.