Jordan celebrates Independence Day Sunday

AMMAN — Jordan on Sunday marks its 68th Independence Day with parades and displays of patriotism taking place across the Kingdom. 

Jordan won its full independence from the British mandate and was declared a Kingdom on May 25, 1946.

Several celebrations, at the official and grass-roots levels, are scheduled across governorates to mark the occasion.

Celebrations marking the 1916 Great Arab Revolt anniversary and Army Day, which falls on June 10, customarily kick off on Independence Day.

Sharif Hussein, the emir of Mecca and king of Hijaz, launched the Great Arab Revolt in June 1916 with the objective of establishing an independent and unified Arab state.

The Great Arab Revolt secured Arab rule over most of the Arabian Peninsula, Syria and all of modern Jordan, founded by Sharif Hussein’s son, the late King Abdullah I.

All ministries, public departments and institutions will observe a holiday on Sunday on the occasion of the Independence Day, according to a circular issued by Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour.

The anniversary is marked amid difficult circumstances related to regional conditions and economic difficulties, which are deepening due to the burden of hosting more than 600,000 Syrian refugees.