Posted By admin on September 14, 2015
Alternative titles: Al-Mamlakah al-Urdunyah al-Hshimyah; Al-Urdun; Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Jordan,Arab country of Southwest Asia, in the rocky desert of the northern Arabian Peninsula.
Petra: Al-Dayr Arraial/FotoliaJordan is a young state that occupies an ancient land, one that bears the traces of many civilizations. Separated from ancient Palestine by the Jordan River, the region played a prominent role in biblical history. The ancient biblical kingdoms of Moab, Gilead, and Edom lie within its borders, as does the famed red stone city of Petra, the capital of the Nabatean kingdom and of the Roman province of Arabia Petraea. British traveler Gertrude Bell said of Petra, It is like a fairy tale city, all pink and wonderful. Part of the Ottoman Empire until 1918 and later a mandate of the United Kingdom, Jordan has been an independent kingdom since 1946. It is among the most politically liberal countries of the Arab world, and, although it shares in the troubles affecting the region, its rulers have expressed a commitment to maintaining peace and stability.
The capital and largest city in the country is Ammannamed for the Ammonites, who made the city their capital in the 13th century bce. Amman was later a great city of Middle Eastern antiquity, Philadelphia, of the Roman Decapolis, and now serves as one of the regions principal commercial and transportation centres as well as one of the Arab worlds major cultural capitals.
Slightly smaller in area than the country of Portugal, Jordan is bounded to the north by Syria, to the east by Iraq, to the southeast and south by Saudi Arabia, and to the west by Israel and the West Bank. The West Bank area (so named because it lies just west of the Jordan River) was under Jordanian rule from 1948 to 1967, but in 1988 Jordan renounced its claims to the area. Jordan has 16 miles (26 km) of coastline on the Gulf of Aqaba in the southwest, where Al-Aqabah, its only port, is located.
Jordan has three major physiographic regions (from east to west): the desert, the uplands east of the Jordan River, and the Jordan Valley (the northwest portion of the great East African Rift System).
The desert region is mostly within the Syrian Desertan extension of the Arabian Desertand occupies the eastern and southern parts of the country, comprising more than four-fifths of its territory. The deserts northern part is composed of volcanic lava and basalt, and its southern part of outcrops of sandstone and granite. The landscape is much eroded, primarily by wind. The uplands east of the Jordan River, an escarpment overlooking the rift valley, have an average elevation of 2,0003,000 feet (600900 metres) and rise to about 5,755 feet (1,754 metres) at Mount Ramm, Jordans highest point, in the south. Outcrops of sandstone, chalk, limestone, and flint extend to the extreme south, where igneous rocks predominate.
The Jordan Valley drops to an average of 1,312 feet (400 metres) below sea level at the Dead Sea, the lowest natural point on the Earths surface.
The Jordan River, approximately 186 miles (300 km) in length, meanders south, draining the waters of Lake Tiberias (better known as the Sea of Galilee), the Yarmk River, and the valley streams of both plateaus into the Dead Sea, which occupies the central area of the valley. The soil of its lower reaches is highly saline, and the shores of the Dead Sea consist of salt marshes that do not support vegetation. To its south, Wadi al-Arabah (also called Wadi al-Jayb), a completely desolate region, is thought to contain mineral resources.
In the northern uplands several valleys containing perennial streams run west; around Al-Karak they flow west, east, and north; south of Al-Karak intermittent valley streams run east toward Al-Jafr Depression.
The countrys best soils are found in the Jordan Valley and in the area southeast of the Dead Sea. The topsoil in both regions consists of alluviumdeposited by the Jordan River and washed from the uplands, respectivelywith the soil in the valley generally being deposited in fans spread over various grades of marl.
Jordans climate varies from Mediterranean in the west to desert in the east and south, but the land is generally arid. The proximity of the Mediterranean Sea is the major influence on climates, although continental air masses and elevation also modify it. Average monthly temperatures at Amman in the north range between 46 and 78 F (8 and 26 C), while at Al-Aqabah in the far south they range between 60 and 91 F (16 and 33 C). The prevailing winds throughout the country are westerly to southwesterly, but spells of hot, dry, dusty winds blowing from the southeast off the Arabian Peninsula frequently occur and bring the country its most uncomfortable weather. Known locally as the khamsin, these winds blow most often in the early and late summer and can last for several days at a time before terminating abruptly as the wind direction changes and much cooler air follows.
Precipitation occurs in the short, cool winters, decreasing from 16 inches (400 mm) annually in the northwest near the Jordan River to less than 4 inches (100 mm) in the south. In the uplands east of the Jordan River, the annual total is about 14 inches (355 mm). The valley itself has a yearly average of 8 inches (200 mm), and the desert regions receive one-fourth of that. Occasional snow and frost occur in the uplands but are rare in the rift valley. As the population increases, water shortages in the major towns are becoming one of Jordans crucial problems.
The flora of Jordan falls into three distinct types: Mediterranean, steppe (treeless plains), and desert. In the uplands the Mediterranean type predominates with scrubby, dense bushes and small trees, while in the drier steppe region to the east species of the genus Artemisia (wormwood) are most frequent. Grasses are the prevalent vegetation on the steppe, but isolated trees and shrubs, such as lotus fruit and the Mount Atlas pistachio, also occur. In the desert, vegetation grows meagrely in depressions and on the sides and floors of the valleys after the scant winter rains.
Only a tiny portion of Jordans area is forested, most of it occurring in the rocky highlands. These forests have survived the depredations of villagers and nomads alike. The Jordanian government promotes reforestation by providing free seedlings to farmers. In the higher regions of the uplands, the predominant types of trees are the Aleppo oak (Quercus infectoria Olivier), the kermes oak (Quercus coccinea), the Palestinian pistachio (Pistacia palaestina), the Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis), and the eastern strawberry tree (Arbutus andrachne). Wild olives also are found there, and the Phoenician juniper (Juniperus phoenicea L.) occurs in the regions with lower rainfall. The national flower is the black iris (Iris nigricans).
The varied wildlife includes wild boars, ibex, and a species of wild goat found in the gorges and in the Ayn al-Azraq oasis. Hares, jackals, foxes, wildcats, hyenas, wolves, gazelles, blind mole rats, mongooses, and a few leopards also inhabit the area. Centipedes, scorpions, and various types of lizards are found as well. Birds include the golden eagle and the vulture, while wild fowl include the pigeon and the partridge.
The overwhelming majority of the people are Arabs, principally Jordanians and Palestinians; there is also a significant minority of Bedouin, who were by far the largest indigenous group before the influx of Palestinians following the Arab-Israeli wars of 194849 and 1967. Jordanians of Bedouin heritage remain committed to the Hshimite regime, which has ruled the country since 1923, despite having become a minority there. Although the Palestinian population is often critical of the monarchy, Jordan is the only Arab country to grant wide-scale citizenship to Palestinian refugees. Other minorities include a number of Iraqis who fled to Jordan as a result of the Persian Gulf War and Iraq War. There are also smaller Circassian (known locally as Cherkess or Jarkas) and Armenian communities. A small number of Turkmen (who speak either an ancient form of the Turkmen language or the Azeri language) also reside in Jordan.
The indigenous Arabs, whether Muslim or Christian, used to trace their ancestry from the northern Arabian Qays (Madd, Nizr, Adnn, or Isml) tribes or from the southern Arabian Yaman (Ban Kalb or Qan) groups. Only a few tribes and towns have continued to observe this Qays-Yaman divisiona pre-Islamic split that was once an important, although broad, source of social identity as well as a point of social friction and conflict.
Nearly all the people speak Arabic, the countrys official language. There are various dialects spoken, with local inflections and accents, but these are mutually intelligible and similar to the type of Levantine Arabic spoken in parts of Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria. There is, as in all parts of the Arab world, a significant difference between the written languageknown as Modern Standard Arabicand the colloquial, spoken form. The former is similar to Classical Arabic and is taught in school. Most Circassians have adopted Arabic in daily life, though some continue to speak Adyghe (one of the Caucasian languages). Armenian is also spoken in pockets, but bilingualism or outright assimilation to the Arabic language is common among all minorities.
