SPORTS AND RECREATION
Jordanians love to watch sports on television. When a soccer game is broadcast, a group of fans will gather to cheer their favourite team. Car racing is also popular, especially the annual races called the Jordan Rally and the Jabal ar-Rumman. Camel and horse races take place in the summer, but spectators cannot bet on the races, since the Qu'ran, the Muslim holy book, forbids it. Camel races are different from horse races because camels do not run as fast as horses, although they can cover longer distances.

Other favourite activities are martial arts such as karate and tai kwan do. In the Gulf of Aqaba, waterskiing and scuba diving are popular sports.

Backgammon (which Jordanians call tric trac) has been a favourite pastime for centuries. People often play on beautiful inlaid or mosaic boards. Archaeological digs in the Middle East have uncovered gaming tables with designs similar to backgammon boards that date back more than 5,000 years. The game relates to the calendar. There are 30 discs, for the 30 days of the month, and they are black and white to symbolize night and day. The 24 positions represent the hours of the day. Jordanian men like to play the game in coffee houses while puffing on a water pipe and drinking coffee.
 Did you know?
     
Many men like to relax after work in coffee shops where they can smoke an argeeleh, or "hubble-bubble" pipe. It gets its nickname from the bubbling sound it makes when the smoke is inhaled through a water trap and up a hose.

  
A large sports complex called Al-Hussein Youth City was recently built in Amman to offer young people and families the opportunity to play tennis and squash and to enjoy gym or swimming.