Jordan

Also see separate West Bank entry Jordania 

Geography                 Economy                 Defense Forces
 

People                    Transportation          Government



Communications            History      	          Travel

GEOGRAPHY

Location

Middle East, northwest of Saudi Arabia

Area

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

International Disputes

None

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

Natural Resources

Land Use

Irrigated Land

570 sq km (1989 est.)

Environment

PEOPLE

Population

4,212,152 (July 1996 est.)
4,100,709 (July 1995 est.)

Age Structure

0-14 Years

44% (male 949,822; female 903,043) (July 1996 est.)
44% (male 930,266; female 884,462) (July 1995 est.)

15-64 Years

53% (male 1,153,360; female 1,091,416) (July 1996 est.)
53% (male 1,119,347; female 1,058,060) (July 1995 est.)

65 Years and Over

3% (male 57,783; female 56,728) (July 1996 est.)
3% (male 54,865; female 53,709) (July 1995 est.)

Population Growth Rate

2.65% (1996 est.)
2.69% (1995 est.)

Birth Rate

36.67 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)
37.32 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Death Rate

3.95 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)
4.02 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Net Migration Rate

-6.23 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)
-6.4 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)

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: 1.05 male(s)/female (1996 est.)

Infant Mortality Rate

31.5 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)
32.3 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

Life Expectancy at Birth

Total Fertility Rate

5.1 children born/woman (1996 est.)
5.25 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Nationality

Ethnic Divisions

Religions

Languages

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

Literacy

Age 15 and over that can read and write (1995 est.)

Labor Force

600,000 (1992)

By occupation:

GOVERNMENT

Names

Digraph

JO

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

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

Political Parties and Leaders

Al-'Ahd (Pledge) Party, 'Abd al-Hadi al-MAJALI, secretary general; Al-Ahrar (Liberals) Party, Ahmad al-ZU'BI, secretary general; Al-Taqaddumi (Progressive) Party, Fawwaz al-ZUBI, secretary general; Al-Watan (Homeland) Party, 'Akif al-FAYIZ; Al-Yaqazah (Awakening) Party, 'Abd al-Ra'uf al-RAWABIDAH, secretary general; Constitutional Jordanian Arab Front Party, Milhim al-TALL; Democratic Arab Islamic Movement Party-Du'a', Yusuf Abu BAKR, secretary general; Democratic Arab Unionist Party-Wad, Anis al-MU'ASHIR, secretary general; Islamic Action Front (IAF), Ishaq al-FARHAN, secretary general; Jordanian Arab Masses Party, 'Abd al-Khaliq SHATAT, secretary general; Jordanian Arab Socialist Ba'th Party, Taysir al-HIMSI, command first secretary; Jordanian Communist Party (JCP), Ya'qub ZAYADIN, secretary general; Jordanian Democratic Popular Unity Party, 'Azmi al-KHAWAJA, secretary general; Jordanian National Alliance Party, Mijhim al-KHURAYSHAH, secretary general; Jordanian People's Democratic Party-Hashd, Salim al-NAHHAS, secretary general; Jordanian Unionist Democratic Party, 'Isa MADANAT (secretary general), Ali AMIR (secretary general), Munis al-RAZZAZ (secretary general); Pan-Arab Action Front Party, Muhammad al-ZU'BI, secretary general; Popular Unity Party-the Unionists, Mustafa AL-'ISAWI, secretary general; Progress and Justice Party, 'Ali al-SA'D, secretary general; Progressive Arab Ba'th Party, Mahmud al-MA'AYITAH, command secretary; Al-Mustaqbal (Future) Party, Sulayman 'ARAR, secretary general; Jordanian Arab Partisans Party, Muhammad al-MAJALI, leader, Muhammad SHURAYDAH, secretary general

note: in 1995, the Jordanian Arab Democratic Party, the Jordanian Democratic Progressive Party, and the Jordanian Socialist Democratic Party merged to form the Jordanian Unionist Democratic Party

Member of

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)

National Anthem

Flag

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.

National Product

GDP - purchasing power parity - $19.3 billion (1995 est.); $17 billion (1994 est.)

National Product Real Growth Rate

6.5% (1995 est.)
5.5% (1994 est.)

National Product Per Capita

$4,700 (1995 est.)
$4,280 (1994 est.)

Inflation Rate (consumer Prices)

3% (1995 est.)
6% (1994 est.)

Unemployment Rate

16% (1994 est.)

Budget

Exports

$1.7 billion (f.o.b., 1994)

Commodities:

Partners:

Imports

$3.8 billion (c.i.f., 1994)

Commodities:

Partners:

External Debt

$6.9 billion (1995 est.)

Industrial Production

Growth rate 5.6% (1994 est.); 3% (1993 est.); accounts for 25% of GDP

Electricity

Industries

Agriculture

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

Economic Aid

Currency

1 Jordanian dinar (JD) = 1,000 fils

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)

Fiscal Year

Calendar year

TRANSPORTATION

Railroads

Highways

Pipelines

Crude oil 209 km

Ports

Al'Aqabah

Merchant Marine

Airports

COMMUNICATIONS

Telephone System

81,500 telephones; adequate telephone system

Radio

Television

DEFENSE FORCES

Branches

Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF; includes Royal Jordanian Land Force, Royal Naval Force, and Royal Jordanian Air Force); Ministry of the Interior's Public Security Force (falls under JAF only in wartime or crisis situations)

Manpower Availability

Males age 15-49 1,011,588; males fit for military service 721,460; males reach military age (18) annually 45,406 (1996 est.)

Defense Expenditures

Exchange rate conversion - $589 million, 8.2% of GDP (1996); $564.2 million, 9.1% of GDP (1995 est.)

History
World Atlas

Last modified: 18 december 1997