Jordan

Jordan (/ˈdʒɔːrdən/; Arabic: الأردن‎ Al-Urdun), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (Arabic: المملكة الأردنية الهاشمية‎ Al-Mamlakah Al-Urduniyah Al-Hashimiyah), is an Arab kingdom in Western Asia, on the East Bank of the Jordan River. Jordan is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the east and south, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north, and Israel and Palestine to the west. Since the dawn of civilization, the country's location at the crossroads of the Middle East has served as a strategic nexus connecting Asia, Africa and Europe.

Archaeologists found evidence on inhabitance dating as far back as the Paleolithic period. Three kingdoms emerged on the territory of modern Jordan at the very end of the Bronze Age: Ammon, Moab and Edom. The lands were later part of several kingdoms and empires, most notably the Nabatean Kingdom, the Roman Empire and finally the Ottoman Empire from the 16th until the early 20th century. After the Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire after World war I by Britain and France, the Emirate of Transjordan was officially recognized by the Council of the League of Nations in 1922. In 1946, Jordan became an independent sovereign state officially known as The Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan. The capture of the West Bank by Jordan during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War has showed that the Arab Legion forces known today as the Jordanian Armed Forces were the most effective among the Arab troops involved in the war. The same year, Abdullah I took the title King of Jordan. The name of the state was changed to The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on 1 December 1948.

Belfort

Belfort [French pronunciation: ​[bɛl.fɔʁ]] (German: Beffert) is a city in northeastern France in the Franche-Comté région, situated between Lyon and Strasbourg. It is the biggest town and the administrative town of the Territoire de Belfort département in the Franche-Comté region. Belfort is 400 km (249 mi) from Paris, 141 km (88 mi) from Strasbourg, 290 km (180 mi) from Lyon and 150 km (93 mi) from Zürich. The residents of the city are called ‘’Belfortains’’. It is located on the Savoureuse, on the strategically important natural route between the Rhine and the Rhône – the Belfort Gap (Trouée de Belfort) or Burgundian Gate (Porte de Bourgogne). The city of Belfort has 50,199 inhabitants. Together with its suburbs and satellite towns, Belfort forms the largest agglomeration (metropolitan area) in Franche-Comté region with an urban population of 308,601 inhabitants.

History

Belfort's strategic location, in a natural gap between the Vosges and the Jura, on a route linking the Rhine and the Rhône, has attracted human settlement and made it a target for armies.

Jordan Belfort

Jordan Ross Belfort (/ˈbɛlfɔːrt/; born July 9, 1962) is an American author, motivational speaker, and former stockbroker. In 1999, he pleaded guilty to fraud and related crimes in connection with stock-market manipulation and running a boiler room as part of a penny-stock scam. Belfort spent 22 months in prison as part of an agreement under which he gave testimony against numerous partners and subordinates in his fraud scheme. He published a memoir, The Wolf of Wall Street, which was adapted into a film, released in 2013. The film, directed by Martin Scorsese, starred Leonardo DiCaprio as Belfort.

Early life

Belfort was born in 1962 in the Bronx borough of New York City to a Jewish family. His parents, Leah and Max Belfort, are both accountants. He was raised in Bayside, Queens. Between completing high school and starting college, Belfort and his close childhood friend Elliot Loewenstern earned $20,000 selling Italian ice from styrofoam coolers to people at a local beach. Belfort went on to graduate from American University with a degree in biology. Belfort planned on using the money earned with Loewenstern to pay for dental school, and he enrolled at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry, the oldest dental school in the United States; however, he left after the dean of the school said to him on his first day at the college: "The golden age of dentistry is over. If you’re here simply because you’re looking to make a lot of money, you’re in the wrong place."