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

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Background: Following World War I and the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, the League of Nations awarded Britain the mandate to govern much of the Middle East. Britain demarcated a semi-autonomous region of Transjordan from Palestine in 1921 and recognized ABDALLAH I from the Hashemite family as the country's first leader. The Hashemites also controlled the Hijaz, or the western coastal area of modern-day Saudi Arabia until 1925, when they were pushed out by IBN SAUD and Wahhabi tribes. The country gained its independence in 1946 and thereafter became The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.


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Location: Middle East, northwest of Saudi Arabia, between Israel (to the west) and Iraq

Geographic coordinates: 31 00 N, 36 00 E

Map reference: Middle East

Area
Total: 89,342 km²
Land: 88,802 km²
Water: 540 km²
Comparative: about three-quarters the size of Pennsylvania; slightly smaller than Indiana

Land boundaries
Total: 1,744 km
Border countries: (5) Iraq 179 km; Israel 307 km; Saudi Arabia 731 km; Syria 379 km; West Bank 148 km

Coastline: 26 km

Maritime claims
Territorial sea: 3 nm

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

Terrain: mostly arid desert plateau; a great north-south geological rift along the west of the country is the dominant topographical feature and includes the Jordan River Valley, the Dead Sea, and the Jordanian Highlands

Elevation
Highest point: Jabal Umm ad Dami 1,854 m
Lowest point: Dead Sea -431 m
Mean elevation: 812 m

Natural resources: phosphates, potash, shale oil

Land use
Agricultural land: 11.4% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land arable land: 2% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land permanent crops: 1% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land permanent pasture: 8.4% (2018 est.)
Forest: 1.1% (2018 est.)
Other: 87.5% (2018 est.)

Irrigated land: 833 km² (2020)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²: Indian Ocean drainage: (Persian Gulf) Tigris and Euphrates (918,044 km²)

Total water withdrawal
Municipal: 500 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
Industrial: 40 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
Agricultural: 570 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources: 940 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

Natural hazards: droughts; periodic earthquakes; flash floods

Geography
Note: strategic location at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba and as the Arab country that shares the longest border with Israel and the occupied West Bank; the Dead Sea, the lowest point in Asia and the second saltiest body of water in the world (after Lac Assal in Djibouti), lies on Jordan's western border with Israel and the West Bank; Jordan is almost landlocked but does have a 26 km southwestern coastline with a single port, Al 'Aqabah (Aqaba)


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Population
Distribution: population heavily concentrated in the west, and particularly the northwest, in and around the capital of Amman; a sizeable, but smaller population is located in the southwest along the shore of the Gulf of Aqaba: 11,086,716 (2023 est.)
Note: increased estimate reflects revised assumptions about the net migration rate due to the increased flow of Syrian refugees
Growth rate: 0.79% (2023 est.)
Below poverty line: 15.7% (2018 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Jordanian(s)
Adjective: Jordanian

Ethnic groups: Jordanian 69.3%, Syrian 13.3%, Palestinian 6.7%, Egyptian 6.7%, Iraqi 1.4%, other 2.6% (2015 est.)
Note: data represent population by self-identified nationality in national census

Languages: Arabic (official), English (widely understood among upper and middle classes)
Major-language samples:

Religions: Muslim 97.1% (official; predominantly Sunni), Christian 2.1% (majority Greek Orthodox, but some Greek and Roman Catholics, Syrian Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, and Protestant denominations), Buddhist 0.4%, Hindu 0.1%, Jewish <0.1%, folk <0.1%, other <0.1%, unaffiliated <0.1% (2020 est.)

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 31.42% (male 1,788,882/female 1,694,417)
15-64 years: 64.53% (male 3,802,074/female 3,352,680)
65 years and over: 4.05% (2023 est.) (male 218,218/female 230,445)

Dependency ratios
Total dependency ratio: 57.1
Youth dependency ratio: 51.2
Elderly dependency ratio: 5.8
Potential support ratio: 17.1 (2021 est.)

