Immediately east of the river and the Dead Sea is the edge of a high plateau, which receives moderate rainfall. Most of the East Bank, however, is an extension of the Syrian or North Arabian Desert. The climate is Mediterranean with a rainy season from November to March and dry weather from the rest of the year. Jordanians are of Arab stock except for a few small communities of Circassians, Armenians, and Kurds, groups that have long since adapted to the Arab culture. The official language is Arabic, but English is used widely in commerce and government.
Most people live where the rainfall is sufficient to support normal cultivation.
About 1.0-1.5 million Palestinian Arabs, including more than 850,000 registered refugees and displaced persons, reside in Jordan. Virtually all Palestinians living in Jordan are citizens. Three horizontal bands of black, white, and green joined at the staff by a red triangle with a white star in the middle. The land that became Jordan is part of the Fertile Crescent and has shared much of the glory and travail of that richly historical region. Its history began around 2000 B.C., when Semitic Amorites settled around the Jordan River in the area called Canaan.