Following World War I and the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, the League of Nations awarded Britain the mandate to govern much of the Middle East. Britain demarcated a semi-autonomous region of Transjordan from Palestine in 1921 and recognized ABDALLAH I from the Hashemite family as the country’s first leader. The Hashemites also controlled the Hijaz, or the western coastal area of modern-day Saudi Arabia until 1925, when they were pushed out by IBN SAUD and Wahhabi tribes. The country gained its independence in 1946 and thereafter became The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
land: 88,802 sq km
water: 540 sq km
border countries (5): Iraq 179 km; Israel 307 km; Saudi Arabia 731 km; Syria 379 km; West Bank 148 km
lowest point: Dead Sea -431 m
mean elevation: 812 m
arable land: 2% (2018 est.)
permanent crops: 1% (2018 est.)
permanent pasture: 8.4% (2018 est.)
forest: 1.1% (2018 est.)
other: 87.5% (2018 est.)
11,086,716 (2023 est.)
note: increased estimate reflects revised assumptions about the net migration rate due to the increased flow of Syrian refugees
noun: Jordanian(s)
adjective: Jordanian
Jordanian 69.3%, Syrian 13.3%, Palestinian 6.7%, Egyptian 6.7%, Iraqi 1.4%, other 2.6% (2015 est.)
note: data represent population by self-identified nationality in national census
Arabic (official), English (widely understood among upper and middle classes)
major-language sample(s):
كتاب حقائق العالم، المصدر الذي لا يمكن الاستغناء عنه للمعلومات الأساسية (Arabic)
The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Muslim 97.1% (official; predominantly Sunni), Christian 2.1% (majority Greek Orthodox, but some Greek and Roman Catholics, Syrian Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, and Protestant denominations), Buddhist 0.4%, Hindu 0.1%, Jewish <0.1%, folk <0.1%, other <0.1%, unaffiliated <0.1% (2020 est.)
0-14 years: 31.42% (male 1,788,882/female 1,694,417)
15-64 years: 64.53% (male 3,802,074/female 3,352,680)
65 years and over: 4.05% (2023 est.) (male 218,218/female 230,445)
total dependency ratio: 57.1
youth dependency ratio: 51.2
elderly dependency ratio: 5.8
potential support ratio: 17.1 (2021 est.)
total: 24.6 years (2023 est.)
male: 25.1 years
female: 24.1 years
0.79% (2023 est.)
22.4 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)
3.5 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)
-11 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 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
urban population: 92% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: 0.98% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
2.232 million AMMAN (capital) (2023)
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.13 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.95 male(s)/female
total population: 1.1 male(s)/female (2023 est.)
24.6 years (2017/18 est.)
note: data represents median age at first birth among women 25-49
41 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
total: 13.6 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)
male: 14.7 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 12.4 deaths/1,000 live births
total population: 76.3 years (2023 est.)
male: 74.8 years
female: 77.8 years
2.91 children born/woman (2023 est.)
1.41 (2023 est.)
51.8% (2017/18)
improved: urban: 99.2% of population
rural: 97.9% of population
total: 99.1% of population
unimproved: urban: 0.8% of population
rural: 2.1% of population
total: 0.9% of population (2020 est.)
7.5% of GDP (2020)
2.66 physicians/1,000 population (2019)
1.5 beds/1,000 population (2017)
improved: urban: 98.8% of population
rural: 97.8% of population
total: 98.7% of population
unimproved: urban: 1.2% of population
rural: 2.2% of population
total: 1.3% of population (2020 est.)
35.5% (2016)
total: 0.25 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
beer: 0.06 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine: 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits: 0.19 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols: 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
total: 34.8% (2020 est.)
male: 56.8% (2020 est.)
female: 12.8% (2020 est.)
2.7% (2019)
55.6% (2023 est.)
women married by age 15: 1.5%
women married by age 18: 9.7%
men married by age 18: 0.1% (2018 est.)
