Introduction

 

Background: For most of its history since independence from British administration in 1946, Jordan was ruled by King HUSSEIN (1953-99). 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, despite several wars and coup attempts. In 1989 he reinstituted parliamentary elections and gradual political liberalization; in 1994 he signed a formal peace treaty with Israel. King ABDALLAH II - the eldest son of King HUSSEIN and Princess MUNA - assumed the throne following his father's death in February 1999. Since then, he has consolidated his power and undertaken an aggressive economic reform program. Jordan acceded to the World Trade Organization in 2000, and began to participate in the European Free Trade Association in 2001. After a two-year delay, parliamentary and municipal elections took place in the summer of 2003. The Prime Minister and government appointed in April 2005 declared they would build upon the previous government's achievements to respect political and human rights and improve living standards.

 

Geography

 

Location: Middle East, northwest of Saudi Arabia

 

Geographic coordinates: 31 00 N, 36 00 E

 

Map references: Middle East

 

Area: total: 92,300 sq km; land: 91,971 sq km; water: 329 sq km

 

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Indiana

 

Land boundaries: total: 1,635 km; border countries: Iraq 181 km, Israel 238 km, Saudi Arabia 744 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; highest point: Jabal Ram 1,734 m

 

Natural resources: phosphates, potash, shale oil

 

Land use: arable land: 2.67%; permanent crops: 1.83%; other: 95.5% (2001)

 

Irrigated land: 750 sq km (1998 est.)

 

Natural hazards: droughts; periodic earthquakes

 

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

 

Environment - international agreements: 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

 

Geography - note: strategic location at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba and as the Arab country that shares the longest border with Israel and the occupied West Bank

 

People

 

Population: 5,759,732 (July 2005 est.)

 

Age structure: 0-14 years: 34.5% (male 1,015,084/female 973,220); 15-64 years: 61.7% (male 1,897,643/female 1,656,570); 65 years and over: 3.8% (male 106,168/female 111,047) (2005 est.)

 

Median age: total: 22.62 years; male: 23.25 years; female: 21.94 years (2005 est.)

 

Population growth rate: 2.56% (2005 est.)

 

Birth rate: 21.76 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

 

Death rate: 2.63 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

 

Net migration rate: 6.42 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)

 

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female; under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female; 15-64 years: 1.15 male(s)/female; 65 years and over: 0.96 male(s)/female; total population: 1.1 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

 

Infant mortality rate: total: 17.35 deaths/1,000 live births; male: 20.75 deaths/1,000 live births; female: 13.75 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

 

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 78.24 years; male: 75.75 years; female: 80.88 years (2005 est.)

 

Total fertility rate: 2.71 children born/woman (2005 est.)

 

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: less than 0.1% (2001 est.)

 

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 600 (2003 est.)

 

HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 500 (2003 est.)

 

Nationality: noun: Jordanian(s); adjective: Jordanian

 

Ethnic groups: Arab 98%, Circassian 1%, Armenian 1%

 

Religions: Sunni Muslim 92%, Christian 6% (majority Greek Orthodox, but some Greek and Roman Catholics, Syrian Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, and Protestant denominations), other 2% (several small Shi'a Muslim and Druze populations) (2001 est.)

 

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

 

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write; total population: 91.3%; male: 95.9%; female: 86.3% (2003 est.)

 

Government

 

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: 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):

 

National holiday: Independence Day, 25 May (1946)

 

Constitution: 1 January 1952; amended 1974, 1976, 1984

 

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: 18 years of age; universal

 

Executive branch: chief of state: King ABDALLAH II (since 7 February 1999); Prince HUSSEIN (born 1994), son of King ABDALLAH, is first in line to inherit the throne

head of government: Prime Minister Adnan BADRAN (since 7 April 2005); Deputy Prime Ministers Marwan al-MUASHER and Hisham al-TEL (since 3 July 2005); cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister in consultation with the monarch; elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; prime minister appointed by the monarch

 

Legislative branch: bicameral National Assembly or Majlis al-'Umma consists of the Senate, also called the House of Notables (Majlis al-Ayan) (55 seats; members appointed by the monarch from designated categories of public figures; members serve four-year terms) and the House of Representatives, also called the House of Deputies (Majlis al-Nuwaab) (110 seats; members elected by popular vote on the basis of proportional representation to serve four-year terms; note - six seats are reserved for women and are allocated by a special electoral panel if no women are elected); elections: House of Representatives - last held 17 June 2003 (next to be held NA 2007); election results: House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - independents and others 89.6%, Islamic Action Front (IAF) 10.4%; seats by party - independents and others 92, Islamic Action Front 18; note - one of the six quota seats was given to a female IAF candidate; 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; political parties were not legalized until 1992; King ABDALLAH delayed the 2001 elections until 2003

 

Judicial branch: Court of Cassation; Supreme Court (court of final appeal)

