Country Summary: Jordan (Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan)

Country Name: Jordan (Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan)

Capital: Amman

Government Type: parliamentary constitutional monarchy

Background: 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.

The country has had four kings. Jordan's long-time ruler, King HUSSEIN (r. 1953-99), successfully navigated competing pressures from the major powers (US, USSR, and UK), various Arab states, Israel, and Palestinian militants, the latter of which led to a brief civil war in 1970 referred to as "Black September" and ended in King HUSSEIN's ouster of the militants from Jordan.

Jordan's borders also have changed since it gained independence. In 1948, Jordan took control of the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the first Arab-Israeli War, eventually annexing those territories in 1950 and granting its new Palestinian residents with Jordanian citizenship. In 1967, Jordan lost the West Bank and East Jerusalem to Israel in the Six-Day War but retained administrative claims to the West Bank until 1988 when King HUSSEIN permanently relinquished Jordanian claims to the West Bank in favor of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). King HUSSEIN signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, after Israel and the PLO signed the Oslo Accords in 1993.

Jordanian kings continue to claim custodianship of the Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem by virtue of their Hashemite heritage as descendants of the Prophet Mohammad and agreements with Israel and Jerusalem-based religious and Palestinian leaders. After Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 War, it authorized the Jordanian-controlled Islamic Trust, or Waqf, to continue administering affairs at the Al Haram ash Sharif/Temple Mount holy compound, and the Jordan-Israel peace treaty reaffirmed Jordan's "special role" in administering the Muslim holy shrines in Jerusalem. Jordanian kings claim custodianship of the Christian sites in Jerusalem on the basis of the 7th-century Pact of Omar, when the Muslim leader, after conquering Jerusalem, agreed to permit Christian worship.

King HUSSEIN died in 1999 and was succeeded by his eldest son, ABDALLAH II, who remains the current king. In 2009, King ABDALLAH II designated his son HUSSEIN as the Crown Prince.

Continent: Middle East

Population: 11,086,716 (2023 est.)

Ethnic Groups: Jordanian 69.3%, Syrian 13.3%, Palestinian 6.7%, Egyptian 6.7%, Iraqi 1.4%, other 2.6% (2015 est.)

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

Religions: 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.)

Economic Overview: 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

Currency: Jordanian Dinar (JOD)

Reserves of Foreign Exchange & Gold: $15.56 billion (31 December 2017 est.) note: holdings of gold (year-end prices)/foreign exchange/special drawing rights in current dollars

Real GDP (Purchasing Power Parity): $107.11 billion (2022 est.) note: data in 2017 dollars

Real GDP Growth Rate: 2.43% (2022 est.) note: annual GDP % growth based on constant local currency

Real GDP per Capita: $9,500 (2022 est.) note: data in 2017 dollars

Exports: 

• $20.335 billion (2022 est.) note: balance of payments - exports of goods and services in current dollars

• Comparison Ranking: 90

Export Commodities: fertilizers, clothing and apparel, calcium phosphates, phosphoric acid, packaged medicines (2021)

Export Partners: United States 26%, India 13%, Saudi Arabia 11%, Iraq 5%, China 4% (2021)

Imports: 

• $29.955 billion (2022 est.) note: balance of payments - imports of goods and services in current dollars

• Comparison Ranking: 81

Import Commodities: cars, refined petroleum, gold, crude petroleum, clothing and apparel, broadcasting equipment, packaged medicines (2021)

Import Partners: China 17%, Saudi Arabia 14%, United Arab Emirates 11%, United States 5%, Turkey 3% (2021)

Natural Resources: phosphates, potash, shale oil

Agricultural Products: tomatoes, poultry, olives, milk, potatoes, cucumbers, vegetables, watermelons, green chillies/peppers, peaches/nectarines

Industries: tourism, information technology, clothing, fertilizer, potash, phosphate mining, pharmaceuticals, petroleum refining, cement, inorganic chemicals, light manufacturing

Industrial Production Growth Rate: 

• 3.33% (2022 est.) note: annual % change in industrial value added based on constant local currency

• Comparison Ranking: 107

Labor Force: 3.009 million (2022 est.)

Unemployment Rate: 19.19% (2022 est.) note: % of labor force seeking employment

Natural Hazards: droughts; periodic earthquakes; flash floods

Geography:

• Total: 89,342 sq km

• Land: 88,802 sq km

• Water: 540 sq km

(Country Summary, The World Factbook, CIA.gov)

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