Virtually the entire population is Sunni Muslim; Christians constitute most of the rest, of whom two-thirds adhere to the Greek Orthodox church. Other Christian groups include the Greek Catholics, also called the Melchites, or Catholics of the Byzantine rite, who recognize the supremacy of the Roman pope; the Roman Catholic community, headed by a pope-appointed patriarch; and the small Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch, or Syrian Jacobite Church, whose members use Syriac in their liturgy. Most non-Arab Christians are Armenians, and the majority belong to the Gregorian, or Armenian, Orthodox church, while the rest attend the Armenian Catholic Church. There are several Protestant denominations representing communities whose converts came almost entirely from other Christian sects.
The Druze, an offshoot of the Isml Shite sect, number a few hundred and reside in and around Amman. About 1,000 Bahwho in the 19th century also split off from Shite Islamlive in Al-Adasiyyah in the Jordan Valley. The Armenians, Druze, and Bah are both religious and ethnic communities. The Circassians are mostly Sunni, and they along with the closely related Chechens (Shshn)a group numbering about 1,000, who are descendants of 19th-century immigrants from the Caucasus Mountainsmake up the most important non-Arab minority.
The landscape falls into two regionsthe desert zone and the cultivated zoneeach of which is associated with its own mode of living. The tent-dwelling nomads (Bedouin, or Bad), who make up less than one-tenth of the population, generally inhabit the desert, some areas of the steppe, and the uplands. The tent-dwelling Bedouin people have decreased in number because the government has successfully enforced their permanent settlement; urban residents who trace their roots to the Bedouin make up more than one-third of Jordanians.
The eastern Bedouin are principally camel breeders and herders, while the western Bedouin herd sheep and goats. There are some seminomads, in whom the modes of life of the desert and the cultivated zones merge. These people adopt a nomadic existence during part of the year but return to their lands and homes in time to practice agriculture. The two largest nomadic groups of Jordan are the Ban (Ban) akhr and Ban al-uwayt. The grazing grounds of both are entirely within Jordan, as is the case with the smaller tribe of Sirn. There are numerous lesser groups, such as the Ban asan and Ban Khlid as well as the Hawazim, Aiyyah, and Sharaft. These traditionally paid protection money to larger groups. The Ruwlah (Rwala) tribe, which is not indigenous, passes through Jordan in its yearly wandering from Syria to Saudi Arabia.
Rural residents, including small numbers of Bedouin, constitute about one-fifth of the population. The average village contains a cluster of houses and other buildings, including an elementary school and a mosque, with pasturage on the outskirts. A medical dispensary and a post office may be found in the larger villages, together with a general store and a small caf, whose owners are usually part-time farmers. Kinship relationships are patriarchal, while extended-family ties govern social relationships and tribal organization.
AmmanAra Guler, IstanbulSome three-fourths of all Jordanians live in urban areas. The main population centres are Amman, Al-Zarq, Irbid, and Al-Ruayfah. Many of the smaller towns have only a few thousand inhabitants. Most towns have hospitals, banks, government and private schools, mosques, churches, libraries, and entertainment facilities, and some have institutions of higher learning and newspapers. Amman and Al-Zarq, and to some extent Irbid, have more modern urban characteristics than do the smaller towns.
Jordan: population densityEncyclopdia Britannica, Inc.The population structure is predominantly young; persons under age 15 constitute roughly two-fifths of the population. The birth rate is high, and the countrys population growth rate is about double the world average. The average life expectancy is about 70 years. Internal migration from rural to urban centres has added a burden to the economy; however, a large number of Jordanians live and work abroad.
Some one-third of Jordans population are Palestinians. The influx of Palestinian refugees not only altered Jordans demographic map but has also affected its political, social, and economic life. Jordans population in the late 1940s was between 200,000 and 250,000. After the 194849 Arab-Israeli war and the annexation of the West Bank, Jordanian citizenship was granted to some 400,000 Palestinians who were residents of and remained in the West Bank and to about half a million refugees from the new Israeli state. Many of these refugees settled east of the Jordan River. Between 1949 and 1967, Palestinians continued to move east in large numbers. After the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, an estimated 310,000 to 350,000 Palestinians, mostly from the West Bank, sought refuge in Jordan; thereafter immigration from the West Bank continued at a lower rate. During the Persian Gulf War (199091), some 300,000 additional Palestinians fled (or were expelled) from Kuwait to Jordan, and as many as 1.7 million Iraqis flooded into the kingdom during the war and the years that followed. Another smaller wave arrived in 2003 after the start of the Iraq War. Most of these Iraqis left, but perhaps 200,000 to 300,000 remain. Only a small fraction are registered as refugees.
