Manchester

In addition, the British Council maintains a headquarters building in the city centre.
. Manchester and its conurbation are home to a number of foreign consulates and commissions:. About 2.6 million persons registered as Palestinian refugees and displaced persons reside in Jordan, most as citizens. Manchester used to have its own police service until 1974 when its force and the lower divisions of Lancashire Constabulary merged to from Greater Manchester Police. Most people live where the rainfall supports agriculture. Manchester’s railways are policed by the nationwide British Transport Police. About 70% of Jordan's population is urban; less than 6% of the rural population is nomadic or semi-nomadic.

Manchester and its metropolitan conurbation are policed by Greater Manchester Police who are based at Manchester’s Chester House Police Station. The official language is Arabic, but English is used widely in commerce and government. See Manchester City Council. Jordanians are Semitic Levantines , except for a few small communities of Chechens, Circassians, Assyrians, Armenians, and Kurds which have adapted to Arabic culture. The City of Manchester is divided into 32 wards. Following the Sharm-al-Sheik Summit in Egypt on 8 February 2005, both countries announced plans to return ambassadors to the country. The centre of Salford is adjacent to the centre of Manchester, with only the River Irwell separating the two by 20 metres. Following the intifadah, though, Jordan along with Egypt withdrew its ambassadors from Israel.

Places like Trafford and Salford can be considered part of the Manchester urban area in a way that Wigan or Bolton are not. Since the outbreak of the Intifadah in September 2000, Jordan has worked hard, in a variety of fora, to maintain lines of communication between the Israelis and the Palestinians to counsel moderation and to return the parties to negotiations of outstanding permanent status issues. Towns in the Greater Manchester urban area include Sale, Altrincham, Cheadle, Stockport, Ashton-under-Lyne, Oldham, Bury, Rochdale, Glossop, Stockport, Middleton and Stretford. Jordan also is a member of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Nonaligned Movement (NAM), and Arab League. The metropolitan county of Greater Manchester is made up of 10 metropolitan boroughs:. Jordan belongs to the UN and several of its specialized and related agencies, including the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Meteorological Organization (IMO), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and World Health Organization (WHO). Georges Cathedral was built over a period of 600 years and is built in the Gothic Style. Jordan also participates in the multilateral peace talks.

The cathedral often known as St. has participated with Jordan and Israel in trilateral development discussions in which key issues have been water-sharing and security; cooperation on Jordan Rift Valley development; infrastructure projects; and trade, finance, and banking issues. Manchester has also has in own Anglican Cathedral. The U.S. Manchester has the largest Jewish community outside of the capital and there is a large Muslim population. Jordan and Israel signed a historic peace treaty on 26 October 1994, witnessed by President Bill Clinton, accompanied by Secretary Warren Christopher. Manchester is in the Central North Division of the Salvation Army. Jordan signed a nonbelligerency agreement with Israel (the Washington Declaration) in Washington, DC, on 25 July 1994.

Manchester lies within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford . The Government of Jordan signed a memorandum of understanding with the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq to facilitate the training of up to 30,000 Iraqi police cadets at a Jordanian facility. The Anglican Diocese of Manchester was established in 1847. Following the fall of the Iraqi regime, Jordan has played a pivotal role in supporting the restoration of stability and security to Iraq. Other buildings include a 150 metre tall office building, a new justice centre and new crown court. Relations between Jordan and the Gulf countries improved substantially after King Hussein's death. The project is being spear-headed by Sir Norman Foster. Following the Gulf war, Jordan largely restored its relations with Western countries through its participation in the Middle East peace process and enforcement of UN sanctions against Iraq.

The first building to be produced was the RBS's new headquarters on Deansgate. Although the Government of Jordan stated its opposition to the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, popular support for Iraq was driven by Jordan's Palestinian community, which favored Saddam as a champion against Western supporters of Israel. The new area will be home to several headquarters, squares and cafes. These relations were damaged by Jordan's neutrality and maintaining relations with Iraq during the first Gulf War. Spinningfields is a new development in Manchester of a new piece of land being converted into Manchester's business centre of Deansgate. Jordan has consistently followed a pro-Western foreign policy and traditionally has had close relations with the United States and the United Kingdom. Other notable places in Manchester include:. Without calm in the region, economic growth seems destined to stay below its potential.

To the south of the city centre, Wilmslow Road is the hub of much student life and is home to Manchester’s curry mile. While pursuing economic reform and increased trade, Jordan's economy will continue to be vulnerable to external shocks and regional unrest. Two large squares, Albert Square, in front of Manchester Town Hall, and Piccadilly Gardens, the original site of the Manchester Royal Infirmary, are public plazas that hold many of Manchester’s public monuments. dollar since 1995. Canal Street, is the centre of Manchester's Gay Village and home to may pubs and bars. Rates of price inflation are low, at 2.3% in 2003, and the currency has been stable with an exchange rate fixed to the U.S. In the city centre Deansgate has many shops, including the department store House of Fraser (formerly Kendals), along with pubs and bars, while King Street is an affluent shopping area with many original notable buildings preserved in a conservation area. One of the most important factors in the government’s efforts to improve the well-being of its citizens is the macroeconomic stability that has been achieved since the 1990s.

Manchester has a number of busy squares, plazas and shopping streets. Jordan's population growth rate is high, but has declined in recent years, to approximately 2.8% currently. A monument to Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln Square marks the cotton famine of 1861 - 1865. Education and literacy rates and measures of social well-being are relatively high compared to other countries with similar incomes. The success of the 2002 Commonwealth Games is commemorated by B of the Bang, Britain’s tallest sculpture, located near the City of Manchester Stadium. Jordan is classified by the World Bank as a "lower middle income country." The per capita GDP was approximately $1,817 (€1,479) for 2003 and 14.5% of the economically active population, on average, was unemployed in 2003. Queen Victoria is also remembered by Edward Onslow Ford’s Queen Victoria statue in Piccadilly Gardens. More information on the FTA is available on [1].

