Map of Jordan | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024 | More stats

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Background: For most of its history since independence from British administration in 1946 Jordan was ruled by King HUSSEIN (1953-1993). A pragmatic ruler he successfully navigated competing pressures from the major powers (US USSR and UK) various Arab states Israel and a large internal Palestinian population through several wars and coup attempts. In 1989 he resumed parliamentary elections and gradually permitted political liberalization.


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Location: Middle East, between Israel and Saudi Arabia

Geographic coordinates

Map reference: Africa, Middle East, Standard Time Zones of the World

Area
Total: 89,213 km²
Land: 88,884 km²

Land boundaries: total 1,619 km, Iraq 181 km, Israel 238 km, Saudi Arabia 728 km, Syria 375 km, West Bank 97 km

Coastline: 26 km
Territorial sea: 3 nm

Maritime claims

Climate: mostly arid desert; rainy season in west (November to April)

Terrain:

Elevation

Natural resources: phosphates, potash, shale oil

Land use
Arable land: 4%
Permanent crops: 0.5%
Meadows and pastures: 1%
Other: 94%

Irrigated land: 570 km² (1989 est.)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards

Geography


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Population: 3,823,636 (July 1993 est.)
Growth rate: 3.57% (1993 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Jordanian(s)
Adjective: Jordanian

Ethnic groups: Arab 98%, Circassian 1%, Armenian 1%

Languages: Arabic (official), English widely understood among upper and middle classes

Religions: Sunni Muslim 92%, Christian 8%

Demographic profile

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 3.57% (1993 est.)

Birth rate: 39.48 births/1000 population (1993 est.)

Death rate: 4.32 deaths/1000 population (1993 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.51 migrant(s)/1000 population (1993 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: lack of natural water resources; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 33.3 deaths/1000 live births (1993 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 71.61 years
Male: 69.83 years
Female: 73.51 years (1993 est.)

Total fertility rate: 5.79 children born/woman (1993 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1990)
Total population: 80%
Male: 89%
Female: 70%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional short form: Jordan
Local long form: Al Mamlakah al Urduniyah al Hashimiyah
Local short form: Al Urdun
Former: Transjordan

Government type: constitutional monarchy

Capital: Amman

Administrative divisions:

Dependent areas

Independence: 25 May 1946 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration)

National holiday: Independence Day, 25 May (1946)

Constitution: 8 January 1952

Legal system: based on Islamic law and French codes; judicial review of legislative acts in a specially provided High Tribunal; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: 20 years of age; universal

Executive branch: monarch, prime minister, deputy prime minister, Cabinet

Legislative branch: bicameral National Assembly (Majlis al-'Umma) consists of an upper house or House of Notables (Majlis al-A'ayan) and a lower house or House of Representatives (Majlis al-Nuwaab; note - the House of Representatives has been convened and dissolved by the King several times since 1974 and in November 1989 the first parliamentary elections in 22 years were held

Judicial branch: Court of Cassation Chief of State: King HUSSEIN Ibn Talal Al Hashemi (since 11 August 1952) Head of Government: Prime Minister Zayd bin SHAKIR (since 21 November 1991)

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation:

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Fayez A. TARAWNEH
In the us chancery: 3,504 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: (202) 966-2,664
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Roger Gram HARRISON
From the us embassy: Jebel Amman, Amman
From the us mailing address: P. O. Box 354, Amman, or APO AE 9,892
From the us telephone: 962 (6) 644-371

Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of black (top), white, and green with a red isosceles triangle based on the hoist side bearing a small white seven-pointed star; the seven points on the star represent the seven fundamental laws of the Koran

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: Jordan benefited from increased Arab aid during the oil boom of the late 1970s and early 1980s, when its annual GNP growth averaged more than 10%. In the remainder of the 1980s, however, reductions in both Arab aid and worker remittances slowed economic growth to an average of roughly 2% per year. Imports - mainly oil, capital goods, consumer durables, and food - have been outstripping exports, with the difference covered by aid, remittances, and borrowing. In mid-1989, the Jordanian Government began debt-rescheduling negotiations and agreed to implement an IMF program designed to gradually reduce the budget deficit and implement badly needed structural reforms. The Persian Gulf crisis that began in August 1990, however, aggravated Jordan's already serious economic problems, forcing the government to shelve the IMF program, stop most debt payments, and suspend rescheduling negotiations. Aid from Gulf Arab states and worker remittances have plunged, and refugees have flooded the country, straining government resources. Economic recovery is unlikely without substantial foreign aid, debt relief, and economic reform.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 3% (1991 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $1,100 (1991 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: accounts for about 7% of GDP; principal products are wheat, barley, citrus fruit, tomatoes, melons, olives; livestock - sheep, goats, poultry; large net importer of food

Industries: phosphate mining, petroleum refining, cement, potash, light manufacturing

Industrial production growth rate: growth rate 1% (1991 est.), accounts for 20% of GDP

Labor force: 572,000 (1988)
By occupation agriculture: 20%
By occupation manufacturing and mining: 20% (1987est.)

Unemployment rate: 40% (1991 est.) expenditures of $440 million (1992 est.)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $1.0 billion (f.o.b., 1991 est.)
Commodoties: phosphates, fertilizers, potash, agricultural products, manufactures
Partners: India, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Ethiopia, UAE, China

Imports: $2.3 billion (c.i.f., 1991 est.)
Commodoties: crude oil, machinery, transport equipment, food, live animals, manufactured goods
Partners: EC countries, US, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Turkey

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Jordanian dinars (JD) per US$1 - 0.6890 (January 1993), 0.6797 (1992), 0.6808 (1991), 0.6636 (1990), 0.5704 (1989), 0.3709 (1988)


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Electricity
Production: 1,030,000 kW capacity; 3,814 million kWh produced, 1,070 kWh per capita (1992)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones

Telephone system

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Percent of gdp:

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 19
With permanentsurface runways: 14
With runways over 3659 m: 1
With runways 2440-3659 m: 13
With runways 1220-2439 m: 0

Heliports

Pipelines: crude oil 209 km

Railways

Roadways

Waterways

Merchant marine:

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: differences with Israel over the location of the 1949 Armistice Line that separates the two countries; water-sharing issues with Israel

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs