Background: For most of its history since independence from British administration in 1946 Jordan was ruled by King HUSSEIN (1953-1997). 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.

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.)

Natural hazards: NA

Population: 4,324,638 (July 1997 est.)
Growth rate: 2.6% (1997 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%

Age structure
0-14 years: 44% (male 968,833; female 921,158)
15-64 years: 53% (male 1,188,248; female 1,125,527)
65 years and over: 3% (male 60,876; female 59,996) (July 1997 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.6% (1997 est.)

Birth rate: 35.95 births/1000 population (1997 est.)

Death rate: 3.88 deaths/1000 population (1997 est.)

Net migration rate: -6.07 migrant(s)/1000 population (1997 est.)

Environment
Current issues: limited natural fresh water resources; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification

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
Total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (1997 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 30.7 deaths/1000 live births (1997 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 72.69 years
Male: 70.81 years
Female: 74.68 years (1997 est.)

Total fertility rate: 4.94 children born/woman (1997 est.)

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

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)
Head 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 House of Notables or Majlis al-A'ayan (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 8 November 1993 (next to be held NA November 1997
Election results: House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - 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; 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, IFCTU, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OIC, PCA, UN, UNAVEM III, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIBH, UNMOT, UNOMIG, UNPREDEP, UNRWA, UNTAES, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (applicant)

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: [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

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 in 1994-96. 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: 5.9% (1996 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $5,000 (1996 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 6%
Industry: 28%
Services: 66% (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: 3.9% (1995)

Labor force
Total: 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: 16% (1994 est.)

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

Fiscal year: calendar year

Exports
Total value: $1.9 billion (f.o.b., 1996)
Commodities: phosphates, fertilizers, potash, agricultural products, manufactures
Partners: India, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, EU, Indonesia, UAE

Imports
Total value: $4.1 billion (c.i.f., 1996)
Commodities: crude oil, machinery, transport equipment, food, live animals, manufactured goods
Partners: EU, US, Iraq, Japan, Turkey

Debt external: $7.3 billion (1996 est.)

Exchange rates: Jordanian dinars (JD) per US$1 - 0.7090 (January 1997), 0.7090 (1996), 0.7005 (1995), 0.6987 (1994), 0.6928 (1993), 0.6797 (1992)
Note: since May 1989, the dinar has been pegged to a basket of currencies

Electricity
Capacity: 1.07 million kW (1994)
Production: 4.76 billion kWh (1994)
Consumption per capita: 1,173 kWh (1995 est.)

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

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $589 million (1996)
Percent of gdp: 8.2% (1996)

Airports: 14 (1996 est.)
With paved runways total: 14
With paved runways over 3047 m: 8
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 5
With paved runways under 914 m: 1 (1996 est.)

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

Merchant marine: total:3 bulk ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 41,651 GRT/67,515 DWT (1996 est.)

Disputes international: none