The Jordan–Saudi Arabia border is 731 km (454 mi) in length and runs from the

Gulf of Aqaba The Gulf of Aqaba ( ar, خَلِيجُ ٱلْعَقَبَةِ, Khalīj al-ʿAqabah) or Gulf of Eilat ( he, מפרץ אילת, Mifrátz Eilát) is a large gulf at the northern tip of the Red Sea, east of the Sinai Peninsula and west of the Arabian ...

in the south-west to the tripoint with

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

in the north-east.

Description

The border starts in the south-west at Gulf at Aqaba, and then consists of nine straight lines that proceed broadly north-eastwards to the Iraqi tripoint. The abruptly

concave Concave or concavity may refer to: Science and technology * Concave lens * Concave mirror Mathematics * Concave function, the negative of a convex function * Concave polygon, a polygon which is not convex * Concave set * The concavity of a ...

section of the boundary in the north is apocryphally named "Winston's Hiccup", also referred to as "Churchill's Sneeze" (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

: حازوقة وينستون).

History

At the start of the 20th century, the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

controlled what is now Jordan, with the interior regions further south consisting of loosely organised Arab groupings, occasionally forming emirates, most prominent of which was the Emirate of Nejd and Hasa ruled by the al-Saud family. Madawi Al-Rasheed. ''A History of Saudi Arabia''. Cambridge, England, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Pp. 40. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Arab Revolt The Arab Revolt ( ar, الثورة العربية, ) or the Great Arab Revolt ( ar, الثورة العربية الكبرى, ) was a military uprising of Arab forces against the Ottoman Empire in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. On ...

, supported by Britain, succeeded in removing the Ottomans from most of the Middle East. In the period following this, Ibn Saud managed to expand his kingdom considerably, eventually proclaiming the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932. As a result of the secret 1916 Anglo-French Sykes-Picot Agreement, Britain gained control of the southern half of the Ottoman Syria Vilayet, with the north going to France (as the

Mandate of Syria The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon (french: Mandat pour la Syrie et le Liban; ar, الانتداب الفرنسي على سوريا ولبنان, al-intidāb al-fransi 'ala suriya wa-lubnān) (1923−1946) was a League of Nations mandate foun ...

). The southern half of the vilayet (roughly equivalent to modern western Jordan) was contested between Britain, the newly formed

Arab Kingdom of Syria The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, No ...

, the Kingdom of Hejaz, and the Zionists in the

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...

, resulting in a confused period in which the region was essentially an ungoverned space. Eventually, in 1921, Britain declared a mandate over the region, creating the

Emirate of Transjordan The Emirate of Transjordan ( ar, إمارة شرق الأردن, Imārat Sharq al-Urdun, Emirate of East Jordan), officially known as the Amirate of Trans-Jordan, was a British protectorate established on 11 April 1921,

, under the semi-autonomous rule of Emir (and future King) Abdullah I. The southern border between Transjordan and Arabia was considered strategic for Transjordan to avoid being landlocked, with intended access to the sea via the

Port of Aqaba The Port of Aqaba is the only port in Jordan, and is owned by Aqaba Development Corporation (ADC) and has 12 terminals operated by five operators: the Aqaba Company for port management and operation; Aqaba Container Terminal; Industrial Port Co ...

. The southern region of

Ma'an Ma'an ( ar, مَعان, Maʿān) is a city in southern Jordan, southwest of the capital Amman. It serves as the capital of the Ma'an Governorate. Its population was approximately 41,055 in 2015. Civilizations with the name of Ma'an have existe ...

Aqaba Aqaba (, also ; ar, العقبة, al-ʿAqaba, al-ʿAgaba, ) is the only coastal city in Jordan and the largest and most populous city on the Gulf of Aqaba. Situated in southernmost Jordan, Aqaba is the administrative centre of the Aqaba Govern ...

, a large area with a population of only 10,000, was administered by OETA East (later the Arab Kingdom of Syria, and then Mandatory Transjordan) and claimed by the Kingdom of Hejaz. In OETA East, Faisal had appointed a ''

kaymakam Kaymakam, also known by many other romanizations, was a title used by various officials of the Ottoman Empire, including acting grand viziers, governors of provincial sanjaks, and administrators of district kazas. The title has been retained a ...

'' (sub-governor) at Ma'an; the ''kaymakam'' at Aqaba, who "disregarded both Husein in Mecca and Feisal in Damascus with impunity", had been instructed by Hussein to extend his authority to Ma'an. This technical dispute did not become an open struggle, and the Kingdom of Hejaz was to take ''de facto'' control after Faisal's administration was defeated by the French. After the 1924–25 Saudi conquest of Hejaz, Hussein's army fled to the Ma'an region (which was then formally announced as annexed by Abdullah's Transjordan). In 1925 Britain and Ibn Saud signed the Treaty of Hadda, which created a border between Jordan and Saudi territory consisting of six straight lines. Crucially, this border gave Transjordan an short outlet on the Gulf of Aqaba. The border was later confirmed by the 1927 Treaty of Jeddah. In the early 1960s, discussions were held which resulted in a treaty on 9 August 1965; thus creating the current boundary alignment of nine lines, as well as granting Jordan a slightly increased coast (by 18 km) along the Gulf of Aqaba.