Median age
Total: 24.6 years (2023 est.)
Male: 25.1 years
Female: 24.1 years

Population growth rate: 0.79% (2023 est.)

Birth rate: 22.4 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)

Death rate: 3.5 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)

Net migration rate: -11 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 est.)

Population distribution: population heavily concentrated in the west, and particularly the northwest, in and around the capital of Amman; a sizeable, but smaller population is located in the southwest along the shore of the Gulf of Aqaba

Urbanization
Urban population: 92% of total population (2023)
Rate of urbanization: 0.98% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Major urban areas
Population: 2.232 million AMMAN (capital) (2023)

Environment
Current issues: limited natural freshwater resources; declining water table; salinity; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; biodiversity and ecosystem damage/loss
International agreements party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
International agreements signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Air pollutants
Particulate matter emissions: 25.87 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)
Carbon dioxide emissions: 25.11 megatons (2016 est.)
Methane emissions: 6.04 megatons (2020 est.)

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.13 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.95 male(s)/female
Total population: 1.1 male(s)/female (2023 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth: 24.6 years (2017/18 est.)
Note: data represents median age at first birth among women 25-49

Maternal mortality ratio: 41 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 13.6 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)
Male: 14.7 deaths/1,000 live births
Female: 12.4 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 76.3 years (2023 est.)
Male: 74.8 years
Female: 77.8 years

Total fertility rate: 2.91 children born/woman (2023 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate: 51.8% (2017/18)

Drinking water source
Improved urban: 99.2% of population
Improved rural: 97.9% of population
Improved total: 99.1% of population
Unimproved urban: 0.8% of population
Unimproved rural: 2.1% of population
Unimproved total: 0.9% of population (2020 est.)

Current health expenditure: 7.5% of GDP (2020)

Physicians density: 2.66 physicians/1,000 population (2019)

Hospital bed density: 1.5 beds/1,000 population (2017)

Sanitation facility access
Improved urban:
Unimproved urban:

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate: 35.5% (2016)

Alcohol consumption
Per capita total: 0.25 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Per capita beer: 0.06 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Per capita wine: 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Per capita spirits: 0.19 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Per capita other alcohols: 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

Tobacco use
Total: 34.8% (2020 est.)
Male: 56.8% (2020 est.)
Female: 12.8% (2020 est.)

Children under the age of 5 years underweight: 2.7% (2019)

Education expenditures: 3.2% of GDP (2021 est.)

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 98.4%
Male: 98.7%
Female: 98.4% (2021)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education
Total: 11 years
Male: 10 years
Female: 11 years (2020)

Youth unemployment
Rate ages 15 24 total: 40.5% (2021 est.)
Rate ages 15 24 male: 37.4%
Rate ages 15 24 female: 53.8%


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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
Etymology: named for the Jordan River, which makes up part of Jordan's northwest border

Government type: parliamentary constitutional monarchy

Capital
Name: Amman
Geographic coordinates: 31 57 N, 35 56 E
Time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
Etymology: in the 13th century B.C., the Ammonites named their main city "Rabbath Ammon"; "rabbath" designated "capital," so the name meant "The Capital of [the] Ammon[ites]"; over time, the "Rabbath" came to be dropped and the city became known simply as "Ammon" and then "Amman"

Administrative divisions: 12 governorates (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah); 'Ajlun, Al 'Aqabah, Al Balqa', Al Karak, Al Mafraq, Al ‘Asimah (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
History: previous 1928 (preindependence); latest initially adopted 28 November 1947, revised and ratified 1 January 1952
Amendments: constitutional amendments require at least a two-thirds majority vote of both the Senate and the House and ratification by the king; amended several times, last in 2022

Legal system: mixed system developed from codes instituted by the Ottoman Empire (based on French law), British common law, and Islamic law

International law organization participation: has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