3.2% of GDP (2021 est.)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98.4%
male: 98.7%
female: 98.4% (2021)
total: 11 years
male: 10 years
female: 11 years (2020)
limited natural freshwater resources; declining water table; salinity; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; biodiversity and ecosystem damage/loss
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
mostly arid desert; rainy season in west (November to April)
agricultural land: 11.4% (2018 est.)
arable land: 2% (2018 est.)
permanent crops: 1% (2018 est.)
permanent pasture: 8.4% (2018 est.)
forest: 1.1% (2018 est.)
other: 87.5% (2018 est.)
urban population: 92% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: 0.98% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
0.02% of GDP (2018 est.)
0% of GDP (2018 est.)
particulate matter emissions: 25.87 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)
carbon dioxide emissions: 25.11 megatons (2016 est.)
methane emissions: 6.04 megatons (2020 est.)
municipal solid waste generated annually: 2,529,997 tons (2013 est.)
municipal solid waste recycled annually: 177,100 tons (2014 est.)
percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 7% (2014 est.)
salt water lake(s): Dead Sea (shared with Israel and West Bank) - 1,020 sq km
note - endorheic hypersaline lake; 9.6 times saltier than the ocean; lake shore is 431 meters below sea level
Indian Ocean drainage: (Persian Gulf) Tigris and Euphrates (918,044 sq km)
Arabian Aquifer System
municipal: 500 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
industrial: 40 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
agricultural: 570 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
940 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
low growth, upper middle-income Middle Eastern economy; high debt and unemployment, especially for youth and women; key US foreign assistance recipient; natural resource-poor and import-reliant
$102.822 billion (2021 est.)
$100.581 billion (2020 est.)
$102.185 billion (2019 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars
2.23% (2021 est.)
-1.57% (2020 est.)
1.93% (2019 est.)
$9,200 (2021 est.)
$9,200 (2020 est.)
$9,600 (2019 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars
$44.568 billion (2019 est.)
1.35% (2021 est.)
0.33% (2020 est.)
0.76% (2019 est.)
Fitch rating: BB- (2019)
Moody’s rating: B1 (2013)
Standard & Poors rating: B+ (2017)
note: The year refers to the year in which the current credit rating was first obtained.
agriculture: 4.5% (2017 est.)
industry: 28.8% (2017 est.)
services: 66.6% (2017 est.)comparison rankings:
household consumption: 80.5% (2017 est.)
government consumption: 19.8% (2017 est.)
investment in fixed capital: 22.8% (2017 est.)
investment in inventories: 0.7% (2017 est.)
exports of goods and services: 34.2% (2017 est.)
imports of goods and services: -58% (2017 est.)
tomatoes, poultry, olives, milk, potatoes, cucumbers, vegetables, watermelons, green chillies/peppers, peaches/nectarines
tourism, information technology, clothing, fertilizer, potash, phosphate mining, pharmaceuticals, petroleum refining, cement, inorganic chemicals, light manufacturing
3.02% (2021 est.)
2.865 million (2021 est.)
19.25% (2021 est.)
19.03% (2020 est.)
16.81% (2019 est.)
note: official rate; unofficial rate is approximately 30%
total: 40.5% (2021 est.)
male: 37.4%
female: 53.8%
15.7% (2018 est.)
33.7 (2010 est.)
on food: 29.6% of household expenditures (2018 est.)
on alcohol and tobacco: 4.6% of household expenditures (2018 est.)
lowest 10%: 3.4%
highest 10%: 28.7% (2010 est.)
revenues: $10.813 billion (2019 est.)
expenditures: $13.489 billion (2019 est.)
-5.1% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
75.14% of GDP (2020 est.)
78.48% of GDP (2019 est.)
