Jordan

Full name of country: Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

Region: Middle East

Official language: Arabic

Population: 11,174,024 (2024 est.)

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

Land area: 88,802 sq km (34,287 sq miles)

Water area: 540 sq km (208 sq miles)

Capital: Amman

National anthem: "As-salam al-malaki al-urdoni" (Long Live the King of Jordan), by Abdul-Monem al-Rifai/Abdul-Qader al-Taneer

National holiday: Independence Day, May 25 (1946)

Population growth: 0.78% (2024 est.)

Time zone: UTC +2

Flag: The flag of Jordan features three horizontal bands. The top band is black and represents the Abbassid Caliphate. The middle band of white represents the Ummayyad Caliphate and the lower band of green represents the Fatimid Caliphate. The hoist (left) side of the flag has a red isosceles triangle that represents the Great Arab Revolt of 1916. In the middle of the triangle sits a white star with seven-points, each of which symbolizes a verse of the Koran.

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

Government type: parliamentary constitutional monarchy

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Legal system: mixed legal system of civil law and Islamic religious law; judicial review of legislative acts in a specially provided High Tribunal

Bordered by Israel, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the West Bank, the boundaries of Jordan shifted after gaining independence from Britain in 1946. Two years later, Israel was created and Jordan took control of the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the first Israeli-Arab war. In 1950, Jordan offered full-citizenship to Palestinian residents of those territories, having annexed them. Though Israel retook the territories in 1967, Jordan kept administrative control of the territories until 1988. In 1994 Jordan became one of the only Arab states to sign a peace treaty with Israel, the Israeli-Jordanian Peace Treaty. Jordan received an influx of refugees from Iraq following the 2003 US invasion of that country and from Syria following that country’s civil war, which began in 2011. In the 2023, the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ukraine-Russian war, and the Israeli-Hamas conflict threatened the nation's stability.

Note: unless otherwise indicated, statistical data in this article is sourced from the CIA World Factbook, as cited in the bibliography.

People and Culture

Population: About 69.3 percent of Jordan's population identified as Jordanian, 13.3 percent as Syrian, 6.7 percent as Palestinian, 6.7 percent as Egyptian, and 1.4 percent as Iraqi (2015 estimates). Other ethnic groups include Circassians and Armenians,.

Approximately 97.1 percent of Jordanians are Muslim, and the vast majority of those are Sunni. Christians, mostly belonging to the Greek Orthodox Church, make up 2.1 percent of the population, while the remainder belong to the Buddhist, Baha'i, Hindu, or Druze faith (2020 est.).

Unlike some of its neighboring countries, Jordan does not have significant oil reserves, making unemployment and poverty ongoing challenges in a country with scarce natural resources.

Literacy rates are high in Jordan. The adult literacy rate is 98.7 percent (2021). While Arabic is the official language, English is widely spoken among middle- and upper-class Jordanians.

Average life expectancy at birth is 76.5 years, and infant mortality is 13.2 deaths per 1,000 live births. The country's population continues to grow, with an overall growth rate of 0.79 percent and a birth rate of 22.37 births per 1,000 people (2024 estimates).

Indigenous People: The modern nation of Jordan was once part of the Palestine region (including Jerusalem) that is now mostly claimed by the state of Israel. The area is one of the longest-inhabited places on earth, and has witnessed the rise and fall of the Canaanite, Armorite, Sumerian, Akkadian, Jewish, Nabataean, Roman, Egyptian, and Ottoman Empires over the past five thousand years. The earliest known archeological finds in the area date back to about 9000 BCE.

The "Arab" designation that is given to most Jordanians only came about during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries when the various peoples, families, and tribes of the Middle East whose language derived from Bedouin Arabic were grouped under a single ethnic category. Prior to that, "Arab" referred to the nomadic Bedouin people who traveled the desert regions between the villages and cities of the Middle East, conducting trade. Jordanians include the descendents of all of these groups.

Education: Jordan's education system includes two years of optional preschool and ten years of compulsory education (ages six to sixteen). Two years of secondary school study or vocational training are required before sitting for the Tawjihi, a secondary education completion exam.

