Jordan




                                  Header


Affiliation:
     (also see separate West Bank entry)


                                 Geography


Location:
     Middle East, between Israel and Saudi Arabia
Map references:
     Africa, Middle East, Standard Time Zones of the World
Area:
total area:
     89,213 sq km
land area:
     88,884 sq km
comparative area:
     slightly smaller than Indiana
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:
territorial sea:
     3 nm
International disputes:
     differences with Israel over the location of the 1949 Armistice Line
     that separates the two countries; water-sharing issues with Israel
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
Natural resources:
     phosphates, potash, shale oil
Land use:
arable land:
     4%
permanent crops:
     0.5%
meadows and pastures:
     1%
forest and woodland:
     0.5%
other:
     94%
Irrigated land:
     570 sq km (1989 est.)
Environment:
current issues:
     lack of adequate natural water resources; deforestation; overgrazing;
     soil erosion; desertification




natural hazards:
     NA
international agreements:
     party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Hazardous
     Wastes, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection,
     Wetlands


                                  People


Population:
     3,961,194 (July 1994 est.)
Population growth rate:
     3.5% (1994 est.)
Birth rate:
     38.77 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Death rate:
     4.22 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Net migration rate:
     0.47 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
     32.3 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
     71.85 years
male:
     70.04 years
female:
     73.77 years (1994 est.)
Total fertility rate:
     5.64 children born/woman (1994 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
     Jordanian(s)
adjective:
     Jordanian
Ethnic divisions:
     Arab 98%, Circassian 1%, Armenian 1%
Religions:
     Sunni Muslim 92%, Christian 8%
Languages:
     Arabic (official), English widely understood among upper and middle
     classes
Literacy:
     age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
total population:
     80%
male:
     89%
female:
     70%
Labor force:
     600,000 (1992)




by occupation:
     industry 11.4%, commerce, restaurants, and hotels 10.5%, construction
     10.0%, transport and communications 8.7%, agriculture 7.4%, other
     services 52.0% (1992)


                                Government


Names:
conventional long form:
     Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
conventional short form:
local long form:
     Al Mamlakah al Urduniyah al Hashimiyah
local short form:
     Al Urdun
former:
     Transjordan
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:
chief of state:
     King HUSSEIN Bin Talal Al Hashimi (since 11 August 1952)
head of government:
     Prime Minister Abd al-Salam al-MAJALI (since May 1993)
cabinet:
     Cabinet appointed by the monarch
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)
     Muslim Brotherhood (fundamentalist) 16, Independent Islamic bloc
     (generally traditionalist) 6, Radical leftist 3, pro-government 55
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:
     NA; note - political parties were legalized in December 1992
Member of:
     ABEDA, ACC, AFESD, AL, AMF, CAEU, CCC, ESCWA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD,
     ICAO, ICC, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL,
     IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, LORCS, NAM, OIC, PCA,
     UN, UNAVEM II, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNOSOM, UNRWA, UNPROFOR, UNTAC,
     UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission:
     Ambassador Fayiz A. TARAWNAH
chancery:
     3504 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone:
     (202) 966-2664
FAX:
     (202) 966-3110
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission:
     Ambassador Wesley EGAN, Jr.
embassy:
     Jabel Amman, Amman
mailing address:
     P. O. Box 354, Amman, or APO AE 09892-0200
telephone:
     [962] (6) 820-101
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 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 has been losing steam since mid-1993.
     The government is implementing the reform program adopted in 1992 and
     continues to secure rescheduling of its heavy foreign debt.
National product:
     GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $11.5 billion (1993 est.)
National product real growth rate:
     5% (1993 est.)
National product per capita:
     $3,000 (1993 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
     5% (1993 est.)
Unemployment rate:
     20% (1993 est.)
Budget:
revenues:
     $1.7 billion
expenditures:
     $1.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $420 million (1993)
Exports:
     $1.4 billion (f.o.b., 1993 est.)
commodities:
     phosphates, fertilizers, potash, agricultural products, manufactures
partners:
     India, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, EC, Indonesia, UAE
Imports:
     $3.2 billion (c.i.f., 1993 est.)
commodities:
     crude oil, machinery, transport equipment, food, live animals,
     manufactured goods
partners:
     EC, US, Iraq, Japan, Turkey
External debt:
     $6.8 billion (December 1993 est.)
Industrial production:
     growth rate 3% (1993 est.); accounts for 20% of GDP




Electricity:
capacity:
     1,030,000 kW
production:
     3.814 billion kWh
consumption per capita:
     1,070 kWh (1992)
Industries:
     phosphate mining, petroleum refining, cement, potash, light
     manufacturing
Agriculture:
     accounts for about 10% of GDP; principal products are wheat, barley,
     citrus fruit, tomatoes, melons, olives; livestock - sheep, goats,
     poultry; large net importer of food
Economic aid:
recipient:
     US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $1.7 billion; Western
     (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $1.5
     billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $9.5 billion; Communist
     countries (1970-89), $44 million
Currency:
     1 Jordanian dinar (JD) = 1,000 fils
Exchange rates:
     Jordanian dinars (JD) per US$1 - 0.7019 (February 1994), 0.6928
     (1993), 0.6797 (1992), 0.6808 (1991), 0.6636 (1990), 0.5704 (1989)
Fiscal year:
     calendar year


                              Communications


Railroads:
     789 km 1.050-meter gauge, single track
Highways:
total:
     7,500 km
paved:
     asphalt 5,500 km
unpaved:
     gravel, crushed stone 2,000 km
Pipelines:
     crude oil 209 km
Ports:
     Al 'Aqabah
Merchant marine:
     3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 71,566 GRT/129,351 DWT, bulk 1,
     cargo 1, oil tanker 1
Airports:
total:
     16
usable:
     14
with permanent-surface runways:
     13
with runways over 3,659 m:
     1




with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
     12
with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
     0
Telecommunications:
     adequate telephone system of microwave, cable, and radio links; 81,500
     telephones; broadcast stations - 5 AM, 7 FM, 8 TV; satellite earth
     stations - 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT, 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT, 1
     ARABSAT, 1 domestic TV receive-only; coaxial cable and microwave to
     Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Syria; microwave link to Lebanon is inactive;
     participant in MEDARABTEL, a microwave radio relay network linking
     Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco


                              Defense Forces


Branches:
     Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF) includes Royal Jordanian Land Force,
     Royal Jordanian Air Force, Royal Naval Force; Ministry of the
     Interior's Public Security Force (falls under JAF only in wartime or
     crisis situations)
Manpower availability:
     males age 15-49 966,420; fit for military service 685,112; reach
     military age (18) annually 42,776 (1994 est.)
Defense expenditures:
     exchange rate conversion - $435 million, 7.9% of GDP (1993)