Political parties and leaders: Al-Ajyal [Muhammad KHALAYLEH, secretary general]; Al-Umma (Nation) Party [Ahmad al-HANANDEH, secretary general]; Arab Land Party [Dr. Ayishah Salih HIJAZAYN, secretary general]; Ba'th Arab Progressive Party [Fu'ad DABBUR, secretary general]; Communist Party [Munir HAMARINAH, secretary general]; Constitutional National Party [Ahmad al-SHUNNAQ, secretary general; Democratic Arab Islamic Movement [Yusuf ABU BAKR, president]; Green Party [Muhammad BATAYNEH, secretary general]; Islamic Action Front [Hazma MANSOUR, secretary general]; Islamic al-Walsat Party [Marwan al-FAURI], secretary general; Jordanian Democratic Left Party [Musa MA'AYTEH, secretary general]; Jordanian Democratic Popular Unity Party [Sa'id Dhiyab Ali MUSTAFA, secretary general]; Jordanian People's Democratic (Hashd) Party [Ahmad YUSUF, secretary general]; Jordanian Progressive Party [Fawwaz al-ZUBI, secretary general]; Labor Party [Dr. Mazin Sulayman Jiryis HANNA, secretary general]; Muslim Centrist Party [leader NA]; National Action (Haqq) Party [Tariq al-KAYYALI, secretary general]; National Constitutional Party [Abdul Hadi MAJALI, secretary general]; National Movement for Direct Democracy [Mahmud al-NUWAYHI, secretary general]; Pan-Arab (Democratic) Movement [Mahmud al-NUWAYHI, secretary general]; (Arab) Socialist Ba'th Party [Taysir al-HIMSI, secretary general]

 

Economy

 

Economy - overview: Jordan is a small Arab country with inadequate supplies of water and other natural resources such as oil. Debt, poverty, and unemployment are fundamental problems, but King ABDALLAH, since assuming the throne in 1999, has undertaken some broad economic reforms in a long-term effort to improve living standards. Amman in the past three years has worked closely with the IMF, practiced careful monetary policy, and made substantial headway with privatization. The government also has liberalized the trade regime sufficiently to secure Jordan's membership in the WTO (2000), a free trade accord with the US (2001), and an association agreement with the EU (2001). These measures have helped improve productivity and have put Jordan on the foreign investment map. Jordan imported most of its oil from Iraq, but the US-led war in Iraq in 2003 made Jordan more dependent on oil from other Gulf nations forcing the Jordanian government to raise retail petroleum product prices and the sales tax base. Jordan's export market, which is heavily dependent on exports to Iraq, was also affected by the war but recovered quickly while contributing to the Iraq recovery effort. The main challenges facing Jordan are reducing dependence on foreign grants, reducing the budget deficit, and creating investment incentives to promote job creation.

 

GDP: purchasing power parity - $25.5 billion (2004 est.)

 

GDP - real growth rate: 5.1% (2004 est.)

 

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $4,500 (2004 est.)

 

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 2.4%; industry: 26%; services: 71.5% (2004 est.)

 

Labor force: 1.41 million (2004 est.)

 

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 5%, industry 12.5%, services 82.5% (2001 est.)

 

Unemployment rate: 15% official rate; unofficial rate is approximately 30% (2004 est.)

 

Population below poverty line: 30% (2001 est.)

 

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 3.3%; highest 10%: 29.8% (1997)

 

Distribution of family income - Gini index: 36.4 (1997)

 

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.2% (2004 est.)

 

Investment (gross fixed): 11.6% of GDP (2004 est.)

 

Budget: revenues: $3.483 billion; expenditures: $3.616 billion, including capital expenditures of $782 million (2004 est.)

 

Public debt: 85.8% of GDP (2004 est.)

 

Agriculture - products: wheat, barley, citrus, tomatoes, melons, olives; sheep, goats, poultry

 

Industries: phosphate mining, pharmaceuticals, petroleum refining, cement, potash, inorganic chemicals, light manufacturing, tourism

 

Industrial production growth rate: 5% (2004 est.)

 

Electricity - production: 7.307 billion kWh (2002)

 

Electricity - consumption: 7.094 billion kWh (2002)

 

Electricity - exports: 2 million kWh (2002)

 

Electricity - imports: 300 million kWh (2002)

 

Oil - production: 40 bbl/day (2004 est.)

 

Oil - consumption: 103,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)

 

Oil - exports: 0 bbl/day (2004 est.)

 

Oil - imports: 100,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)

 

Oil - proved reserves: 445,000 bbl (1 January 2002)

 

Natural gas - production: 290 million cu m (2001 est.)

 

Natural gas - consumption: 290 million cu m (2001 est.)

 

Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2001 est.)

 

Natural gas - imports: 0 cu m (2001 est.)

 

Natural gas - proved reserves: 3.256 billion cu m (1 January 2002)

 

Current account balance: $203.2 million (2004 est.)

 

Exports: $3.2 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

 

Exports - commodities: clothing, phosphates, fertilizers, potash, vegetables, manufactures, pharmaceuticals

 

Exports - partners: US 25.8%, Iraq 18.4%, India 6.4%, Saudi Arabia 5.2% (2004)

 

Imports: $7.6 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

 

Imports - commodities: crude oil, textile fabrics, machinery, transport equipment, manufactured goods

 

Imports - partners: Saudi Arabia 19.9%, China 8.4%, Germany 6.8%, US 6.7% (2004)

 

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $5.457 billion (2004 est.)

 

Debt - external: $7.32 billion (2004 est.)

 

Economic aid - recipient: ODA, $500 million (2004 est.)

 

Currency (code): Jordanian dinar (JOD)

 

Exchange rates: Jordanian dinars per US dollar - 0.709 (2004), 0.709 (2003), 0.709 (2002), 0.709 (2001), 0.709 (2000)

 

Fiscal year: calendar year