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 (1953-1994). 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; in 1994 a formal peace treaty was signed with Israel.


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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 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

Maritime claims: territorial sea:3 nm

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

Terrain: mostly desert plateau in east, highland area in west; Great Rift Valley separates East and West Banks of the Jordan River

Elevation

Natural resources: phosphates, potash, shale oil

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

Irrigated land: 570 km² (1989 est.)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards: NA

Geography


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Population: 3,961,194 (July 1994 est.)
Growth rate: 3.5% (1994 est.)

Nationality: noun:Jordanian(s)

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: 3.5% (1994 est.)

Birth rate: 38.77 births/1000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate: 4.22 deaths/1000 population (1994 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.47 migrant(s)/1000 population (1994 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

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

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 32.3 deaths/1000 live births (1994 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 71.85 years
Male: 70.04 years
Female: 73.77 years (1994 est.)

Total fertility rate: 5.64 children born/woman (1994 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 est.)
Total population: 80%
Male: 89%
Female: 70%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional long form: Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Conventional short form:
Former: Transjordan

Government type: constitutional monarchy

Capital: Amman

Administrative divisions: 8 governorates (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah; Al Balqa', Al Karak, Al Mafraq, 'Amman, At Tafilah, Az Zarqa', Irbid, Ma'an

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
Chief of state: King HUSSEIN Bin Talal Al Hashimi (since 11 August 1952)
Head of government: Prime Minister Abd al-Salam al-MAJALI (since May 1993)

Legislative branch: Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF) includes Royal Jordanian Land Force, Royal Jordanian Air Force, Royal Naval Force; Ministry of the Interior's Public Security Force (falls under JAF only in wartime or crisis situations)
House of Notables Majlis alA'ayan: consists of a 40-member body appointed by the king from designated categories of public figures
House of Representatives: elections last held 8 November 1993 (next to be held NA November 1997); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (80 total) Muslim Brotherhood (fundamentalist) 16, Independent Islamic bloc (generally traditionalist) 6, Radical leftist 3, pro-government 55
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

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation: ABEDA, ACC, AFESD, AL, AMF, CAEU, CCC, ESCWA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, LORCS, NAM, OIC, PCA, UN, UNAVEM II, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNOSOM, UNRWA, UNPROFOR, UNTAC, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Wesley EGAN, Jr.
From the us chancery: 3,504 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20,008
From the us telephone: [962] (6) 820-101
From the us fax: (202) 966-3,110
From the us embassy: Jabel Amman, Amman
From the us mailing address: P. O. Box 354, Amman, or APO AE 9,892-0200

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 real GNP growth averaged more than 10%. In the remainder of the 1980s, however, reductions in both Arab aid and worker remittances slowed real economic growth to an average of roughly 2% per year. Imports - mainly oil, capital goods, consumer durables, and food - outstripped 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-supported 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, worker remittances and trade contracted, and refugees flooded the country, producing serious balance-of-payments problems, stunting GDP growth, and straining government resources. The economy rebounded in 1992, largely due to the influx of capital repatriated by workers returning from the Gulf, but the recovery has been losing steam since mid-1993. The government is implementing the reform program adopted in 1992 and continues to secure rescheduling of its heavy foreign debt.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 5% (1993 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $3,000 (1993 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: accounts for about 10% 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: 3% (1993 est.), accounts for 20% of GDP

Labor force: 600,000 (1992)
By occupation industry: 11.4%
By occupation commerce restaurants and hotels: 10.5%
By occupation construction: 10.0%
By occupation transport and communications: 8.7%
By occupation agriculture: 7.4%
By occupation other services: 52.0% (1992)

Unemployment rate: 20% (1993 est.)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget: revenues:$1.7 billion

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: $1.4 billion (f.o.b., 1993 est.)
Commodities: phosphates, fertilizers, potash, agricultural products, manufactures
Partners: India, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, EC, Indonesia, UAE

Imports: $3.2 billion (c.i.f., 1993 est.)
Commodities: crude oil, machinery, transport equipment, food, live animals, manufactured goods
Partners: EC, US, Iraq, Japan, Turkey

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $6.8 billion (December 1993 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Jordanian dinars (JD) per US$1 - 0.7019 (February 1994), 0.6928 (1993), 0.6797 (1992), 0.6808 (1991), 0.6636 (1990), 0.5704 (1989)


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Electricity
Capacity: 1,030,000 kW
Production: 3.814 billion kWh
Consumption per capita: 1,070 kWh (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
Dollar figure: exchange rate conversion - $435 million, 7.9% of GDP (1993)

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: 16
Usable: 14
With permanentsurface runways: 13
With runways over 3659 m: 1
With runways 2440-3659 m: 12
With runways 1220-2439 m: 0

Heliports

Pipelines: crude oil 209 km

Railways

Roadways

Waterways

Merchant marine: 3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 71,566 GRT/129,351 DWT, bulk 1, cargo 1, oil tanker 1

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