The Alan Turing Memorial situated in Sackville Park close to Canal street remembers the father of modern computing and the Albert Memorial, Albert Square, by Thomas Worthington is in memory of Queen Victoria’s consort. Jordan has been a member of the World Trade Organization since 2000. Within Manchester there are monuments to several people and events that have helped to shape the city and influence the wider community. In 1996, Jordan and the United States signed a civil aviation agreement that provides for "open skies" between the two countries, and a U.S.-Jordan treaty for the protection and encouragement of bilateral investment entered into force in 2003. Another skyscraper, even taller than the Beetham Hilton tower, has been approved and will be built near Manchester Piccadilly station. The agreement also provides for more open markets in communications, construction, finance, health, transportation, and services, as well as strict application of international standards for the protection of intellectual property. As of 2005, the tallest building in Manchester is the CIS Tower. The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States that went into effect in December 2001 will phase out duties on nearly all goods and services by 2010.

The tallest skyscraper ^[7] in the United Kingdom outside London is currently under construction in Manchester: the 47 storey, 561 ft (~171 m) tall Beetham Hilton tower, on Deansgate is due for completion in late 2006. The low tax and low regulation Aqaba Special Economic Zone (ASEZ) is considered a model of a government-provided framework for private sector-led economic growth. Structures of interest in Manchester include:. The government has emphasized the information technology (IT) and tourism sectors as other promising growth sectors. Many warehouses have now been converted for other uses but the external appearance remains mostly unchanged so the city maintains much of its original character. Similar growth in exports to the United States under the bilateral Free Trade Agreement that went into effect in December 2001, to the European Union under the bilateral Association Agreement, and to countries in the region, holds considerable promise for diversifying Jordan's economy away from its traditional reliance on exports of phosphates and potash, overseas remittances, and foreign aid. Much of the architecture in the city harks back to its former days as a global centre for the cotton trade. in 1997, when two-way trade was €321 million ($395 million); it exported €538 million ($661 million) in 2002 with two-way trade at €855 million ($1.05 billion).

Manchester has a wide variety of buildings mainly from Victorian architecture through to modern. Jordan exported €5.6 million ($6.9 million) in goods to the U.S. The scene set in Coronation Street of real northern life with a traditional English pub can also be found in the region. Since 2000, exports of light manufactured products, principally textiles and garments manufactured in the Qualifying Industrial Zones (QIZ) that enter the United States tariff and quota free, have been driving economic growth. Although ‘The Cream of Manchester’, Boddingtons, only the cask ales are brewed in the city, there are still many international, local and independent breweries operating in the Greater Manchester area. The government plans to extend this pipeline north to the Amman area and beyond. Manchester is also famous for its beer. In addition, a natural gas pipeline from Egypt to the southern port city of Aqaba was completed in 2003.

Other, independent restaurants, bars and clubs can be found in the Northern Quarter area of the city centre. Since early 2003, oil has been provided by some Gulf Cooperation Council member countries. The coffee chain Starbucks has 12 outlets in a 2 mile radius. During the 1990s, its crude petroleum needs were met through imports from Iraq and neighboring countries. There is a Hard Rock Cafe, chain restaurants such as Wagamama and bars that include Waxy O’Connors and The Living Room. Jordan also depends on external sources for the majority of its energy requirements. The traditional pie capital of the UK is supposedly at the heart of Wigan, 15 miles outside the city. The country is currently exploring ways to expand its limited water supply and use its existing water resources more efficiently, including through regional cooperation.

Regional favourites include the Eccles cake. Jordan is a small country with limited natural resources. There are now many top class restaurants. However, the western part of the country receives greater precipitation during the rainy season from November to April. Manchester has a vibrant and exciting range of restaurants, bars and clubs, spanning the famous curry mile in Rusholme to traditional ‘grub’, China Town[6], modern bars and bistros at Deansgate Lock in the city centre. The climate in Jordan is dry and hot, since the country is mainly desert. Affleck’s is located on Oldham Street, in the Northern Quarter, along with a range of independent music, clothing and other shops. Major cities include the capital Amman in the northwest, Irbid and Az Zarqa, both in the north.

Affleck’s Palace is a building providing low-cost stalls for independent traders and creatives. Jordan is considered to be part of the "cradle of humanity". There is also a range of designer clothing stores, with the Triangle centre housing several. The highest point in the country is Jabal Ram, while the lowest is the Dead Sea. There is a large John Lewis department store situated eight miles to the south of the city centre at Cheadle and from November 2005, at the Trafford Centre. The Great Rift Valley of the Jordan River separates Jordan and Israel. The city also contains two Selfridges, a Harvey Nichols, and the UK’s flagship Marks and Spencer store. Jordan consists mostly of arid desert plateau in the east, with Highland area in the west.

Other shopping centres include the Triangle (formerly known as the Corn Exchange Building) which caters for a more youthful and upmarket clientele and the Royal Exhange Centre. The Gulf of Aqaba and the Dead Sea also touch the country, and thus Jordan has a coastline of 26 km. There are two large shopping centres; the Arndale Centre in the middle of the city and the out-of-town Trafford Centre which includes food hall, multi-screen cinema and Namco games centre. All these border lines add up to 1619 km. Manchester is one of the main retail centres of the North. Jordan is a Middle Eastern country, bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the northeast, Saudi Arabia to the east and south and Israel and West Bank to the west. This network is what prevents Manchester from having an underground rail system. They are the sole authorities for all government departments and development projects in their respective areas.

Manchester also had Britain's first sewer network, which still exists today. Administratively, Jordan is divided into 12 governorates, each headed by a governor appointed by the king. In the past, the city also had a ‘pressurised water’ power supply system, a predecessor of the modern electricity network. While King Abdullah remains the ultimate authority in Jordan, the parliament plays an important role. In some cases these lakes form long chains, as in Longdendale. Moving toward greater independence, Jordan's parliament has investigated corruption charges against several regime figures and has become the major forum in which differing political views, including those of political Islamists, are expressed. The Manchester area is supplied with water by numerous artificial lakes, built on the former small rivers around the city. Jordan's continuing structural economic difficulties, burgeoning population, and more open political environment led to the emergence of a variety of political parties.