Citizenship
Citizenship by birth: no
Citizenship by descent only: the father must be a citizen of Jordan
Dual citizenship recognized: yes
Residency requirement for naturalization: 15 years

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: King ABDALLAH II (since 7 February 1999); Heir Apparent Crown Prince HUSSEIN (eldest son of the monarch, born 28 June 1994); the monarchy is hereditary
Head of government: Prime Minister Bisher AL-KHASAWNEH (since 7 October 2020)
Cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the monarch in consultation with the prime minister
Elections/appointments: prime minister appointed by the monarch

Legislative branch
Description:
Elections:
Election results:

Judicial branch
Highest courts: Court of Cassation or Supreme Court (consists of 15 members, including the chief justice); Constitutional Court (consists of 9 members)
Judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court chief justice appointed by the king; other judges nominated by the Judicial Council, an 11-member judicial policymaking body consisting of high-level judicial officials and judges, and approved by the king; judge tenure not limited; Constitutional Court members appointed by the king for 6-year non-renewable terms with one-third of the membership renewed every 2 years
Subordinate courts: Courts of Appeal; Great Felonies Court; religious courts; military courts; juvenile courts; Land Settlement Courts; Income Tax Court; Higher Administrative Court; Customs Court; special courts including the State Security Court

Political parties and leaders: political reforms enacted in 2020 require all existing parties to re-register by May 2023, which will result in changes to the number of registered parties and the number of seats held by those parties for the anticipated 2024 election

International organization participation: ABEDA, AFESD, AMF, CAEU, CD, CICA, EBRD, FAO, G-11, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAS, MIGA, MINUSTAH, MONUSCO, NAM, NATO (partner), OIC, OPCW, OSCE (partner), PCA, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNISFA, UNMIL, UNMISS, UNOCI, UNOOSA, UNRWA, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Dina Khalil Tawfiq KAWAR (since 27 June 2016)
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
In the us email address and website:
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Yael LEMPERT (since 3 September 2023)
From the us embassy: Abdoun, Al-Umawyeen St., Amman
From the us mailing address: 6,050 Amman Place, Washington DC 20,521-6,050
From the us telephone: [962] (6) 590-6,000
From the us FAX: [962] (6) 592-0163
From the us email address and website:

Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of black (top), representing the Abbassid Caliphate, white, representing the Ummayyad Caliphate, and green, representing the Fatimid Caliphate; a red isosceles triangle on the hoist side, representing the Great Arab Revolt of 1916, and bearing a small white seven-pointed star symbolizing the seven verses of the opening Sura (Al-Fatiha) of the Holy Koran; the seven points on the star represent faith in One God, humanity, national spirit, humility, social justice, virtue, and aspirations; design is based on the Arab Revolt flag of World War I

National symbols: eagle; national colors: black, white, green, red

National anthem
Name: "As-salam al-malaki al-urdoni" (Long Live the King of Jordan)
Lyrics/music: Abdul-Mone'm al-RIFAI'/Abdul-Qader al-TANEER
Note: adopted 1946; the shortened version of the anthem is used most commonly, while the full version is reserved for special occasions

National heritage
Total World Heritage Sites: 6 (5 cultural, 1 mixed)
Selected World Heritage Site locales:


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Economy overview: low growth, upper middle-income Middle Eastern economy; high debt and unemployment, especially for youth and women; key US foreign assistance recipient; natural resource-poor and import-reliant

Real gdp purchasing power parity:
Note: data are in 2017 dollars

Real gdp growth rate:

Real gdp per capita:
Note: data are in 2017 dollars

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use
Household consumption: 80.5% (2017 est.)
Government consumption: 19.8% (2017 est.)
Investment in fixed capital: 22.8% (2017 est.)
Investment in inventories: 0.7% (2017 est.)
Exports of goods and services: 34.2% (2017 est.)
Imports of goods and services: -58% (2017 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 4.5% (2017 est.)
Industry: 28.8% (2017 est.)
Services: 66.6% (2017 est.)

