Jordan

Hashemite Kingdom of JordanAl Mamlakah al Urduniyah al Hashimiyah

constitutional monarchy

Jordan as the 1999 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 103 fields, one of 36 editions from 1990 to 2025.

field in that editiontext changed from the edition beforenot in that editionthe open editionEach field below ends in its editions, 1990 to 2025. Point at a year above to follow it down.

CapitalAmman

Position31 00 N, 36 00 E

Area89,213 sq km

LocationMiddle East, northwest of Saudi Arabia

Populationas each edition published it

4.56 million July 1999 est. · 3.06m in 1990

Population growth% a year

3.05% 1999 est. · 3.57% in 1993

Median ageyears

Not in this edition 21.8 yrs in 2003

Life expectancyyears at birth

73.06 years 1999 est. · 71.61 yrs in 1993

Fertility ratechildren per woman

4.64 children per woman 1999 est. · 6.2 in 1990

Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births

32.7 deaths per 1,000 live births 1999 est. · 55 in 1990

GDP per capitaeach edition's own dollars

$3,500 1998 est. · $1,100 in 1993

GDP real growth% a year

2.2% 1998 est. · 3% in 1993

Geography

Middle East, northwest of Saudi Arabia

17 fields

Land useshare of 89,213 sq km

arable land 4%permanent crops 1%permanent pastures 9%forests and woodland 1%other 85% (1993 est.)irrigated 630 sq km (1993 est.)

Area

89,213sq km

land: 88,884 sq kmwater: 329 sq kmslightly smaller than Indiana

Coastline

26km

territorial sea: 3 nm

Highest point

1,754m

Jabal Ramlowest point: Dead Sea -408 m

Land boundaries

1,619km

border countries: Iraq 181 km, Israel 238 km, Saudi Arabia 728 km, Syria 375 km, West Bank 97 km

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

Environment--current issues

limited natural fresh water resources;
deforestation;
overgrazing;
soil erosion;
desertification

Environment--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
signed, but not ratified:: none of the selected agreements

People

15 fields

Population

4,561,147

(July 1999 est.)growth rate: 3.05% (1999 est.)

Per 1,000 population(1999 est.)

Birth

34.31Death

3.85Net migration

Male · female

TotalMale · femaleLife expectancy years (1999 est.)73.06

71.15 · 75.08

TotalMale · femaleLiteracy (1995 est.)86.6%

93.4% · 79.4%

MaleFemaleLiteracy definition: age 15 and over can read and write

Ethnic groups

Arab 98%Circassian 1%Armenian 1%

Age structure

0-14 years:: 43% (male 1,005,211; female 954,968)
15-64 years:: 54% (male 1,265,116; female 1,200,372)
65 years and over:: 3% (male 67,852; female 67,628) (1999 est.)

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 male(s)/female
total population:: 1.05 male(s)/female (1999 est.)

Infant mortality rate

32.7 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)

Nationality

noun:: Jordanian(s)
adjective:: Jordanian

Religions

Sunni Muslim 96%, Christian 4% (1997 est.)

Languages

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

Government

Constitutional monarchy; King ABDULLAH II (since 7 February 1999); Prime Minister Fayez TARAWNEH (since 20 August 1998)

18 fields

Legislature, 80 seatsone dot, one seat

-National Constitutional Party 2Arab Land Party 1independents 75other 2

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

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

Independence

25 May 1946 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration)

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

Executive branch

chief of state:: King ABDULLAH II (since 7 February 1999)
head of government:: Prime Minister Fayez TARAWNEH (since 20 August 1998)
cabinet:: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister in consultation with the monarch
elections:: none;
the monarch is hereditary;
prime minister appointed by the monarch

bicameral National Assembly or Majlis al-'Umma consists of the Senate (a 40-member body appointed by the monarch 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 monarch 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

Al-Ahrar (Freedom) Party [Dr. Ahmad ZO'BI, secretary general];
Arab Ba'th Progressive Party Ishaq al-FARHAN, secretary general];
Jordanian Arab Constitutional MAJALI, secretary general];
National Democratic Public Movement HNEIDI, secretary general]

International organization participation

ABEDA, ACC, AFESD, AL, AMF, CAEU, CCC, ESCWA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, MONUA, NAM, OIC, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIBH, UNMOP, UNMOT, UNOMIG, UNPREDEP, UNRWA, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (applicant)

Diplomatic representation in the US

chief of mission:: Ambassador Marwan Jamil MUASHIR
chancery:: 3504 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008

Diplomatic representation from the US

chief of mission:: Ambassador William BURNS
embassy:: Jabel Amman, Amman
mailing address:: P. O. Box 354, Amman 11118 Jordan; APO AE 09892-0200

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

31 fields

GDP per capita, PPP

$3,500

purchasing power parity? · (1998 est.)