Today, most of these canals are used for recreation. Abdullah, during the first year in power, refocused the government's agenda on economic reform. One legacy of the industrial revolution is an extensive network of canals: the Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal, Rochdale Canal, Manchester Ship Canal, which provides access to the sea, Bridgewater Canal, Ashton Canal, and the Leigh Branch of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal. Abdullah moved quickly to reaffirm Jordan's peace treaty with Israel and its relations with the United States. The old station was notorious for crime and prostitution. King Abdullah II succeeded his father Hussein following the latter's death in February 1999. This smart, modern station opened in March 2002 and replaced the old Chorlton Street coach station (on exactly the same site). Controversial changes in the election law led Islamist parties to boycott the 1997 elections.

Long distance coaches - operated mainly by National Express - serve the Manchester Central Coach Station at Chorlton Street. In 1989 and 1993, Jordan held free and fair parliamentary elections. When Shudehill interchange is open, the temporary terminus at Exchange ( the old Victoria bus station, on the Salford side of the river) will close. King Hussein ended martial law in 1991 and legalized political parties in 1992. This will be joined by the Shudehill Bus/Metrolink Interchange - serving routes mainly on the north side of the city - which is due to open at the end of January, 2006. King Hussein ruled Jordan from 1953 to 1999, surviving 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. Manchester's principal bus station for local services is at Piccadilly Gardens, which is also served by Metrolink. They are the sole authorities for all government departments and development projects in their respective areas.

High frequency bendy bus routes include the Bury-Manchester 135 service and the Bolton-Manchester 8 service, which operate every six minutes. Administratively, Jordan is divided into eight governorates, each headed by a governor appointed by the king. It should be noted, however, that if one sits waiting on the Metroshuttle for 10 minutes one could have easily walked the distance to the Train Station, less than 1/2 mile away. The constitution provides for three categories of courts – civil, religious, and special. Those arriving at Manchester Piccadilly Bus Station and requiring to take a Train from Manchester Piccadilly Train Station can choose either to take a Metrolink or wait for the free Metroshuttle. The 40-member Senate is appointed by the king for an 8-year term. They run every 5-10 minutes, are divided into three routes, complement the Metrolink and National Rail services, and link them with the city’s car parks, tourist attractions and bus termini. Nine seats are reserved for Christians, 6 for women, and three for Circassians and Chechens.

These services are very successful and therefore often busy. The 110-member Chamber of Deputies, elected by universal suffrage to a 4-year term, is subject to dissolution by the king. First Manchester also operates free Metroshuttle services which link important areas of the city like Manchester Victoria, Piccadilly and Oxford Road stations with Chinatown, Deansgate, Salford Central, and Albert Square. Legislative power rests in the bicameral National Assembly. Other routes, that are not as commercially attractive, with smaller passenger volumes, are less well provided for, and the cost of a single journey can be similar to that of a Week Pass for the 'South Manchester' journey. The cabinet is responsible to the Chamber of Deputies on matters of general policy and can be forced to resign by a two-thirds vote of "no confidence" by that body. The major routes, with high passenger volumes, are well provided for, including Oxford Road/Wilmslow Road, one of the busiest bus routes in Europe, bringing large numbers of students & commuters from Fallowfield / Withington / Didsbury to the university buildings that have campuses scattered around the city centre, and the various office buildings - including the BBC. The council of ministers, led by a prime minister, is appointed by the king, who may dismiss other cabinet members at the prime minister's request.

Bullock. Cabinet decisions, court judgments, and the national currency are issued in his name. The City’s buses are operated by a range of companies including First, Stagecoach (incorporating the lower-cost Magicbus), Finglands, UK North (also trading as GM Buses), and R. He appoints and may dismiss all judges by decree, approves amendments to the constitution, declares war, and commands the armed forces. Maps of bus routes and a public transport journey planner for the Greater Manchester can be found on the GMPTE website. His veto power may be overridden by a two-thirds vote of both houses of the National Assembly. Manchester and the surrounding area have an extensive bus network, with regular services in and out of the city connecting to all the satellite towns and villages. The king signs and executes all laws.

However, if you have a valid train ticket for that day, you can use this to also ride the Metrolink without needing to purchase an additional ticket. Executive authority is vested in the king and his council of ministers. You must therefore ensure that you have plenty of coins (£2, £1, 50p, 20p, 10p) before travelling. Jordan is a constitutional monarchy based on the constitution promulgated on January 8, 1952. These ticket machines do not accept credit cards or debit cards, and many (half) do not accept banknotes despite the high cost of some routes. Al-Qaeda in Iraq, a group led by native Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, claimed responsibility. Warning: If you wish to take a trip on the Metrolink you must purchase a ticket before the journey, from a ticket machine on one of the platforms. At least 57 people died and 115 were wounded.

Many routes are extremely busy, especially at Peak Times, and prices have risen at a rate far above that of inflation. On November 9, 2005, Jordan experienced three simultaneous bombings at hotels in Amman. Since Metrolink's inception and the initial euphoria at the huge success, by the Public / Local & National Government / Environmental Groups it has become something of a victim of its own popularity. Jordan has since sought to remain at peace with all of its neighbours. The line from Manchester City Centre to Eccles Town Centre is also judged by many to be a failure as it takes longer than an equivalent bus journey following a similar route, but achieves this without the Metrolink's advantage of using 'Metrolink-only' specially dedicated / constructed routes. Following the outbreak of Israeli-Palestinian fighting in September 2000, the Jordanian government offered its good offices to both parties. 5 miles away in Trafford Park), with a wide possibility of routes for this task. As a result, an Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty was concluded on October 26, 1994.

A widely held view of many in Manchester of one of the major failings of the Metrolink is that it has never been extended to reach the Trafford Centre (approx. It negotiated an end to hostilities with Israel and signed a declaration to that effect on July 25, 1994 (see Washington Declaration). If the desired system, nicknamed the big bang, is completed, passenger numbers are predicted to more than double; to an estimated 50 million per year. and Russia. The Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE), responsible for public transport in the area, led the fight to ensure that the extensions are to be built, with significant support from Local Councils and Communities, as well as the main Manchester City Council [5]. In 1991, Jordan agreed, along with Syria, Lebanon, and Palestinian representatives, to participate in direct peace negotiations with Israel sponsored by the U.S. Plans to extend Manchester Metrolink were reinstated after an election-time u-turn by the Labour Government which had previously rejected the plans months earlier, despite years of support. Jordan did not participate in the Gulf War of 1990-91.

It carries nearly 20 million passengers each year. No fighting occurred along the 1967 Jordan River cease-fire line during the October 1973 Arab-Israeli war, but Jordan sent a brigade to Syria to fight Israeli units on Syrian territory. It is a high-frequency service, with trams running every 6–12 minutes. At the Rabat summit conference in 1974, Jordan agreed, along with the rest of the Arab League, that the PLO was the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people", thereby relinquishing to that organization its role as representative of the West Bank Palestinians. Operated by Serco, the Metrolink links the city centre to Altrincham, Eccles and Bury. Sporadic violence continued, however, until Jordanian forces led by Habis Al-Majali won a decisive victory over the fedayeen in July 1971, expelling them from the country. Manchester has a tram system called Metrolink. By 22 September, Arab foreign ministers meeting at Cairo had arranged a cease-fire beginning the following day.

The urban and suburban areas are covered by a sizeable network of rail lines, including lines to Ashton-under-Lyne, Bolton, Oldham, Stockport and Wilmslow. In the ensuing heavy fighting, a Syrian tank force took up positions in northern Jordan to support the fedayeen but subsequently retreated. This may well have referred to the 'Guardian' underground nuclear bunker network, originally constructed by NATO (as a means of protecting communications in the city in the event of an atom bomb being deployed) and now used by BT. Other Arab governments attempted to work out a peaceful solution, but by September, continuing fedayeen actions in Jordan – including the destruction of three international airliners hijacked by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and held in the desert east of Amman – prompted the government to take action to regain control over its territory and population. Excavation work under the Arndale Centre for this project began in the 1970s, but was soon abandoned due to costs and rumours of 'subterranean obstacles'. The battle in which Palestinian fighters from various Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) groups were expelled from Jordan is commonly known as Black September. Although there is no Underground Railway system similar to London's, the city has had several failed attempts to create one including the infamous "Picc-Vicc", a heavy rail tunnel linking the main stations. The heavily armed fedayeen constituted a growing threat to the sovereignty and security of the Hashemite state, and open fighting erupted in June 1970.

There are also several smaller stations remaining around the City Centre, including Manchester Oxford Road, Deansgate and Salford Central. The period following the 1967 war saw an upsurge in the power and importance of Palestinian resistance elements (fedayeen) in Jordan. High speed trains to London are run from Manchester Piccadilly by Virgin Trains, journeys typically taking around 2 hr 15 min. Its Palestinian refugee population – 700,000 in 1966 – grew by another 300,000 from the West Bank. In just 50 years the city centre was encircled by almost a dozen stations but currently has just two City Centre major mainline Train Stations, Manchester Victoria and Manchester Piccadilly, linking Manchester to most other places in the United Kingdom. The 1967 war led to a dramatic increase in the number of Palestinians, especially from the West Bank, living in Jordan. Manchester holds a pivotal position in Railway history as the birthplace of passenger rail travel on the The Liverpool and Manchester Railway opened in 1830 after the famous Rainhill Trials chose Stephensons Rocket to pull the trains. The international community as represented in the United Nations considers the West Bank to be territory occupied by Israel and believes that its final status should be determined through direct negotiations among the parties concerned on the basis of UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338.

Most of these routes link onto the M60, Manchester’s orbital motorway. In 1988, Jordan renounced all claims to the West Bank but retained an administrative role pending a final settlement, and its 1994 treaty with Israel allowed for a continuing Jordanian role in Muslim and Christian holy places in Jerusalem. The main roads serving Manchester are the M56, M6, M61, M62 and M66 motorways. During the war, Jordan lost its control of the West Bank and all of Jerusalem. It is very busy heliport and has small runways which deal with small aircraft. Jordan signed a mutual defense pact in May 1967 with Egypt, and it participated in the June 1967 war against Israel along with Syria, Egypt, and Iraq. Barton Aerodrome, one of the world's oldest airports, is still in operation. The annexation was recognised only by the United Kingdom.

The airport has been voted the best airport in the UK by: Which Consumer Magazine, Travel Weekly Globe, Business Magazines International and in the Airport World’s Service Excellence Awards (European runner up, 2nd only to Copenhagen). In 1950, Transjordan annexed the West Bank, and the country was renamed "the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan" to reflect this. Manchester to London is the only high density airline route within England and is one of the busiest domestic sectors in Europe providing serious competition for the railways. The armistice agreements of 3 April 1949 left Jordan in control of the West Bank and provided that the armistice demarcation lines were without prejudice to future territorial settlements or boundary lines. Many European and domestic destinations are served. Transjordan opposed the creation of Israel in May 1948, and took part in the warfare between the Arab states and the newly founded State of Israel. There are also firm plans for a direct service to Beijing. It ended its special defense treaty relationship with the United Kingdom in 1957.