Most Palestinians are employed and hold full Jordanian citizenship. By the early 21st century, approximately 1.6 million Palestinians were registered with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), an organization providing education, medical care, relief assistance, and social services. About one-sixth of these refugees lived in camps in Jordan.
Although Jordans economy is relatively small and faces numerous obstacles, it is comparatively well diversified. Trade and finance combined account for nearly one-third of Jordans gross domestic product (GDP); transportation and communication, public utilities, and construction represent one-fifth of total GDP, and mining and manufacturing constitute nearly that proportion. Remittances from Jordanians working abroad are a major source of foreign exchange.
However, although Jordans economy is ostensibly based on private enterprise, servicesparticularly government spendingaccount for about one-fourth of GDP and employ roughly one-third of the workforce. In addition, Jordan has increasingly been plagued by recession, debt, and unemployment since the mid-1990s, and the small size of the Jordanian market, fluctuations in agricultural production, a lack of capital, and the presence of large numbers of refugees have made it necessary for Jordan to continue to seek foreign aid. The Jordanian government has been slow to implement privatization. Despite efforts by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to boost the private sectorincluding agreements to write off the countrys external debt and loans from the World Bank designed to revitalize Jordans economyit was only in 1999 that the government began introducing a number of economic reforms. These efforts included Jordans entry into the World Trade Organization (in 2000) and the partial privatization of some state-owned enterprises.
Perhaps most importantly, Jordans geographic location has made it and its economy highly vulnerable to political instability in the region. The Jordanian economy was resilient and growing before the Six-Day War of June 1967, and the West Bank, prior to its occupation by Israel during that conflict, contributed about one-third of Jordans total domestic income. Economic growth continued after 1967 at a slower pace but was revitalized by a series of state economic plans. Trade increased between Jordan and Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War (198088), because Iraq required access to Jordans port of Al-Aqabah. Jordan initially supported Iraqi president addm ussein when Iraq occupied Kuwait during the Persian Gulf War, but it eventually agreed to the United Nations trade sanctions against Iraq, its principal trading partner, and thereby put its whole economy in jeopardy. External emergency aid helped Jordan weather the crisis, and the economy was boosted by the sudden influx of Palestinians from Kuwait in 1991, many of whom brought in capital. During 2003 the construction industry recovered with the arrival of many thousands of people fleeing Iraq, and Jordan became a major service centre for those working to reconstruct that country. Despite the support of the government for IMF and World Bank plans to increase the private sector, the state remains the dominant force in Jordans economy.
Only a tiny fraction of Jordans land is arable, and the country imports some foodstuffs to meet its needs. Wheat and barley are the main crops of the rain-fed uplands, and irrigated land in the Jordan Valley produces citrus and other fruits, potatoes, vegetables (tomatoes and cucumbers), and olives. Pastureland is limited; although artesian wells have been dug to increase its area, much former pasture area has been turned over to the cultivation of olive and fruit trees, and large areas have been degraded to the point that they can barely support livestock. Sheep and goats are the most important livestock, but there are also some cattle, camels, horses, donkeys, and mules. Poultry is also kept.
Mineral resources include large deposits of phosphates, potash, limestone, and marble, as well as dolomite, kaolin, and salt. More recently discovered minerals include barite (the principal ore of the metallic element barium), quartzite, gypsum (used as a fertilizer), and feldspar, and there are unexploited deposits of copper, uranium, and shale oil. Although the country has no significant oil deposits, modest reserves of natural gas are located in its eastern desert. In 2003 the first section of a new pipeline from Egypt began delivering natural gas to Al-Aqabah.
Virtually all electric power in Jordan is generated by thermal plants, most of which are oil-fired. The major power stations are linked by a transmission system. By the early 21st century the government had completed a program to link the major cities and towns by a countrywide grid.
Beginning in the final decades of the 20th century, access to water became a major problem for Jordanas well as a point of conflict among states in the regionas overuse of the Jordan River (and its tributary, the Yarmk River) and excessive tapping of the regions natural aquifers led to shortages throughout Jordan and surrounding countries. In 2000 Jordan and Syria secured funding for constructing a dam on the Yarmk River that, in addition to storing water for Jordan, would also generate electricity for Syria. Construction of the Wadah (Unity) Dam began in 2004.