75.38% of GDP (2017 est.)
note: data cover central government debt and include debt instruments issued (or owned) by government entities other than the treasury; the data include treasury debt held by foreign entities; the data exclude debt issued by subnational entities, as well as intragovernmental debt; intragovernmental debt consists of treasury borrowings from surpluses in the social funds, such as for retirement, medical care, and unemployment; debt instruments for the social funds are not sold at public auctions
15.81% (of GDP) (2020 est.)
calendar year
-$4.03 billion (2021 est.)
-$2.506 billion (2020 est.)
-$773.366 million (2019 est.)
$13.864 billion (2021 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$10.444 billion (2020 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$16.17 billion (2019 est.)
United States 26%, India 13%, Saudi Arabia 11%, Iraq 5%, China 4% (2021)
fertilizers, clothing and apparel, calcium phosphates, phosphoric acid, packaged medicines (2021)
$23.392 billion (2021 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$18.424 billion (2020 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$21.964 billion (2019 est.)
China 17%, Saudi Arabia 14%, United Arab Emirates 11%, United States 5%, Turkey 3% (2021)
cars, refined petroleum, gold, crude petroleum, clothing and apparel, broadcasting equipment, packaged medicines (2021)
$15.56 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
$15.54 billion (31 December 2016 est.)
$32.088 billion (2019 est.)
$29.916 billion (2018 est.)
Jordanian dinars (JOD) per US dollar -
Exchange rates:
0.71 (2021 est.)
0.71 (2020 est.)
0.71 (2019 est.)
0.71 (2018 est.)
0.71 (2017 est.)
population without electricity: (2020) less than 1 million
electrification - total population: 99.9% (2021)
electrification - urban areas: 100% (2021)
electrification - rural areas: 98.8% (2021)
installed generating capacity: 5.644 million kW (2020 est.)
consumption: 17.366 billion kWh (2019 est.)
exports: 98 million kWh (2019 est.)
imports: 239 million kWh (2019 est.)
transmission/distribution losses: 2.249 billion kWh (2019 est.)comparison rankings:
fossil fuels: 83.5% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
nuclear: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
solar: 11.7% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
wind: 4.6% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
hydroelectricity: 0.2% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
tide and wave: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
geothermal: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
biomass and waste: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
production: 0 metric tons (2020 est.)
consumption: 219,000 metric tons (2020 est.)
exports: 0 metric tons (2020 est.)
imports: 219,000 metric tons (2020 est.)
proven reserves: 0 metric tons (2019 est.)
total petroleum production: 0 bbl/day (2021 est.)
refined petroleum consumption: 114,800 bbl/day (2019 est.)
crude oil and lease condensate exports: 0 bbl/day (2018 est.)
crude oil and lease condensate imports: 47,400 bbl/day (2018 est.)
crude oil estimated reserves: 1 million barrels (2021 est.)
67,240 bbl/day (2015 est.)
0 bbl/day (2015 est.)
68,460 bbl/day (2015 est.)
production: 115.872 million cubic meters (2019 est.)
consumption: 4.651 billion cubic meters (2019 est.)
exports: 375.849 million cubic meters (2019 est.)
imports: 4.911 billion cubic meters (2019 est.)
proven reserves: 6.031 billion cubic meters (2021 est.)
23.47 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from coal and metallurgical coke: 381,000 metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from petroleum and other liquids: 15.786 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from consumed natural gas: 7.303 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
39.331 million Btu/person (2019 est.)
number of registered air carriers: 4 (2020)
inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 54
annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers: 3,383,805 (2018)
annual freight traffic on registered air carriers: 175.84 million (2018) mt-km
JY
18 (2021)
16
note: paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)
2
note: unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 m (3,280 ft.) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control
1 (2021)
473 km gas, 49 km oil (2013)
total: 509 km (2020)
narrow gauge: 509 km (2014) 1.050-m gauge
total: 7,203 km (2011)
paved: 7,203 km (2011)
total: 35 (2022)
by type: general cargo 6, other 29
major seaport(s): Al ‘Aqabah
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