Long haul scheduled destinations served directly from Manchester include New York (JFK and Newark), Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Orlando, Miami, Houston, Las Vegas, Toronto, Port of Spain, Antigua, Barbados, Damascus, Dubai, Abu Dhabi (starting Spring 2006), Doha, Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and (resuming in Spring 2006), Hong Kong. The mandate over Transjordan ended on 22 May 1946; on 25 May, the country became the independent Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan. In 2005 the airport handled 22.1 million passengers and provided direct flights to over 180 destinations worldwide by over 90 airlines. The British installed the Hashemite Prince Abdullah, while continuing the administration of Palestine and Transjordan under a single British High Commissioner. Manchester International Airport, formerly Manchester Ringway Airport, is the third busiest airport in the UK in terms of passengers per year^[4] and is served by a dedicated railway station. In 1922, in an attempt to assuage Arab anger resulting from the Balfour Declaration, with the approval of the League of Nations, the British created the semi-autonomous Arab Emirate of Transjordan in all Palestinian territory east of the Jordan river. It was announced in 2005 that various sporting arenas around the city will be used in the 2012 Olympics. At the end of World War I, the territory now comprising Israel, Jordan, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and Jerusalem was awarded to the United Kingdom by the League of Nations as the mandate for Palestine.

Manchester has also competed twice to host the Olympic Games being beaten by Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney in 2000. Subsequent invaders and settlers included Hittites, Egyptians, Israelites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arab Muslims, Christian Crusaders, Mameluks, Ottoman Turks, and, finally, the British. Manchester is a successful sporting city with many famous sporting people heralding from the city as well as from the surrounding area of Greater Manchester. Its known history began around 2000 B.C., when Semitic Amorites settled around the Jordan River in the area called Canaan. Manchester also has an ice hockey team called the Manchester Phoenix there in the process of buliding an arena called the Trafford ice dome. The land that became Jordan forms part of the history-rich Fertile Crescent region. Gorton in Manchester is home to the Belle Vue Aces speedway team. .

Manchester is also home to Swinton Lions who play at Sedgley Park. It shares with Israel the coastlines of the Gulf of Aqaba and the Dead Sea. The Manchester area is also represented in rugby union by Sale Sharks, who currently play their home games at Edgeley Park in Stockport and Manchester R.C.; and in Rugby League by Wigan Warriors, who share the JJB Stadium with Wigan Athletic, and Salford City Reds, who are currently in the process of constructing a new state-of-the-art stadium in Eccles, over the Manchester Ship Canal from the Trafford Centre. It is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the north-east, Saudi Arabia to the east and south, and Israel and the Israeli-administered West Bank to the west. Old Trafford cricket ground, home of Lancashire County Cricket Club, hosts many first-class cricket and important international matches including Test Matches. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, commonly called Jordan (Arabic أردنّ, transliterated ʼUrdunn), is an Arab country in the Middle East. Many first class sporting facilities were built for the 2002 Commonwealth Games, including the Manchester Velodrome, the City of Manchester Stadium, the National Squash Centre and the Manchester Aquatics Centre. Jordan Planet.

United of Manchester. Transportation in Jordan. Other professional football teams in Greater Manchester include Oldham Athletic, Stockport County, Bury, Wigan Athletic, Rochdale, Bolton Wanderers and F.C. Royal Jordanian Air Force. These football teams are just two examples: according to the Urbis centre, Greater Manchester has the highest concentration of football clubs per capita of anywhere in the world. Royal Jordanian Airlines. Manchester City play at the City of Manchester Stadium, while Manchester United’s Old Trafford ground, the largest club football ground in England, is just outside the city proper in the borough of Trafford. Public holidays in Jordan.

Two major football clubs, Manchester United and Manchester City, bear the city’s name. Military of Jordan. Sport and especially football are an important part of Manchester culture. List of Prime Ministers of Jordan. Manchester Metropolitan University, the University of Manchester and the Royal Northern College of Music are grouped together on the southern side of the city centre, and effectively form one large campus, split down the centre by Oxford Road, the busiest bus route in Europe. Famous people from Jordan. Together with the University of Bolton and the Royal Northern College of Music and University Centre Oldham all nearby, these give the area a student population in excess of 73,000, one of the largest in Europe. Foreign relations of Jordan.

Within nearby Salford is the University of Salford, which is within 2 miles of Manchester City Centre. Communications in Jordan. The former is the largest full-time non-collegiate university in Britain, and was created in autumn 2004 by the merger of the former Victoria University of Manchester and UMIST. US State Department [2]. Manchester is home to two major universities: The University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University. CIA World Factbook. Manchester’s claim to status of gay capital of the UK was strengthened in 2003 when it played host city to the annual Europride festival. Music of Jordan.

The year round gay and lesbian heritage trail exhibits Manchester’s gay history. Islam in Jordan. Manchester has its own gay sports teams, Village Manchester FC (soccer), Northern Wave (swimming) and Village Spartans (Rugby) which take part in Manchester's annual Pride Games. Zarqa. It is also the birthplace of several gay rights organisations including the Campaign for Homosexual Equality and the Queer Youth Alliance. Tafileh. Manchester’s gay culture was brought to mainstream attention in 1999 by the acclaimed and controversial Channel 4 drama series Queer as Folk, which was set in the village. Salt.

On the last weekend in August it hosts the Manchester Pride Festival (previously known as Mardi Gras and Gayfest). Mafraq. Manchester has the UK’s largest gay population outside of London, and is renowned for its gay village; centred around the Canal Street area the gay village is home to various gay shops, restaurants, bars and clubs. Madaba. Free commuting papers include Manchester Evening News Lite and Metro North West, both of which are available from Metrolink stops, rail stations and other busy locations across the city at rush-hour. Ma'an. It still shares a Manchester office on Deansgate with its sister publication, the Manchester Evening News, Manchester’s biggest-selling daily paper. Kerak.

Its head office is still in Manchester, though many of its management functions were moved to London in 1964. Jerash. The Guardian newspaper was founded in Manchester in 1821 as The Manchester Guardian. Irbid. This is a list of films (Partial) set in Manchester:. Balqa. Manchester is home to the Manchester film festival and has held the commonwealth film festival. Aqaba.

