Jordan

agricultural land:

11.4%;

• arable land 2%;
• permanent crops 1%;
• permanent pasture 8.4%

forest:

1.1%

other:

87.5% (2011 est.)

• 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

• droughts;
• periodic earthquakes;
• flash floods

• limited natural freshwater resources;
• deforestation;
• overgrazing;
• soil erosion;
• desertification

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

noun:

Jordanian(s)

adjective:

Jordanian

• 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

at birth:

1.06 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

1 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.95 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.89 male(s)/female

total population:

1.02 male(s)/female (2016 est.)

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

name:

Amman

geographic coordinates:

31 57 N, 35 56 E

time difference:

UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

daylight saving time:

+1hr, begins last Friday in March; ends last Friday in October

• 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

history:

previous 1928 (preindependence); latest initially adopted 28 November 1947, revised and ratified 1 January 1952

amendments:

• proposed by 10 or more members of the Senate or by the House of Representatives followed by referral to the relevant House committee for its review and opinion;
• if accepted, the proposal is referred to the government for restatement as a draft;
• passage requires two-thirds majority vote of both the Senate and the House and ratification by the king;
• amended several times, last in 2016 (2016)

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

chief of state:

King ABDALLAH II (since 7 February 1999); Crown Prince HUSSEIN (born 28 June 1994), eldest son of King ABDALLAH II

head of government:

Prime Minister Hani MULKI (since 1 June 2016)

cabinet:

Cabinet appointed by the prime minister in consultation with the monarch

elections/appointments:

the monarchy is hereditary; prime minister appointed by the monarch

highest court(s):

• Court of Cassation or Supreme Court (consists of 15 judges including the chief justice; 7-judge panels for important cases and 5 judge panels for most appeals cases);
• Constitutional Court (consists of 9 members including the court chairman)

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 policy-making body consisting of high-level judicial officials and judges, and approved by the king;
• judge tenure NA;
• 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;
• Major Felonies Court;
• Courts of First Instance;
• Magistrate Courts;
• religious courts;
• state security courts

• Al-Hayah Jordanian Party [Zahier AMR]
• Arab Ba'ath Socialist Party [Akram al-HIMSI]
• Ba'ath Arab Progressive Party [Fuad DABBOUR]
• Democratic People's Party [Ablah ABU ULBAH]
• Democratic Popular Unity Party [Sa'id DIAB]
• Du'a Party [Muhammed ABU BAKR]
• Islamic Action Front or IAF [Hamzah MANSOUR]
• Islamic Centrist Party [Muhammad al-HAJ]
• Jordanian Communist Party [Munir HAMARNAH]
• Jordanian National Party [Muna ABU BAKR]
• Jordanian United Front [Amjad al-MAJALI]
• Muslim Center Party [Haitham ALAMAERAH]
• National Congress Party [Raheeh GHARAYBEH]
• National Constitution Party [Ahmad al-SHUNAQ]
• National Current Party [Abd al-Hadi al-MAJALI]
• National Movement for Direct Democracy [Muhammad al-QAQ]
• Risalah Party [Hazem QASHOU]
• The Direct Democratic Nationalists Movement Party [Nash'at KHALIFAH]

• 15 April Movement [Mohammad SUNEID]
• 24 March Movement [Mu'az al-KHAWALIDAH, Abdel Rahman HASANEIN]
• 1952 Constitution Movement
• Anti-Normalization Committee [Saleh al-ARMOUTI]
• Economic and Social Association of Retired Servicemen and Veterans or ESARSV [Abdulsalam al-HASSANAT]
• Group of 36
• Higher Coordination Committee of Opposition Parties [Said DIAB]
• Higher National Committee for Military Retirees or HNCMR [Ali al-HABASHNEH]
• Hirak
• Jordan Bar Association [Samir KHIRFAN]
• Jordanian Campaign for Change or Jayin
• Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood [Dr. Hamam SAID]
• Jordanian Press Association [Sayf al-SHARIF]
• National Front for Reform or NFR [Ahmad OBEIDAT]
• Popular Gathering for Reform
• Professional Associations Council [Abd al-Hadi al-FALAHAT]
• Sons of Jordan

chief of mission:

Ambassador Dina Khalil Tawiq KAWAR (since 27 June 2016)

chancery:

3504 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 966-2664

FAX:

[1] (202) 966-3110

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Henry T. WOOSTER (since 24 March 2017)

embassy:

Abdoun, Al-Umawyeen St., Amman

mailing address:

P. O. Box 354, Amman 11118 Jordan; Unit 70200, Box 5, DPO AE 09892-0200

telephone:

[962] (6) 590-6000

FAX:

[962] (6) 592-0163

• 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

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

agriculture:

2%

industry:

20%

services:

78% (2013 est.)

lowest 10%:

3.4%

highest 10%:

28.7% (2010 est.)

general assessment:

• service has improved recently with increased use of digital switching equipment;
• microwave radio relay transmission and coaxial and fiber-optic cable are employed on trunk lines;
• growing mobile-cellular usage in both urban and rural areas is reducing use of fixed-line services

domestic:

• 1995 telecommunications law opened all non-fixed-line services to private competition;
• in 2005, monopoly over fixed-line services terminated and the entire telecommunications sector was opened to competition;
• currently multiple mobile-cellular providers with subscribership up to 185 per 100 persons

international:

• country code - 962;
• landing point for the Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG) FEA and FLAG Falcon submarine cable networks;
• satellite earth stations - 33 (3 Intelsat, 1 Arabsat, and 29 land and maritime Inmarsat terminals);
• fiber-optic cable to Saudi Arabia and microwave radio relay link with Egypt and Syria;
• participant in Medarabtel (2016)

• 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 (2007)

number of registered air carriers:

7; inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 40

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

3,065,145

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

169.105 million mt-km (2015)

total:

509 km

narrow gauge:

509 km 1.050-m gauge (2014)

country comparison to the world: 114

total:

7,203 km

paved:

7,203 km (2011)

country comparison to the world: 144

Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF):

• Royal Jordanian Land Force (RJLF), Royal Jordanian Navy, Royal Jordanian Air Force (Al-Quwwat al-Jawwiya al-Malakiya al-Urduniya, RJAF), Special Operations Command (Socom);
• Public Security Directorate (normally falls under Ministry of Interior, but comes under JAF in wartime or crisis) (2013)

• 17 years of age for voluntary male military service;
• initial service term 2 years, with option to reenlist for 18 years;
• conscription at age 18 suspended in 1999;
• women are not conscripted, but can volunteer to serve in noncombat military positions in the Royal Jordanian Arab Army Women's Corps and RJAF (2013)

refugees (country of origin):

• 2,175,491 (Palestinian refugees) (2017);
• 655,056 (Syria);
• 64,860 (Iraq) (2017)