'Winston's Hiccup'

The

urban myth An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...

of the 'Winston Hiccup' arose based on an account of

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

(then serving as the Secretary of State for the Colonies) boasting in his later years that he had created the British protectorate of Transjordan in 1921 "with the stroke of a pen, one Sunday afternoon in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

"; some stories purport that this drawing of the boundary took place following a "particularly liquid lunch". According to Warren Dockter, it likely stems from “a misquote from Churchill's speech in the House of Commons on 24 March 1936 when Churchill declared, 'The Emir Abdullah is in TransJordania where I put him one Sunday afternoon at Jerusalem.'” Churchill was in Jerusalem for the

Cairo Conference The Cairo Conference (codenamed Sextant) also known as the First Cairo Conference, was one of the 14 summit meetings during World War II that occurred on November 22–26, 1943. The Conference was held in Cairo, Egypt, between the United Kingdo ...

between Friday 25 March and Wednesday 30 March 1921; he was to have his first meeting with Abdullah on Monday 28 March. The borders between Transjordan and the

Sultanate of Nejd The Sultanate of Nejd ( ar, سلطنة نجد, ') was the third iteration of the Third Saudi State, from 1921 to 1926. It was a monarchy led by the House of Saud. This version of the Third Saudi State was created when Abdul Aziz ibn Saud, Emi ...

(the predecessor of Saudi Arabia) were not, in fact, discussed at the 1921 Cairo Conference. In July 1922, Ibn Saud's Wahabi forces took Jauf, and in September Abdullah's forces took Kaf. The hiccup was first sketched out in October 1922 by the Colonial Office during Abdullah's visit to London. The first formal definition of the boundary between Transjordan and

Nejd Najd ( ar, نَجْدٌ, ), or the Nejd, forms the geographic center of Saudi Arabia, accounting for about a third of the country's modern population and, since the Emirate of Diriyah, acting as the base for all unification campaigns by the H ...

was the result of negotiations between the British Government and the Sultan of Nejd starting in 1922, negotiated further at the failed 1923-24 Kuwait Conference, and concluded with the Al Hadda Agreement on November 2, 1925. Sir Gilbert Clayton conducted the talks with the sultan as British representative; Churchill had no involvement in the Al Hadda Agreement during which time he was the British Chancellor of the Exchequer. The “hiccup” resulted from giving the strategic

Wadi Sirhan Wadi Sirhan ( ar, وَادِي سِرْحَان, Wādī Sirḥān; translation: "Valley of Sirhan") is a wide depression in the northwestern Arabian Peninsula. It runs from the Azraq oasis in Jordan southeastward into Saudi Arabia, where most o ...

region, and its then primary settlement of Kaf, which had previously been occupied by Abdullah at the urging of the British, to the Sultanate of Nejd. The 1925 treaty did not create the sharp triangular point in the "hiccup" but instead a short north–south segment of 9.3 km along the

37th meridian east The meridian 37° east of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Europe, Asia, Africa, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole. The 37th meridian east forms a ...

.Agreement with the Sultan of Nejd Regarding Certain Questions Relating to the Nejd- Trans-Jordan Frontier. Signed at Bahra-Camp, November 2, 1925. ''League of Nations'' Treaty Series No. 1423, 1927, p435.

Kamal Salibi Kamal Suleiman Salibi ( ar , كمال سليمان الصليبي ) (2 May 19291 September 2011)

commented about Churchill's pen stroke in ''The Modern History of Jordan'',

Settlements near the border

Jordan

Mudawwara Mudawwara ( ar, 'المدورة) is the most southerly settlement in Jordan. It is administratively part of the Ma'an Governorate. The village had a population of 691 in the 2015 census. Etymology The Arabic toponym, ''Mudawwara'', translates ...

Saudi Arabia

* Halat Ammar * Al Fiyad * Al Isawiyah * Qurayyat * Qullayib Khudr * An Nabk * Al-Haditha *

Turaif Turaif () is a town in Northern Borders Province (also known as Al-Hudud ash Shamaliyah), Saudi Arabia, close to the border with Jordan. Turaif is located at a bend in Highway 85 as it turns west to Jordan. It is located at around . As of 2010, ...

Border Crossings

There are currently three official border crossings:(2012) Carole French, ''Bradt Guide Book to Jordan'', pg. 54 * Umari * Mudawwara *

Durra Border Crossing Durra Border Crossing (مركز حدود الدرة) is a border crossing between Aqaba in Jordan and Haql in Saudi Arabia. On the Jordanian side, the border terminal is maintained by the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority. The border crossing c ...

Bibliography

Notes

External links

Winston's Hiccup in ''A Jordan travel guide'' by Matthew Teller

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jordan-Saudi Arabia border Borders of Jordan Borders of Saudi Arabia International borders Emirate of Transjordan Modern history of Jordan History of Saudi Arabia Winston Churchill