Although Jordan has one of the highest rates of female education in the region, the country's poverty has made access to both preschools and secondary schools difficult for many students. In 2018, 70.8 percent of Jordanian students attended upper secondary school. Therefore, Jordan has been undergoing an extensive education reform effort in the twenty-first century. With the assistance of international organizations, the Jordanian government is increasing the number of preschools, standardizing curricula, creating teacher training requirements, improving facilities, and aligning school curricula at all levels with new technology-based employment goals.

Health Care: Though it is under pressure from population growth and widespread poverty, Jordan's health care system has an established reputation as a model for health care in the region. The government-sponsored national health insurance program subsidizes the cost of primary care, emergency care, specialist treatment, dental care, and eye care. Government-run and charitable hospitals and clinics provide access to free care for the country's poorest residents. A large network of private physicians, clinics, and hospitals are available to Jordan's wealthier residents.

Jordan's economic setbacks, including the US-led invasion of neighboring Iraq, have depleted funding for both private and public health care services. At the same time, population growth and increased unemployment have dramatically increased demand for medical care. As a result, Jordan has accepted large sums of foreign aid, including funding from the US government, to renovate and build new clinics, improve health care worker training, and subsidize public health campaigns. Jordan ranked 102nd out of 189 countries on the 2020 United Nations Human Development Index.

Food: Jordan's is a typical Arab cuisine that includes lamb and chicken dishes accompanied by yogurt-based sauces and marinades flavored with mint, garlic, and tomatoes. Dishes such as couscous (made from wheat) and falafel (made from chickpeas) are common snacks or light meals. Rice or bread, often unleavened, appears with most large meals. Olives abound as a snack or a part of most any meal.

Jordan's national dish is the Bedouin-inspired mansaf, lamb cooked in yogurt sauce and served on rice. However, Arab cuisine's most famous dish internationally is shish kebab, meat and vegetables marinated and grilled on skewers. Sweet teas and coffees, often spiced with cardamom, finish off a meal.

For many Jordanians, lunch is the largest meal and is eaten in groups in the early afternoon while everyone catches up on the events of the day. The exception to this rule is during Ramadan, the Muslim holy month, when Muslim families fast from sunup to sundown and then gather in the evenings for large and often celebratory dinner.

Arts & Entertainment: The Islamic tradition forbids the visual representation of human beings or other living creatures, but this cultural tradition has only enriched the Arab emphasis on pattern, color, craftsmanship, and language in the arts. Over the past century, Jordan has developed its own place in the Arabic literary canon, including authors Fadwa Tuqan, Samira Azzam, Mona Saudi, and Mahmoud Sayf ad-Din al-Irani and poet Mustafa At-tal (known as Arar).

In the early twenty-first century, Jordan became recognized as a regional center for contemporary art, prompting the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to name Amman the Arab Cultural Capital of the year in 2002.

Jordanians are also avid sports fans. Traditional camel races take place in the summer, but the average Jordanian is more likely to be found watching car races or soccer matches on the family television. Sports complexes, especially in Amman, provide facilities for Jordanians to take part in athletics. Water skiing and scuba diving have become popular pastimes in the Gulf of Aqaba at Jordan's southern tip. Jordan's cultural life is celebrated during the Jerash Festival for Culture and Arts and the Fuhais Festival.

Holidays: As in most Muslim countries, Eid al-Fitr is Jordan's largest holiday. Coming at the end of Ramadan, the three-day celebration of renewal involves donning new clothes, giving to the poor, giving presents, and feasting and festivals. Eid al-Adha, the day that marks the Hebrew Bible story of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son, takes place in the Muslim month of pilgrimage. Other Islamic holidays include Hijri, the new year beginning after Eid al-Adha, and the Eid al-Mawlid al-Nawabi, the Prophet Mohammad's Birthday. The dates vary from year to year because they follow the Islamic lunar calendar. Major Christian holidays such as Palm Sunday, Easter, and Christmas are also observed.

Other public holidays include New Year's Day (January 1), Labor Day (May 1), Independence Day (May 25), the Accession of HM King Abdullah II (June 9), Army Day (June 10), and King Hussein Remembrance Day (November 14).

Environment and Geography

Topography: Jordan lies at the meeting point of Southwest Asia and Arabia in the Middle East. Landlocked on all sides except where its southern tip borders the Gulf of Aqaba, the country nevertheless includes approximately 330 square kilometers (205 square miles) of water contained in the Dead Sea. Jordan's three geographical regions include the Jordan Valley, the Mountain Heights Plateau, and the Badia region (or eastern deserts).

The Jordan Valley covers most of western Jordan and is part of the Great Rift Valley, a twenty-million-year old tectonic fissure that extends from Turkey to Africa. The Jordan Valley contains the biblical Jordan River, which irrigates much of the valley from the country's northern border to end in the Dead Sea. The northern segment of the valley, the Ghor, is Jordan's most fertile area.

South of the Dead Sea, the Jordan Valley becomes a 155-kilometer (96-mile) basin surrounded by steep mountains. Here in the Wadi 'Araba, elevations range from 300 meters (984 feet) below sea level to 355 meters (1,165 feet) above sea level. The Wadi flows to sea level at the 40 kilometers (25 miles) of coastline in the city of Aqaba.

Extending the entire length of western Jordan between the Jordan Valley and the eastern desert, the Mountain Heights Plateau is rugged with rich vegetation. Because the mountains collect more rainfall than any other area of the country, this region is home to Jordan's largest towns and cities, including Amman. The mountains are cut through by wadis, dry streambeds that fill with water after heavy rains. From the plateau, most of the wadis flow downward into the Jordan Valley and empty into the Jordan River or the Dead Sea.

The country's highest point of elevation is atop Jabal Umm ad Dami at 1,854 meters (6,082 feet) above sea level. Jordan's lowest point of elevation is in the Dead Sea where, at 408 meters (1,339 feet) below sea level, the land falls to its lowest point on the planet.

The plateau's northern highlands have been known for millennia as the Land of Gilead. To the north and east of the Land of Gilead's higher elevations, the northern steppes are slowly being claimed by the eastern deserts.

Jordan's eastern desert (or Badia region) is actually part of the Great Arab Desert and now claims about three-quarters of Jordan's national territory. Within the Badia, the Basalt Desert, Rweishid Desert, Eastern Desert, Central Desert, and Rum Desert vary in terrain, vegetation, and rainfall amounts. In Jordan's famous Rum Desert, the Wadi Rum rises into massive sandstone formations. All of the eastern desert regions include wadi oases that provide vegetation for the hardy species that live there.

Natural Resources: Jordan is one of the world's most water-poor countries and lacks many other natural resources, as well. However, certain areas of the country, notably the Wadi 'Araba, have potash reserves. Jordan also has natural supplies of phosphates and shale oil.

Plants & Animals: Once part of the biblical "land of milk and honey," modern day Jordan is striving to stop the loss of its abundant vegetation and wildlife. Wildflowers, including Jordan's national flower, the black iris, carpet the Mountain Heights Plateau in spring. Typical Mediterranean trees such as eucalyptus, pine, oak, pistachio, and cinnabar naturally thrive throughout the highlands and in areas of the Jordan Valley. Some of Jordan's olive trees have been dated to the era of the Roman Empire.

The eastern deserts are home to hardier species, such as acacia trees, insects, lizards, and small mammals. Jackals, desert foxes, striped hyenas, camels, wolves, and the rare white oryx and mountain ibex also live in the desert areas.

About 220 bird species stop at the Azraq Reserve on their migratory routes. Jordan's Gulf of Aqaba is home to one of the world's most important coral reefs. There, a wide variety of corals and other marine life find shelter in the warm, protected waters.

Climate: Jordan's climate is generally arid or semiarid. In the eastern deserts, the country receives less than 5 centimeters (less than 2 inches) of rainfall per year on average.

Temperatures vary significantly, rising above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in the daytime during spring and summer, but ranging from only 2 degrees to 9 degrees Celsius (36 degrees to 48 degrees Fahrenheit) during the winter.

On particularly cold nights, the desert temperatures can drop below freezing. However, temperatures in Amman only range from about 8 degrees Celsius (46 degrees Fahrenheit) during the winter to 24 degrees Celsius (75 degrees Fahrenheit) during the summer months. Rainfall is also substantially greater in the Mountain Heights Plateau region, averaging about 36 centimeters (14 inches) per year.

Economy

Unlike other Arab countries, Jordan does not have large deposits of oil; it imported most of its oil from Iraq before 2003. The country has enjoyed a free trade agreement with the United States since 2001, providing for growth in Jordan's technology and service sectors.

