*Jordan, 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 km2
 land area:
  88,884 km2
 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 km2 (1989 est.)
Environment:
  lack of natural water resources; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion;
  desertification

*Jordan, People

Population:
  3,823,636 (July 1993 est.)
Population growth rate:
  3.57% (1993 est.)
Birth rate:
  39.48 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Death rate:
  4.32 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Net migration rate:
  0.51 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
  33.3 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
 total population:
  71.61 years
 male:
  69.83 years
 female:
  73.51 years (1993 est.)
Total fertility rate:
  5.79 children born/woman (1993 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)
 total population:
  80%
 male:
  89%
 female:
  70%
Labor force:
  572,000 (1988)
 by occupation:
  agriculture 20%, manufacturing and mining 20% (1987 est.)

*Jordan, Government

Names:
 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
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)
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
National holiday:
  Independence Day, 25 May (1946)
Political parties and leaders:
  approximately 24 parties have been formed since the National Charter, but
  the number fluctuates; after the 1989 parliamentary elections, King Hussein
  promised to allow the formation of political parties; a national charter
  that sets forth the ground rules for democracy in Jordan - including the
  creation of political parties - was approved in principle by the special
  National Conference on 9 June 1991, but its specific provisions have yet to
  be passed by National Assembly
Suffrage:
  20 years of age; universal
Elections:
 House of Representatives:
  last held 8 November 1989 (next to be held November 1993); results - percent
  of vote by party NA; seats - (80 total) Muslim Brotherhood (fundamentalist)
  22, Independent Islamic bloc (generally traditionalist) 6, Democratic bloc
  (mostly leftist) 9, Constitutionalist bloc (traditionalist) 17, Nationalist
  bloc (traditionalist) 16, independent 10
Executive branch:
  monarch, prime minister, deputy prime minister, Cabinet
Legislative branch:
  bicameral National Assembly (Majlis al-'Umma) consists of an upper house or
  House of Notables (Majlis al-A'ayan) and a lower house or House of
  Representatives (Majlis al-Nuwaab); 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

*Jordan, Government

Leaders:
 Chief of State:
  King HUSSEIN Ibn Talal Al Hashemi (since 11 August 1952)
 Head of Government:
  Prime Minister Zayd bin SHAKIR (since 21 November 1991)
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, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO,
  WTO
Diplomatic representation in US:
 chief of mission:
  Ambassador Fayez A. TARAWNEH
 chancery:
  3504 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008
 telephone:
  (202) 966-2664
US diplomatic representation:
 chief of mission:
  Ambassador Roger Gram HARRISON
 embassy:
  Jebel Amman, Amman
 mailing address:
  P. O. Box 354, Amman, or APO AE 09892
 telephone:
  [962] (6) 644-371
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

*Jordan, Economy

Overview:
  Jordan benefited from increased Arab aid during the oil boom of the late
  1970s and early 1980s, when its annual GNP growth averaged more than 10%. In
  the remainder of the 1980s, however, reductions in both Arab aid and worker
  remittances slowed economic growth to an average of roughly 2% per year.
  Imports - mainly oil, capital goods, consumer durables, and food - have been
  outstripping 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 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 and worker remittances have plunged, and refugees have
  flooded the country, straining government resources. Economic recovery is
  unlikely without substantial foreign aid, debt relief, and economic reform.
National product:
  GDP - exchange rate conversion - $3.6 billion (1991 est.)
National product real growth rate:
  3% (1991 est.)
National product per capita:
  $1,100 (1991 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  9% (1991 est.)
Unemployment rate:
  40% (1991 est.)
Budget:
  revenues $1.3 billion; expenditures $1.9 billion, including capital
  expenditures of $440 million (1992 est.)
Exports:
  $1.0 billion (f.o.b., 1991 est.)
 commodities:
  phosphates, fertilizers, potash, agricultural products, manufactures
 partners:
  India, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Ethiopia, UAE, China
Imports:
  $2.3 billion (c.i.f., 1991 est.)
 commodities:
  crude oil, machinery, transport equipment, food, live animals, manufactured
  goods
 partners:
  EC countries, US, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Turkey
External debt:
  $9 billion (December 1991 est.)
Industrial production:
  growth rate 1% (1991 est.); accounts for 20% of GDP
Electricity:
  1,030,000 kW capacity; 3,814 million kWh produced, 1,070 kWh per capita
  (1992)
Industries:
  phosphate mining, petroleum refining, cement, potash, light manufacturing
Agriculture:
  accounts for about 7% of GDP; principal products are wheat, barley, citrus
  fruit, tomatoes, melons, olives; livestock - sheep, goats, poultry; large
  net importer of food

*Jordan, Economy

Economic aid:
  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 - 0.6890 (January 1993), 0.6797 (1992),
  0.6808 (1991), 0.6636 (1990), 0.5704 (1989), 0.3709 (1988)
Fiscal year:
  calendar year

*Jordan, Communications

Railroads:
  789 km 1.050-meter gauge, single track
Highways:
  7,500 km; 5,500 km asphalt, 2,000 km gravel and crushed stone
Pipelines:
  crude oil 209 km
Ports:
  Al 'Aqabah
Merchant marine:
  2 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 60,378 GRT/113,557 DWT; includes 1
  cargo and 1 oil tanker
Airports:
 total:
  19
 usable:
  15
 with permanent-surface runways:
  14
 with runways over 3,659 m:
  1
 with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
  13
 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

*Jordan, Defense Forces

Branches:
  Royal Jordanian Land Force, Royal Jordanian Air Force, Royal Naval Force,
  Public Security Force
Manpower availability:
  males age 15-49 936,213; fit for military service 664,095; reach military
  age (18) annually 42,093 (1993 est.)
Defense expenditures:
  exchange rate conversion - $434.8 million, 7.9% of GDP (1993 est.)