Background: For most of its history since independence from British administration in 1946 Jordan was ruled by King HUSSEIN (1953-1996). 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.

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

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
Extremes lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m
Extremes highest point: Jabal Ram 1,754 m

Natural resources:

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

Irrigated land: 570 km² (1989 est.)

Population:
Growth rate:

Nationality
Noun: Jordanian(s)
Adjective: Jordanian

Ethnic groups:

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

Religions:

Population growth rate:

Birth rate:

Death rate:

Net migration rate:

Environment
Current issues: limited natural fresh water resources; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification
Current issues Natural hazards: NA
International agreements: party to_Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified_Desertification, Law of the Sea

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
Under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.02 male(s)/female
All ages:

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 72.48 years (1996 est.); 72.27 years (1995 est.)
Male: 70.62 years (1996 est.); 70.43 years (1995 est.)
Female: 74.45 years (1996 est.); 74.21 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate:

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over that can read and write (1995 est.)
Total population: 86.6%
Male: 93.4%
Female: 79.4%

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: 8 governorates (muhafazat, singular_muhafazah; Al Balqa', Al Karak, Al Mafraq, 'Amman, At Tafilah, Az Zarqa', Irbid, Ma'an

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

Suffrage: 20 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: King HUSSEIN Bin Talal Al Hashimi (since 2 May 1953) is a constitutional monarch
Head of government: Prime Minister Abd al-Karim al-KABARITI (since 4 February 1996) was appointed by the king
Cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the monarch

Legislative branch: Bicameral National Assembly (Majlis al-'Umma) House of Notables (Majlis Al-A'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) IAF 16, Jordanian National Alliance Party 4, Al-Yaqazah Party 2, Al-Watan Party 2, Al-'Ahd Party 2, Jordanian Arab Democratic Party 2, Al-Mustaqbal Party 1, Jordanian Arab Socialist Ba'th Party 1, Jordanian Democratic Progressive Party 1, Jordanian People's Democratic Party-Hashd 1, Jordanian Socialist Democratic Party 1, independents 47
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

International organization participation: ABEDA, ACC, AFESD, AL, AMF, CAEU, CCC, ESCWA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OIC, PCA, UN, UNAMIR, UNAVEM III, UNCRO, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIH, UNMOT, UNOMIG, UNOMIL, UNPREDEP, UNPROFOR, UNRWA, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (applicant)

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

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 the recovery was uneven throughout 1994 and 1995. 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 growth rate:

Real gdp per capita:

Agriculture products: Accounts for 11% of GDP; wheat, barley, citrus fruit, tomatoes, melons, olives; sheep, goats, poultry; large net importer of food

Industries:

Industrial production growth rate: Growth rate 5.6% (1994 est.), 3% (1993 est.), accounts for 25% of GDP

Labor force: 600,000 (1992)
By occupation Industry:
By occupation 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: 16% (1994 est.)

Budget
Revenues: $2.5 billion (1996 est.); $2 billion (1995 est.)
Expenditures: $2.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $640 million (1996 est.); $2.4 billion, including capital expenditures of $630 million (1995 est.)

Fiscal year: Calendar year

Exports: total value. $1.7 billion (f.o.b., 1994)
Commodities:
Partners:

Imports: total value:$3.8 billion (c.i.f., 1994)
Commodities:
Partners:

Debt external: $6.9 billion (1995 est.)

Exchange rates: Jordanian dinars (JD) per US$1_0.7090 (January 1996), 0.7005 (1995), 0.6987 (1994), 0.6928 (1993), 0.6797 (1992), 0.6808 (1991), 0.6636 (1990)

Electricity
Capacity: 1,050,000 kW
Production: 4.2 billion kWh
Consumption per capita: 1,072 kWh (1993)

Telephone system: 81,500 telephones; adequate telephone system
Local: NA microwave, cable, and radio links
Intercity: NA
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

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $589 million, 8.2% of GDP (1996; $564.2 million, 9.1% of GDP (1995 est.)

Airports: 14
With paved runways over 3047 m: 10
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 3
With paved runways under 914 m: 1

Pipelines: Crude oil 209 km

Merchant marine: total:3 bulk ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 41,960 GRT/67,515 DWT (1995 est.)