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 (1953-1998). 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, northwest of Saudi Arabia

Geographic coordinates: 31 00 N, 36 00 E

Map reference: Middle East

Area
Total: 89,213 km²
Land: 88,884 km²
Water: 329 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than Indiana

Land boundaries
Total: 1,619 km
Border countries: (5) 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
Extremes lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m
Extremes highest point: Jabal Ram 1,754 m

Natural resources: phosphates, potash, shale oil

Land use
Arable land: 4%
Permanent crops: 1%
Permanent pastures: 9%
Forests and woodland: 1%
Other: 85% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 630 km² (1993 est.)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards: NA

Geography


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Population: 4,434,978 (July 1998 est.)
Growth rate: 2.54% (1998 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 96%, Christian 4% (1997 est.)

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 43% (male 985,211; female 935,982)
15-64 years: 54% (male 1,224,595; female 1,160,915)
65 years and over: 3% (male 64,406; female 63,869) (July 1998 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 2.54% (1998 est.)

Birth rate: 35.18 births/1000 population (1998 est.)

Death rate: 3.91 deaths/1000 population (1998 est.)

Net migration rate: -5.92 migrant(s)/1000 population (1998 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: limited natural fresh water resources; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification
International agreements party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Air pollutants

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
Under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.01 male(s)/female (1998 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 33.29 deaths/1000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 72.84 years
Male: 70.96 years
Female: 74.84 years (1998 est.)

Total fertility rate: 4.79 children born/woman (1998 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
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 86.6%
Male: 93.4%
Female: 79.4% (1995 est.)

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: 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: 12 governorates (muhafazat, singular_muhafazah; Ajlun, Al 'Aqabah, Al Balqa', Al Karak, Al Mafraq, 'Amman, At Tafilah, Az Zarqa', Irbid, Jarash, Ma'an, Madaba

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 2 May 1953): ead of
Government: Prime Minister Abd al-Salam al-MAJALI (since 19 March 1997)
Cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister in consultation with the king
Elections: none; the king is a constitutional monarch; prime minister appointed by the king

Legislative branch: bicameral National Assembly or Majlis al-'Umma consists of the Senate (a 40-member body appointed by the king from designated categories of public figures; members serve four-year terms) and the House of Representatives (80 seats; members elected by popular vote on the basis of proportional representation to serve four-year terms)
Elections: House of Representatives_last held 4 November 1997 (next to be held NA November 2001)
Election results: House of Representatives_percent of vote by party_NA; seats by party - National Constitutional Party 2, Arab Land Party 1, independents 75, other 2
Note: the House of Representatives has been convened and dissolved by the king several times since 1974; 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, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFCTU, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, MONUA, NAM, OIC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIBH, UNMOT, UNOMIG, UNPREDEP, UNRWA, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (applicant)

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Marwan Jamil MUASHIR
In the us chancery: 3,504 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 966-2,664
In the us fax: [1] (202) 966-3,110
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Wesley W. EGAN, Jr.
From the us embassy: Jabel Amman, Amman
From the us mailing address: P. O. Box 354, Amman 11,118 Jordan; APO AE 9,892-0200
From the us telephone: [962] (6) 820,101
From the us fax: [962] (6) 820,159

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 is a small Arab country with inadequate supplies of water and other natural resources such as oil and coal. 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 recovery was uneven in 1994-97. The government is implementing the reform program adopted in 1992 and continues to secure rescheduling and write-offs of its heavy foreign debt. Debt, poverty, and unemployment remain Jordan's biggest on-going problems.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 5.3% (1997 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity: $4,800 (1997 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 6%
Industry: 30%
Services: 64% (1995 est.)

Agriculture products: wheat, barley, citrus, tomatoes, melons, olives; sheep, goats, poultry

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

Industrial production growth rate: -3.4% (1996)

Labor force
Total: 1.15 million plus 300,000 foreign workers (1997 est.)
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: 15% official rate; note_actual rate is 20%-25% (1997 est.)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: $2.7 billion
Expenditures: $2.8 billion, including capital expenditures of $630 million (1997 est.)

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: total value:$1.53 billion (f.o.b., 1997)
Commodoties: phosphates, fertilizers, potash, agricultural products, manufactures
Partners: Iraq, India, Saudi Arabia, EU, Indonesia, UAE

Imports: total value:$3.7 billion (c.i.f., 1997)
Commodoties: crude oil, machinery, transport equipment, food, live animals, manufactured goods
Partners: EU, Iraq, US, Japan, Turkey

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $7.3 billion (1997 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Jordanian dinars (JD) per US$1_0.7090 (January 1998-1996), 0.7005 (1995), 0.6987 (1994), 0.6928 (1993)
Note: since May 1989, the dinar has been pegged to a basket of currencies


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Electricity
Capacity: 1.066 million kW (1995)
Production: 5.02 billion kWh (1995)
Consumption per capita: 1,259 kWh (1995)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones: 81,500 (1987 est.)

Telephone system: adequate telephone system
Domestic: microwave radio relay, cable, and radiotelephone links
International: satellite earth stations_2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) and 1 Arabsat; coaxial cable and microwave radio relay to Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Syria; microwave radio relay to Lebanon is inactive; participant in Medarabtel

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $627 million (1997 est.)
Percent of gdp: 7.8% (1997)

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: 17 (1997 est.)
With paved runways total: 14
With paved runways over 3047 m: 9
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 4
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 1 (1997 est.)
With unpaved runways total: 3
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 1
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 2 (1997 est.)

Heliports

Pipelines: crude oil 209 km

Railways
Total: 676 km
Narrow gauge: 676 km 1.050-m gauge; note_an additional 110 km stretch of the old Hejaz railroad is out of use

Roadways

Waterways

Merchant marine
Total: 4 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 43,759 GRT/69,795 DWT
Ships by type: bulk 3, cargo 1 (1997 est.)

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: none

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs