wadi rum desert

In southern Jordan you will find the 720 km2 (280 square miles) Wadi Rum desert. Wadi Rum in the south of Jordan is one of the five places in Jordan on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Wadi means “valley” and because of its breathtaking views, Wadi Rum is also called “The valley of the moon”. It features an iconic landscape with spectacular sandstone mountains, valleys, sand dunes, cliffs, and natural arches. These landforms represent a million years of ongoing landscape evolution. Blowing sand and winter floods shaped the sandstone into natural bridges and curving arches. The presence of iron oxide gives the mountains and sand a red color. The Rum Village sits one mile above sea level and the surrounding desert area is home to Jordan’s highest point, Jabal Umm ad Dami (6,083 feet). The government of Jordan recognized the unique natural and cultural history of Wadi Rum, and in 1998 declared Wadi Rum a protected area.

 

For thousands of years, people have lived in the Wadi Rum desert, trying to survive its harsh environment. There are over 20,000 documented inscriptions inside Wadi Rum, tracing human existence back to 12,000 years. The people living in Wadi Rum are of Bedouin origin and used to led nomadic lives, herding goats for meat and milk. A few locals continue a truly nomadic existence depending on livestock’s raising, but most of them now depend on tourism. Because of the featuring’s in films, the Wadi Rum desert became known worldwide and tourism increased. In 2018, a total of 200,000 tourists visited Wadi Rum.