There were also scores of pirate radio, student radio (currently consisting of Fuse FM at the University of Manchester and Shock FM at the University of Salford) and community radio stations and initiatives in Manchester. Amman. The latter three played a significant role in the city's emerging House music culture, also known as the Madchester scene, which was partly based around clubs like the the Hacienda which had its own show on Kiss 102. Ajlun. Several now defunct radio stations are much lamented including "BBC Radio Manchester" - now BBC GMR, Sunset (which became) Kiss 102 (now Galaxy) and KFM which became Signal Cheshire (now Signal 1). There is also a community radio network coordinated by Radio Regen^[3], and with stations covering the South Manchester communities of Ardwick, Longsight and Levenshulme (ALL FM 96.9) and Wythenshawe (Wythenshawe FM 97.2).

It has several local radio stations including BBC GMR, Key 103, Galaxy, Piccadilly Magic 1152, 105.4 Century FM , 100.4 Smooth FM, Capital Gold 1458 and Xfm. Manchester has its own television channel, Channel M, owned by the Guardian Media Group and operated since 2000. The BBC intends to relocate large numbers of staff and facilities to Manchester from London, once a site has been selected. Programmes including A Question of Sport, Mastermind and Real Story are made there.

The BBC has its headquarters for Northern England in New Broadcasting House on Oxford Road in the south of the city. The city is the main UK television production centre outside London and is where programmes including Coronation Street and many Children’s ITV presentations are produced. ITV franchisee Granada Television has its original headquarters on Quay Street in the Castlefield area of the city. As well as many sporting venues Manchester has many venues for performances and conventions:.

In addition the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) has 4 theatre spaces especially noted for its opera and classical music productions. The city is also home to two highly-regarded drama schools; The Manchester Metropolitan University School of Theatre and the Arden School of Theatre. The Dancehouse is a theatre dedicated to dance productions. Smaller sites include the Green Room, which focuses on fringe productions and Contact Theatre, a theatre for young people with a bold contemporary design.

The Library Theatre is a small producing theatre situated in the basement of the city’s central library and the Lowry is a large touring venue in Salford. Larger venues include the Opera House, a commercial theatre promoting large scale touring shows which regularly plays host to touring West End shows, the Palace Theatre and the Royal Exchange Theatre, a large producing theatre located in Manchester’s former cotton exchange. Manchester is noted for its excellent theatres. Local poet and author Mike Duff has lived his entire life in the city; he is a passionate advocate of Manchester and it's people.

The Writer's Bureau - a private company set up to help new freelance writers through its home-study courses - also runs its offices from the city. Manchester is home to the Manchester Metropolitan University Writers School, one of the top creative writing schools in the country. Charles Dickens was known to visit the city, and Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels are known to have found much to inspire their thoughts and writing when visiting the city during the Industrial Revolution. Sebald lived in Manchester when he first came to England, and the city features prominently in his novel The Emigrants. Jeff Noon, the author of Vurt, writes novels which take place in Manchester.

G. W. Famous writers from the Manchester area include Elizabeth Gaskell and Anthony Burgess, the author of A Clockwork Orange. The many smaller venues throughout the city, such as the Bierkeller, the Roadhouse and Night and Day Cafe, ensure that Manchester’s music scene is always vibrant and interesting.

Other major venues include the Manchester Apollo and the Manchester Academy. Manchester’s main popular music venue is the Manchester Evening News Arena, situated next to Victoria rail station, which seats over 21,000 and is the largest arena of its type in Europe, going on to be voted International Arena of the Year, beating New York’s Madison Square Garden. Local groups have included the Bee Gees, The Hollies, 10cc, Buzzcocks, Magazine, Joy Division, New Order (both on local label Factory Records), The Smiths, The Fall, M People, Oasis, the Chameleons, Simply Red and the "Madchester" scene bands the Happy Mondays, The Inspiral Carpets, James, The Stone Roses. The city’s eclectic mix of music has created the sense among its inhabitants that Manchester is the most important city in world music.

For Mancunians, the popular musical heritage of the city has always been a source of great pride. In the 1950s the city was home to the so-called ‘Manchester School’ of classical composers, which comprised Harrison Birtwistle, Peter Maxwell Davies and Alexander Goehr. Manchester is a centre for musical education, being home to the Royal Northern College of Music and Chetham’s School of Music. Other venues for classical concerts include the RNCM, the Royal Exchange Theatre and Manchester Cathedral.

The hall is one of the country’s most technically advanced classical music and lecture venues, with an acoustically designed interior and suspended foundations for an optimum sound. Since 1996, however, Manchester has had a modern 2,500 seat concert venue called the Bridgewater Hall, which is also home to the Hallé Orchestra. For many years the city’s main classical venue was the Free Trade Hall on Peter Street. There is also a chamber orchestra, the Manchester Camerata.

Manchester is home to two symphony orchestras, the Hallé Orchestra and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Museums in Manchester include:. There are many art galleries in Greater Manchester, notably:. Tony Wilson '24-hour Party People' Channel 4 Books, 2002, ISBN 075222025X.

Sean Bidder 'Pump Up the Volume: A History of House Music', MacMillan, 2002, ISBN 0752219863. Dave Haslam 'Adventures on the Wheels of Steel: The Rise of the Superstar DJs' Fourth Estate, 2002, ISBN 1841154334. Bill Brewster & Frank Broughton 'Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey', Grove Press, 2000, ISBN 0802136885. Mick Middles 'From "Joy Division" to "New Order": The True Story of Anthony H.Wilson and Factory Records' Virgin Books, 2000, ISBN 0753506386.

Dave Haslam 'Madchester, England' Fourth Estate, 2000, ISBN 1841151467. Sean Bidder 'The Rough Guide to House Music', Rough Guides, 1999, ISBN 1858284325. Further Reading; Simon Reynolds 'Energy Flash: Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture' Picador, 1998, ISBN 0330350560. 'Danceteria'.

