The way from Tel -Aviv on Israel's coast to Amman, Jordan's capital, first climbs up the Judean Mountains all the way to the Ramallah-Beit El region north of Jerusalem at 760 meters above sea level, then drops steeply towards the Dead Sea at 427 meters below sea level, only to start climbing again towards the hilly area of Amman.

The Jordan Valley is part of the much larger Great Rift Valley which runs for some 275 km from the Sea of Galilee in the north to Eilat, the southernmost point in Israel. The valley marks the border between Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) to the west. The area forms a natural barrier that throughout history made invasions from the east difficult. Today it is an essential strategic asset which safeguards Israel against the infiltration of terrorists and the smuggling of weapons into the West Bank.

Despite difficult climatic conditions - the Jordan Valley is extremely arid - it has been populated for thousands of years. On both sides of the Jordan River the land is cultivated by Israelis, Jordanians and Palestinians alike, while around the Dead Sea there is a developed infrastructure of health tourism and industrial mining for salt and minerals.