In 2023, Jordan’s gross domestic product (GDP, purchasing power parity) was estimated at $106.806 billion and per capita GDP was US$9,400.

The country's unemployment rate was 17.94 percent in 2023.

Industry: Jordan's industries include information technology, clothing manufacturing, phosphate and potash mining, cement production, chemicals and pharmaceutical manufacturing, petroleum refining, and tourism. Because Iraq was an important Jordanian trade partner, many of these industries were negatively affected by the US war in Iraq. By the late 2010s Jordan traded mainly with the United States, Saudi Arabia, and India.

Agriculture: Jordan's agricultural industry is almost entirely limited to the Jordan Valley region where farms produce citrus fruits, tomatoes, melons, olives, and stone fruits. Livestock include sheep, poultry, and dairy cattle.

Tourism: Jordan's natural wonders and ancient ruins have made for a substantial tourist industry. Archeologists and visitors flock to Roman ruins at Jerash, Karak, Madara, and Petra, among other sites.

Scuba divers travel to Jordan to explore the coral reef in the Gulf of Aqaba, and the mineral springs and salty waters of the Dead Sea have been a health spa destination for centuries. Political instability in neighboring countries, and particularly war in Iraq and Syria, weakened Jordan's tourist industry. In 2022, Jordan's tourism sector brought in $5.816 billion in revenue, an increase of 0.4 percent over pre-pandemic revenues, according to the Central Bank of Jordan in 2023.

Government

Jordan is divided into twelve governorates (administrative divisions) ruled by a constitutional monarchy. The country became independent in 1946 after being ruled by Britain (as Transjordan) under a post-World War II mandate from the United Nations.

From 1948 until 1967, Jordan included East Jerusalem and the West Bank territories within its national boundaries. Both areas were lost to Israel in the Six Day War between Israel and its Arab neighbors, though Jordan maintained administrative control over the territories until 1988. Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994.

Executive power rests with the king, who appoints the prime minister. Jordan's Majlis al-'Umma (national assembly) consists of the Majlis al-Ayan (Senate) and a Majlis al-Nuwaab (House of Deputies). The sixty-five members of the Majlis al-Ayan are appointed by the monarch from prescribed categories. Each member serves a four-year term. There are 130 members of the Majlis al-Nuwaab, of which 115 are elected by popular vote on the basis of proportional representation to serve four-year terms. The remaining fifteen seats in the Majlis al-Nuwaab are reserved for women. Of the 115 seats, 12 are reserved for Christian, Chechen, and Circassian candidates.

Fun Facts

• The salt content in the Dead Sea is so great that the sea can sustain no forms of animal or plant life. The same salinity makes a swimmer so buoyant that it is easy for anyone to float on the surface of the water.
• Jordan's Queen Noor, widow of the late King Hussein and mother of King Abdullah II, was born and raised in the United States, where she received a degree in architecture and urban planning from Princeton University before meeting and marrying the king of Jordan.
• The ancient city of Petra is half-built, half-carved into red sandstone cliffs. Petra was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.
• Jinn, the first Arabic-language show for the video-streaming service Netflix, was shot on location in Petra. Its first season aired in mid-2019.

Bibliography

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"Jordan." The World Bank, 2024, data.worldbank.org/country/jordan. Accessed 16 Jan. 2025.

"Jordan." The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 23 Dec. 2024, www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/jordan/. Accessed 16 Jan. 2025.

“Jordan: Key Demographic Indicators.” UNICEF Data, UNICEF, data.unicef.org/country/jor. Accessed 6 Dec. 2023.

“Jordan (LKA) Exports, Imports, and Trade Partners.” OEC, Observatory of Economic Complexity, 2020, oec.world/en/profile/country/jor. Accessed 2 Oct. 2020.

JT. "2022 Tourism Revenue Edges Out Pre-Pandemic Levels—CBJ." The Jordan Times, 12 Jan. 2023, jordantimes.com/news/local/2022-tourism-revenue-edges-out-pre-pandemic-levels-—-cbj. Accessed 6 Dec. 2023.

“2019 Report on International Religious Freedom: Jordan.” US Department of State, 2020, www.state.gov/reports/2019-report-on-international-religious-freedom/jordan. Accessed 2 Oct. 2020.