'Homoelectric'. 'Flesh'. 'Home'. 'Paradise Factory' & 'The Breakfast Club' at Manto's.

'Bowlers' - home of happy hardcore. 'The Number One' - first gay rave/house club. Other historical clubs and nights in Manchester include 'Naked under leather' – one of UK birthplaces of Electronic Music. The Hacienda was also at the setting of the 2002 movie 24 Hour Party People.

When Rob Gretton, members of New Order and Factory Records boss Tony Wilson opened Fac 51 The Hacienda on Whitworth Street in 1982 it quickly became the focus of electronic music and the start of house music, the Madchester sound and the Ibiza scene, which all came together in the Summer of Love in 1988. Many teenagers of the 1960's developed a love for Northern Soul, which had as two of its epicentres the Wigan Casino and Manchesters Twisted Wheel and is credited as being instrumental to the development of the Motown Sound. Tony Prince is credited as becoming the world's first full time club DJ in 1964 when Jimmy Savile who was then a Mecca manager in Manchester told him that Top Rank considered him to be the first person ever to be on their payroll as a pure DJ. The first place he used this device to play to the public in 1946 was a nightclub called The Ritz on Whitworth Street (which opened in 1927).

UK broadcaster Jimmy Savile is credited as being the first modern DJ by using twin turntables for continuous play after he obtained two domestic record decks welded together. Like any large city there has always been a thriving nightclub culture here but Manchester's place in the history of modern clubbing surpasses every other city in the UK with the possible exception of London. Some areas, like Hulme, have undergone extensive regeneration programmes and many million-pound lofthouse apartments have since been developed to cater for its growing business class community. Many old mills have been converted into apartments, helping to give the city a much more modern, upmarket look and feel.

Large sections of the city dating from the 1960s have been either demolished and re-developed or modernised with the use of glass and steel; a good example of this transformation would be the Arndale Centre. Since the regeneration after the 1996 PIRA attack and aided by the XVII Commonwealth Games Manchester's city centre has changed significantly. Rapidly developing institutions attract crime and disorder; see main article crime and policing in Manchester. Manchester has twice failed in its bid to host the Olympic Games, losing to Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney in 2000.

In 2002, the city successfully hosted the XVII Commonwealth Games, earning praise from many sources. A following regeneration took almost a decade to complete, with the last part of the Arndale centre renovated opening in the Autumn of 2005. The consequent reconstruction spurred a massive regeneration of the city centre, with complexes such as the Printworks and the Triangle creating new city focal points for both shopping and entertainment. Whilst this bomb caused over 200 injuries, it caused no deaths and the principal damage was to the physical infrastructure of nearby buildings.

At 11.20 am on Saturday 15 June 1996 the PIRA detonated a large bomb in the city centre. In 1974 Manchester was split from the county of Lancashire and the Metropolitan Borough of Manchester was created. In 1889, when county councils were created in England, the municipal borough became a county borough with even greater autonomy. City status for the borough was conferred in 1853.

In 1838 was incorporated as a municipal borough, soon after the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 allowed this. Trafford Park in Stretford was the world's first industrial estate and still exists today, however with a significant tourist and recreational presence. Manchester became the world's first industrial city and the model for industrial development throughout the western world. Its growth was also aided by its proximity to Liverpool's shipping ports and the emerging canal and rail networks (With the exception of Holland, Manchester had the first canal in Western Europe).

This is the largest Jewish community outside London by quite some way. The area, including Salford and Prestwich, today has a Jewish population of about 40,000. Large numbers of ( mostly Jewish) immigrants came to Manchester from central and eastern Europe. It is estimated that about 35% of the population of Manchester and Salford has at least some Irish ancestry.

The Irish influence continues to this day and, every March Manchester plays host to one of the world's largest St Patricks Day parades. Particularly large numbers came from Ireland, especially after the Potato Famine of the 1840's. Manchester’s population exploded as people moved from the surrounding countryside, and from other parts of the British Isles, into the city seeking new opportunities. Manchester was home to Avro (now BAE Systems) which built countless aircraft for the RAF, most famous being the Avro Lancaster bomber.

In the Second World War Manchester was involved in heavy industrial construction which cumulated in the bombing of the city by the Luftwaffe. The first Trades Union Congress was held in Manchester (at the Mechanics' Institute, David Street), from June 2nd to June 6th 1868. Manchester was a focus of the movement to reform the Corn Laws (the Anti Corn Law League (ACLL), set up in 1836 by Cobden and Bright) and later the Free Trade movement known as ‘The Manchester School’ or 'Manchesterism'. The so-called Peterloo massacre became a cause célèbre for the reformers of that era.

This resulted in a civil commotion and the deaths of eleven people with over four hundred injured, as local magistrates, fearful of a large crowd, ordered cavalry armed with sabres to clear the area. A famous meeting, held in furtherance of parliamentary reform, took place in St Peter’s Field on 16 August 1819. Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries Manchester was an important seat of radical, reformist politics. The docks functioned up until the 1970s, with their closure leading to a large increase in unemployment in that area.

This enabled ocean going ships to sail right into the Port of Manchester Docks (technically in Salford). During the 18th century a deep canal (the Manchester Ship Canal) was dug, 36 miles long, from Salford to the River Mersey at the port of Liverpool. Manchester quickly grew into the most important industrial centre in the world, blotting Salford off the map to such an extent that nowadays tourists are unaware that by crossing a bridge they enter a different city. Quarry Bank Mill in Styal, Cheshire).

Its damp climate was ideal for cotton processing and with the development of steam-powered engines for spinning and weaving, the cotton industry quickly developed throughout the region (eg. Manchester remained a small market town, dwarfed by Salford until the Industrial Revolution, beginning in the 18th century. In the 14th century, Salford and Manchester became home to a community of Flemish weavers who settled in the town to produce wool and linen, beginning the tradition of cloth manufacture. The River Irwell is only 20 metres wide when it runs between the two cities.

