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.

Olivia Jordan

Olivia Jordan Thomas (born September 28, 1988) is an American actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder who represented the United States at Miss Universe 2015 after being crowned Miss USA on July 12, 2015 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She also represented the United States at Miss World 2013 in Bali, Indonesia where she finished in the top 20. Jordan is the first woman from Oklahoma to be crowned Miss USA.

Early life

Olivia was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma to Bob and Jill Thomas. She is a 4th generation Tulsan and a graduate of Bishop Kelley High School. She attended college in Boston, Massachusetts. While at Boston University, she lived on the 9th floor of Sleeper Hall and became SAG-eligible through featured extra work in the movies Ted and Here Comes the Boom. She graduated from Boston University in May 2011 with a Bachelor of Science in Outline of health sciences. She then moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in modeling and acting. She has appeared in multiple feature films and appeared in Hot Tub Time Machine 2 as well as the Lifetime television pilot Unreal.

Pia Wurtzbach

Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach (born September 24, 1989), once professionally known as Pia Romero, is an actress, model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 2015 on December 20, 2015 after becoming Miss Universe Philippines 2015 at the Binibining Pilipinas 2015 pageant on March 15, 2015. Wurtzbach speaks fluent Cebuano, English and Tagalog. She also speaks rudimentary German, describing it as "Enough to get myself a bratwurst".

Early life

Wurtzbach was born in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, in then West Germany, to a German father and Filipino mother. Her middle name of "Alonzo" is her mother's maiden name which is a naming practice in the Philippines and based upon Spanish naming customs. She later moved to Cagayan de Oro on the island of Mindanao where she attended kindergarten at Kong Hua School and primary school at Corpus Christi. Her parents separated when she was 11 years old and she became the family's main money-earner until the age of 18 by doing modeling and acting. After being raised in the Philippines, she spent several years in England. She finished her secondary education at ABS-CBN Distance Learning School in Quezon City, Metro Manila and studied culinary arts at the Center for Asian Culinary Studies in San Juan, Metro Manila.

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern United States and is the United States' 27th-most extensive, fourth-most populous, and seventh-most densely populated state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south and Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont to the east. The state has a maritime border in the Atlantic Ocean with Rhode Island, east of Long Island, as well as an international border with the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the north and Ontario to the west and north. The state of New York, with an estimated 19.8 million residents in 2015, is often referred to as New York State to distinguish it from New York City, the state's most populous city and its economic hub.

With an estimated population of nearly 8.5 million in 2014, New York City is the most populous city in the United States and the premier gateway for legal immigration to the United States. The New York City Metropolitan Area is one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. New York City is a global city, exerting a significant impact upon commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and entertainment, its fast pace defining the term New York minute. The home of the United Nations Headquarters, New York City is an important center for international diplomacy and has been described as the cultural and financial capital of the world, as well as the world's most economically powerful city. New York City makes up over 40% of the population of New York State. Two-thirds of the state's population lives in the New York City Metropolitan Area, and nearly 40% live on Long Island. Both the state and New York City were named for the 17th century Duke of York, future King James II of England. The next four most populous cities in the state are Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, and Syracuse, while the state capital is Albany.

Miss Universe

Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by the Miss Universe Organization. Along with its rival contests, Miss World and Miss Earth, this pageant is one of the most publicized beauty contests in the world. The pageant was founded in 1952 by the California clothing company Pacific Mills, and is owned, along with Miss USA, by WME/IMG.

In 1998, Miss Universe, Inc. changed its name to Miss Universe Organization, and moved its headquarters from Los Angeles to New York City.

In 1998, the logo of Miss Universe – "the woman with stars" – was created, representing the beauty and responsibility of women around the world. The same logo is used in present-day pageants.

In 2015, after Donald Trump made statements about immigrants from Mexico in his presidential campaign kickoff speech, NBC decided to end their business relationship and stated that they will no longer air the pageant, or the Miss USA pageant, on their networks. In September 2015, Trump bought the entire stock of the Miss Universe Organization from NBC, becoming its sole owner for three days until selling the entire stock to WME/IMG.