Real growth rate

2.2%

(1998 est.)industrial production growth: -3.4% (1996)

Inflation, consumer prices

(1998 est.)

Unemployment rate

15%official rate

note--actual rate is 25%-30% (1998 est.)

GDP--composition by sector(1995 est.)

agriculture 6%industry 30%services 64% (1995 est.)

Budget

Revenues

$2.8 billionExpenditures

$3 billion (1999 est.)

expenditures including capital expenditures of $672 million

Electricity

fossil fuel 99.64%hydro 0.36%nuclear 0% · other 0%

Electricity production

5.52 billion (1996)Electricity consumption

5.52 billion (1996)

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. A preliminary agreement with the IMF in early 1999 will provide new loans over the next three years. Sluggish growth, along with debt, poverty, and unemployment are fundamental ongoing economic problems.

GDP

purchasing power parity--$15.5 billion (1998 est.)

Population below poverty line

30% (1998 est.)

Labor force

1.15 million note: in addition, there are 300,000 foreign workers (1997 est.)

Labor force--by occupation

industry 11.4%, commerce, restaurants, and hotels 10.5%, construction 10%, transport and communications 8.7%, agriculture 7.4%, other services 52% (1992)

Industries

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

Agriculture--products

wheat, barley, citrus, tomatoes, melons, olives; sheep, goats, poultry

Exports

$1.5 billion (f.o.b., 1997 est.)

Exports--commodities

phosphates, fertilizers, potash, agricultural products, manufactures

Exports--partners

Iraq, India, Saudi Arabia, EU, Indonesia, UAE, Syria, Ethiopia

Imports

$3.9 billion (c.i.f., 1997 est.)

Imports--commodities

crude oil, machinery, transport equipment, food, live animals, manufactured goods

Imports--partners

EU, Iraq, US, Japan, Turkey, Malaysia, Syria, China

Debt--external

$7.5 billion (1998 est.)

Economic aid--recipient

$1.097 billion (1995); note?received $320 million from ODA in 1998 (est.)

Currency

1 Jordanian dinar (JD) = 1,000 fils

Exchange rates

Jordanian dinars (JD) per US$1--0.7090 (January 1999-1996), 0.7005 (1995), 0.6987 (1994), 0.6928 (1993) note: since May 1989, the dinar has been pegged to a basket of currencies

Fiscal year

calendar year

Communications

6 fields

Fixed lines

425,000

(1998)

Telephone system

domestic:: microwave radio relay, coaxial and fiber-optic cable, and cellular;
Jordan has two cellular telephone providers (with approximately 50,000 subscribers in 1998), ten data service providers, and four Internet service providers (with approximately 8,000 subscribers in 1998)
international:: satellite earth stations--3 Intelsat, 1 Arabsat, and 29 land and maritime Inmarsat terminals (1996);
coaxial cable, fiber-optic cable, and microwave radio relay to Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Israel;
building a Red Sea Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG) fiber-optic submarine cable link and planning to update links with Saudi Arabia and Israel to fiber-optic cable;
4,000 international circuits (1998 est.);
participant in Medarabtel

Radio broadcast stations

AM 6, FM 7, shortwave 1 (1998 est.)

Radios

1.1 million (1992 est.)

Television broadcast stations

8 (in addition, there are approximately 42 repeaters and 1 TV receive-only satellite link) (1997)

Televisions

350,000 (1992 est.)

Transportation

8 fields

Merchant marine, 7 ships by typeone square, one ship · (1998 est.)

bulk 2cargo 2container 1livestock carrier 1roll-on/roll-off cargo 1

Airports by runway lengthpaved only

under 914 m

over 3,047 m: 9 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4

Airports by runway lengthunpaved only

under 914 m

total: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 1

Networkskm

Highways

8,000Railways

677

Highways: paved: 8,000 km · unpaved: 0 km (1998 est.) · Railways: narrow gauge: 677 km 1.050-m gauge; note--an additional 110 km stretch of the old Hejaz railroad is out of use (1998 est.)

Railways

total:: 677 km
narrow gauge:: 677 km 1.050-m gauge; note--an additional 110 km stretch of the old Hejaz railroad is out of use (1998 est.)

Highways

total:: 8,000 km
paved:: 8,000 km
unpaved:: 0 km (1998 est.)

Military

7 fields

Military expenditures--percent of GDP

7.8%

(1997)

Military branches

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

Transnational Issues

1 field

Disputes--international

none

Central Intelligence Agency. “Jordan.” The World Factbook 1999. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/jordan/1999.

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