Agriculture products: tomatoes, poultry, olives, milk, potatoes, cucumbers, vegetables, watermelons, green chillies/peppers, peaches/nectarines

Industries: tourism, information technology, clothing, fertilizer, potash, phosphate mining, pharmaceuticals, petroleum refining, cement, inorganic chemicals, light manufacturing

Industrial production growth rate: 3.02% (2021 est.)

Labor force: 2.865 million (2021 est.)

Unemployment rate:
Note: official rate; unofficial rate is approximately 30%

Youth unemployment
Rate ages 15 24 total: 40.5% (2021 est.)
Rate ages 15 24 male: 37.4%
Rate ages 15 24 female: 53.8%

Population below poverty line: 15.7% (2018 est.)

Gini index
Coefficient distribution of family income: 33.7 (2010 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10%: 3.4%
Highest 10%: 28.7% (2010 est.)

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: $10.813 billion (2019 est.)
Expenditures: $13.489 billion (2019 est.)
Surplus  or deficit: -5.1% (of GDP) (2017 est.)

Taxes and other revenues: 15.81% (of GDP) (2020 est.)

Public debt:
Note: data cover central government debt and include debt instruments issued (or owned) by government entities other than the treasury; the data include treasury debt held by foreign entities; the data exclude debt issued by subnational entities, as well as intragovernmental debt; intragovernmental debt consists of treasury borrowings from surpluses in the social funds, such as for retirement, medical care, and unemployment; debt instruments for the social funds are not sold at public auctions

Revenue
From forest resources: 0.02% of GDP (2018 est.)
From coal: 0% of GDP (2018 est.)

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:
Partners: United States 26%, India 13%, Saudi Arabia 11%, Iraq 5%, China 4% (2021)
Commodities: fertilizers, clothing and apparel, calcium phosphates, phosphoric acid, packaged medicines (2021)

Imports:
Partners: China 17%, Saudi Arabia 14%, United Arab Emirates 11%, United States 5%, Turkey 3% (2021)
Commodities: cars, refined petroleum, gold, crude petroleum, clothing and apparel, broadcasting equipment, packaged medicines (2021)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

Debt external:

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates:


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Electricity
Access population without electricity: (2020) less than 1 million
Access electrification-total population: 99.9% (2021)
Access electrification-urban areas: 100% (2021)
Access electrification-rural areas: 98.8% (2021)
Installed generating capacity: 5.644 million kW (2020 est.)
Consumption: 17.366 billion kWh (2019 est.)
Exports: 98 million kWh (2019 est.)
Imports: 239 million kWh (2019 est.)
Transmission/distribution losses: 2.249 billion kWh (2019 est.)
Generation sources fossil fuels: 83.5% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources nuclear: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources solar: 11.7% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources wind: 4.6% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources hydroelectricity: 0.2% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources tide and wave: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources geothermal: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources biomass and waste: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)

Coal
Production: 0 metric tons (2020 est.)
Consumption: 219,000 metric tons (2020 est.)
Exports: 0 metric tons (2020 est.)
Imports: 219,000 metric tons (2020 est.)
Proven reserves: 0 metric tons (2019 est.)

Petroleum
Total petroleum production: 0 bbl/day (2021 est.)
Refined petroleum consumption: 114,800 bbl/day (2019 est.)
Crude oil and lease condensate exports: 0 bbl/day (2018 est.)
Crude oil and lease condensate imports: 47,400 bbl/day (2018 est.)
Crude oil estimated reserves: 1 million barrels (2021 est.)

Crude oil

Refined petroleum
Products production: 67,240 bbl/day (2015 est.)
Products exports: 0 bbl/day (2015 est.)
Products imports: 68,460 bbl/day (2015 est.)

