Armenians in Jordan

Armenians in Jordan are ethnic Armenians living within the current Kingdom of Jordan. There are an estimated 5,000 Armenians living within the country today, [http://i-cias.com/e.o/jordan_4.htm Jordan: Religions & Peoples ] ] . An estimated 4,500 of these are members of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and predominantly speak the Western dialect [ [http://www.ethnologue.com/14/show_language.asp?code=ARM Ethnologue 14 report for language code:ARM ] ] of the Armenian language. They make up the majority of non-Arab Christians in the country. [ [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/306128/Jordan/256321/Religion Jordan :: Religion - Britannica Online Encyclopedia ] ]

The majority of these Armenians are the ancestors of survivors from the Armenian Genocide in 1915 during WWI who fled to Jordan on foot from Ottoman Anatolia to the north. The early Armenian refugees in Jordan mainly resided in places like Ma'an, Shobak, Karak and Madaba. Nowadays, the majority live in the capital Amman, with a few families in Irbid, Aqaba, Madaba and Zarqa.

Jordan also became refuge to many Armenians leaving Jerusalem and the Armenian Quarter after the Six-Day War

St. Thaddeus Armenian Apostolic Church in Amman serves the Armenian Apostolic community, whereas the Armenian Catholics have their own parish in the Armenian quarter in Djebel Ashrafieh in Eastern Amman.

While most Armenians have now moved out of the Armenian quarter to Western Amman, the Armenian quarter currently comprises two Armenian Churches, an elementary school, two community clubs - Homenetmen and Watany - as well as the Armenian Relief Society.

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