Jordan River
- The Jordan River starts in northern Israel at the foot of Mount Hermon, more than 1,500 feet above sea level, and ends almost 1,400 feet below sea level at the Dead Sea.
- The Jordan River meanders 200 miles from Mount Hermon to the Dead Sea (a straight distance of 90 miles).
- The Jordan flows through the Great Rift Valley, the largest cut in the earth's crust. The Rift Valley extends all the way to Lake Victoria in southern Africa.
- The Jordan River received its name from a Hebrew word meaning "to descend, to go down." The river descends from the slopes of Mount Hermon to the Dead Sea.
- The Jordan is one of the fastest-flowing rivers for its size in the world.
- The Jordan is only fifty to seventy-five feet across in most places.
- Today, the Jordan has been dammed up where it runs out of the Sea of Galilee in order to meet the state of Israel's water needs.
