**2.1 Introduction**

Jordan is an arid to semi-arid country with land area of 92,000 sq km, located to the east of the Jordan River. Jordan's topographic features are variable. A mountainous range runs from the north to the south of the country. To the east of the mountain ranges, ground slopes gently to form the eastern deserts, to the west ground slopes steeply towards the Jordan Rift valley. The Jordan Rift valley extends from lake Tiberias in the north, at ground elevation of –220 m, to the Red Sea at Aqaba. At 120 km south of lake Tiberias lies the Dead Sea with water level at approximately –405 m. The southern Ghors and Wadi Araba, south of the Dead Sea, form the southern part of the Rift Valley. To the south of Wadi Araba region lies a 25 km coastline which stretches along the northern shores of the Red Sea. Due to the variable topographic features of Jordan, the distribution of rainfall varies considerably with location.