Natural gas
Production: 115.872 million cubic meters (2019 est.)
Consumption: 4.651 billion cubic meters (2019 est.)
Exports: 375.849 million cubic meters (2019 est.)
Imports: 4.911 billion cubic meters (2019 est.)
Proven reserves: 6.031 billion cubic meters (2021 est.)

Carbon dioxide emissions: 23.47 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
From coal and metallurgical coke: 381,000 metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
From petroleum and other liquids: 15.786 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
From consumed natural gas: 7.303 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)

Energy consumption per capita: 39.331 million Btu/person (2019 est.)


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Telephones
Fixed lines total subscriptions: 465,603 (2022 est.)
Fixed lines subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 4 (2021 est.)
Mobile cellular total subscriptions: 7,275,563 (2021 est.)
Mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 65 (2021 est.)

Telephone system

Broadcast media: radio and TV dominated by the government-owned Jordan Radio and Television Corporation (JRTV) that operates a main network, a sports network, a film network, and a satellite channel; first independent TV broadcaster aired in 2007; international satellite TV and Israeli and Syrian TV broadcasts are available; roughly 30 radio stations with JRTV operating the main government-owned station; transmissions of multiple international radio broadcasters are available

Internet
Country code: .jo
Users total: 9.13 million (2021 est.)
Users percent of population: 83% (2021 est.)

Broadband fixed subscriptions
Total: 630,545 (2020 est.)
Subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 6 (2020 est.)


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Military expenditures:

Military and security forces:
Note: the armed forces report administratively to the minister of defense and have a support role for internal security; the prime minister serves as defense minister, but there is no separate ministry of defense

Military service age and obligation: 17 years of age for voluntary military service for men and women); initial service term is 24 months, with option to reenlist for up to 18 years; conscription was abolished in 1991, but in 2020 Jordan announced the reinstatement of compulsory military service for jobless men aged between 25 and 29 with 12 months of service, made up of 3 months of military training and 9 months of professional and technical training; in 2019, Jordan announced a voluntary 4-month National Military Service program for men and women aged between 18-25 years who have been unemployed for at least 6 months; service would include 1 month for military training with the remaining 3 months dedicated to vocational training in the sectors of construction and tourism (2023)
Note: women comprised about 3% of the military as of 2023

Space program

Terrorist groups
Terrorist groups: Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS)
Note: details about the history, aims, leadership, organization, areas of operation, tactics, targets, weapons, size, and sources of support of the group(s) appear(s) in terrorist organizations


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National air transport system
Number of registered air carriers: 4 (2020)
Inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 54
Annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers: 3,383,805 (2018)
Annual freight traffic on registered air carriers: 175.84 million (2018) mt-km

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix: JY

Airports: 18 (2021)
With paved runways: 16
With paved runways note: paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)
With unpaved runways: 2
With unpaved runways note: unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 m (3,280 ft.) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control

Heliports: 1 (2021)

Pipelines: 473 km gas, 49 km oil (2013)

Railways
Total: 509 km (2020)
Narrow gauge: 509 km (2014) 1.050-m gauge

Roadways
Total: 7,203 km (2011)
Paved: 7,203 km (2011)

Waterways

Merchant marine
Total: 35 (2022)
By type: general cargo 6, other 29

Ports and terminals
Major seaports: Al 'Aqabah


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Disputes international: Jordan-Iraq: the two countries signed a border agreement in 1984; Jordan has ratified the treaty, but it has not been confirmed that Iraq has ratified it; as of 2010, the agreement had not been registered with the UN

Refugees and internally displaced persons
Refugees country of origin: 2.4 million (Palestinian refugees) (2020); 12,866 (Yemen), 6,013 Sudan (2021); 33,951 (Iraq) (mid-year 2022); 651,329 (Syria) (2023)
Stateless persons: 64 (2022)

Illicit drugs: primarily a transshipment country for amphetamine tablets originating in Lebanon and Syria and destined for Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Gulf countries; the government is increasingly concerned about domestic consumption of illicit drugs