Manufacturing is concentrated around Amman. The extraction of phosphate, petroleum refining, and cement production are the countrys major heavy industries. Food, clothing, and a variety of consumer goods also are produced.
The Central Bank of Jordan (Al-Bank al-Markaz al-Urdun) issues the dinar, the national currency. There are many national and foreign banks in addition to credit institutions. The government has participated with private enterprise in establishing the largest mining, industrial, and tourist firms in the country and also owns a significant share of the largest companies. The Amman Stock Exchange (Brat Ammn; formerly the Amman Financial Market) is one of the largest stock markets in the Arab world.
Jordans primary exports are clothing, chemicals and chemical products, and potash and phosphates; the main imports are machinery and apparatus, crude petroleum, and food products. Major trading partners include Saudi Arabia, the United States, and the European Union (EU). In 2000 Jordan signed a bilateral free trade agreement with the United States. The value of exports has been growing, but it does not cover that of imports; the deficit is financed by foreign grants, loans, and other forms of capital transfers. Although Jordans trade deficit has been large, it has been offset somewhat by revenue from tourism, remittances sent by Jordanians working abroad, earnings from foreign investments made by the central bank, and subsidies from other Arab and non-Arab governments.
Services, including public administration, defense, and retail sales, form the single most important component of Jordans economy in both value and employment. The countrys vulnerable geography has led to high military expenditures, which are well above the world average.
The Jordanian government vigorously promotes tourism, and the number of tourists visiting Jordan has grown dramatically since the mid-1990s. Visitors come mainly from the West to see the old biblical cities of the Jordan Valley and such wonders as the ancient city of Petra, designated a World Heritage site in 1985. Income from tourism, mostly consisting of foreign reserves, has become a major factor in Jordans efforts to reduce its balance-of-payments deficit.
Jordan has also lost much of its skilled labour to neighbouring countriesas many as 400,000 people left the kingdom in the early 1980salthough the problem has eased somewhat. This change is a result both of better employment opportunities within Jordan itself and of a curb on foreign labour demands by the Persian Gulf states.
The majority of the workforce is men, with women constituting roughly one-seventh of the total. The government employs nearly half of those working. About one-seventh of the population is unemployed, although income per capita has increased. Labour unions and employer organizations are legal, but the trade-union movement is weak; this is partly offset by the government, which has its own procedures for settling labour disputes.
About half of the governments revenue is derived from taxes. Even though the government has made a great effort to reform the income tax, both to increase revenue and to redistribute income, revenue from indirect taxes continues to exceed that from direct taxes. Tax measures have been adopted to increase the rate of savings necessary for financing investments, and the government has implemented tax exemptions on foreign investments and on the transfer of foreign profits and capital.
Jordan has a main, secondary, and rural road network, most of which is hard-surfaced. This roadway system, maintained by the Ministry of Public Works and Housing, not only links the major cities and towns but also connects the kingdom with neighbouring countries. One of the main traffic arteries is the AmmanJarashAl-Ramth highway, which links Jordan with Syria. The route from Amman via Man to the port of Al-Aqabah is the principal route to the sea. From Man the Desert Highway passes through Al-Mudawwarah, linking Jordan with Saudi Arabia. The Amman-Jerusalem highway, passing through Nr, is a major tourist artery. The government-operated Hejaz-Jordan Railway extends from Dar in the north via Amman to Man in the south. The Aqaba Railway Corporation operates a southern line that runs to the port of Al-Aqabah and connects to the Hejaz-Jordan Railway at Ban al-Ghl. Rail connections also join Dar in the north with Damascus, Syria.
Royal Jordanian is the countrys official airline, offering worldwide service. Queen Alia International Airport near Al-Jzah, south of Amman, opened in 1983. Amman and Al-Aqabah have smaller international airports.
In 1994 Jordan introduced a program to reform its telecommunication system. The government-owned Jordan Telecommunications Corporation, the sole service provider, had been unable to meet demand or provide adequate service, particularly in rural areas; it was privatized in 1997. Since then, the use of cellular telephones has mushroomed, far outstripping standard telephone use. In addition, Internet use has grown dramatically.
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