Around the same period the town (now City) of Salford arose on the West bank. There is a facsimile of part of a Roman fort in Castlefield, in the city centre. The Roman general Agricola set up a fort at Mamucium on the East bank of the Irwell. The Manchester area was settled in or before Roman times.

The precipitation is light however, so a small volume of rain may take an hour to fall in Manchester, compared to several minutes of heavy rain experienced in Rome. In international terms, Manchester receives substantially less rain than New York City, which receives 1200 mm of rain in an average year and the average annual rainfall total is comparable with that of Rome. The average annual rainfall is 809 mm, meaning that this reputation is relatively undeserved.^[2] This total is less than Plymouth, Cardiff, Glasgow, and Edinburgh for example. Manchester has a damp climate and a reputation as a rainy city.

These are its climate, its proximity to a sea port at Liverpool, the availabilty of water power from its rivers, and nearby coal reserves. It has some geographic features which were influential in its early development as an industrial city. Much of the inner city, especially in the south, is flat, offering extensive views of the moors from the floors of many tall buildings. The River Mersey also flows through the south of the city.

The city centre is located on the East bank of the River Irwell, near the confluence of two other rivers, the River Medlock and the River Irk. Manchester is situated in a bowl-shaped land area, bordered to the north and east by the Pennine moors and to the south by the Cheshire Plain. . Many class Manchester as being the combined areas of Manchester, Trafford, Tameside, Salford and Stockport, with the other areas being towns in Lancashire or Cheshire.

People from Manchester are called Mancunians. The name 'Manchester' is often used to refer to the entire metropolis (which extends even outside Greater Manchester). Greater Manchester was created in 1974, mostly from Lancashire and Cheshire, and some people still consider Manchester to be part of Lancashire. ^[1].

The borough has a population of 437,000, whilst the urban area has a population of 2,237,000, and is situated in the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester which has a population of 2,539,000. Manchester is a metropolitan borough with city status. The place is named from the old British name Mamucium plus ceaster, derived from the old Latin 'Castra'. Manchester is a city in the North West of England, UK.

- Consulate General of Switzerland: 24th Floor, Sunley Tower, Piccadilly Plaza, Manchester M1. - Consulate General of Spain: 1a Brook House, 70 Spring Gardens, Manchester M2 2BQ. - Vice-consulate of Pakistan: 4th Floor Hilton House, 26/28 Hilton Street, Manchester M1. - The Royal Consulate of the Netherlands: 123 Deansgate, Manchester M3.

- Consulate of Monaco: Dene Manor, Dene Park, Manchester M20. - Consulate of Italy: Rodwell Tower, 111 Piccadilly, Manchester M1. - Trade Board of Ireland: 56 Oxford Street, Manchester M1. 0161 237 5255.

- Consulate General of Germany: Westminster House, 11 Portland Street, Manchester, M60 1HY, Tel. - Trade Commission of France: 24th Floor, Sunley Tower, Piccadilly Plaza, Manchester M1. - Trade Office of Denmark: 4th Floor, Arkwright House, Parsonage Gardens, Manchester M3. - Consulate General of The People's Republic of China: Denison House, Denison Road, Rusholme, Manchester M14.

0161 439 5999. - Consulate of Belgium : 76 Moss Lane Bramhall, Stockport, SK7 1EJ, Tel. - High Commission People's Republic of Bangladesh. - Australian Consulate: Chatsworth House, Lever Street, Manchester M1 2QL Tel: 0161 228 1344 Fax: 0161 236 4074.

Wuhan - China. St Petersburg - Russia. Rehovot - Israel. Faisalabad - Pakistan.

Cordoba - Spain. Chemnitz - Germany. Amsterdam - Netherlands. Trafford.

City of Salford. Wigan. Bolton. Bury.

Rochdale. Oldham. Tameside. Stockport.

City of Manchester. See also: The Salvation Army in Manchester. China Town, The Second Largest China Town in Europe. New Cathedral Street.

St Ann’s Square. St Peters Square. Market Street. Cathedral Gardens.

Spring Gardens. Great Northern Square. Portland Street. Exchange Square featuring a BBC Big Screen.

The Victoria Baths. Victoria Station. Trinity Bridge over River Irwell by Santiago Calatrava. Sunlight House.

Strangeways Prison by Waterhouse. South Manchester Synagogue. The Royal Exchange. The Portico Library.

Palace Hotel. Piccadilly Gardens by Tadao Ando. The Midland Hotel. Midland Bank building (now HSBC), King Street by Sir Edwin Lutyens.

Manchester Town Hall by Alfred Waterhouse, extended by E. Vincent Harris. Vincent Harris. Manchester Central Library, St Peter’s Square, by E. London Road Fire Station.

John Rylands Library, Deansgate. Beetham Tower, due for completion in 2006. Imperial War Museum North by Daniel Libeskind and Lowry Footbridge. The G-Mex Centre.

The Corn Exchange (now the Triangle shopping centre). The Bridgewater Hall, home of the Hallé Orchestra. Control 2006. 24 Hour Party People 2002.

The Parole Officer 2001. East is East 1999. Billy Liar 1963. MEN Arena.

Lowry. Bridgewater Hall. Manchester International Conference Centre. G-Mex.

Urbis, a museum of city life. People’s History Museum. Pankhurst Centre. Museum of Science and Industry.

Manchester Museum. Manchester Jewish Museum. Imperial War Museum North (Trafford Park). Greater Manchester Police Museum.

The Barn Gallery. Comme Ca Art Gallery. Cube Gallery. The Castlefield Gallery.

Cornerhouse. The Chinese Arts Centre. The Whitworth Art Gallery. Manchester Art Gallery.

Salford Museum and Art Gallery (Salford). The Athenaeum. Lowry. S.

The Lowry in Salford Quays (Salford), which houses works by the Salford painter L.