{ "Introduction": { "Background": { "text": "
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." } }, "Geography": { "Location": { "text": "Middle East, northwest of Saudi Arabia, between Israel (to the west) and Iraq" }, "Geographic coordinates": { "text": "31 00 N, 36 00 E" }, "Map references": { "text": "Middle East" }, "Area": { "total": { "text": "89,342 sq km" }, "land": { "text": "88,802 sq km" }, "water": { "text": "540 sq km" } }, "Area - comparative": { "text": "about three-quarters the size of Pennsylvania; slightly smaller than Indiana" }, "Land boundaries": { "total": { "text": "1,744 km" }, "border countries": { "text": "Iraq 179 km; Israel 307 km; Saudi Arabia 731 km; Syria 379 km; West Bank 148 km" } }, "Coastline": { "text": "26 km" }, "Maritime claims": { "territorial sea": { "text": "3 nm" } }, "Climate": { "text": "mostly arid desert; rainy season in west (November to April)" }, "Terrain": { "text": "mostly arid desert plateau; a great north-south geological rift along the west of the country is the dominant topographical feature and includes the Jordan River Valley, the Dead Sea, and the Jordanian Highlands" }, "Elevation": { "highest point": { "text": "Jabal Umm ad Dami 1,854 m" }, "lowest point": { "text": "Dead Sea -431 m" }, "mean elevation": { "text": "812 m" } }, "Natural resources": { "text": "phosphates, potash, shale oil" }, "Land use": { "agricultural land": { "text": "11.4% (2018 est.)" }, "agricultural land: arable land": { "text": "arable land: 2% (2018 est.)" }, "agricultural land: permanent crops": { "text": "permanent crops: 1% (2018 est.)" }, "agricultural land: permanent pasture": { "text": "permanent pasture: 8.4% (2018 est.)" }, "forest": { "text": "1.1% (2018 est.)" }, "other": { "text": "87.5% (2018 est.)" } }, "Irrigated land": { "text": "833 sq km (2020)" }, "Major lakes (area sq km)": { "salt water lake(s)": { "text": "Dead Sea (shared with Israel and West Bank) - 1,020 sq km
" }, "note": "note: in 2022, a new electoral law - effective for the anticipated 2024 election - will increase the total number of Chamber of Deputies' seats to 138 from 130; 97 members to be directly elected from multi-seat geographic districts by open list proportional representation vote, with over 7 percent of total votes needed to gain a seat, and 41 members to be directly elected from a single national district by closed party-list proportional representation vote, with over a 2.5 percent of total votes needed to gain a seat" }, "Judicial branch": { "highest court(s)": { "text": "Court of Cassation or Supreme Court (consists of 15 members, including the chief justice); Constitutional Court (consists of 9 members)" }, "judge selection and term of office": { "text": "Supreme Court chief justice appointed by the king; other judges nominated by the Judicial Council, an 11-member judicial policymaking body consisting of high-level judicial officials and judges, and approved by the king; judge tenure not limited; Constitutional Court members appointed by the king for 6-year non-renewable terms with one-third of the membership renewed every 2 years" }, "subordinate courts": { "text": "Courts of Appeal; Great Felonies Court; religious courts; military courts; juvenile courts; Land Settlement Courts; Income Tax Court; Higher Administrative Court; Customs Court; special courts including the State Security Court" } }, "Political parties and leaders": { "text": "political reforms enacted in 2020 require all existing parties to re-register by May 2023, which will result in changes to the number of registered parties and the number of seats held by those parties for the anticipated 2024 election" }, "International organization participation": { "text": "ABEDA, AFESD, AMF, CAEU, CD, CICA, EBRD, FAO, G-11, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAS, MIGA, MINUSTAH, MINUSMA, MONUSCO, NAM, NATO (partner), OIC, OPCW, OSCE (partner), PCA, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNISFA, UNMIL, UNMISS, UNOCI, UNRWA, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO" }, "Diplomatic representation in the US": { "chief of mission": { "text": "Ambassador Dina Khalil Tawfiq KAWAR (since 27 June 2016)" }, "chancery": { "text": "3504 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008" }, "telephone": { "text": "[1] (202) 966-2664" }, "FAX": { "text": "[1] (202) 966-3110" }, "email address and website": { "text": "
Jordan-Iraq: the two countries signed a border agreement in 1984; Jordan has ratified the treaty, but it has not been confirmed that Iraq has ratified it; as of 2010, the agreement had not been registered with the UN
Jordan-Israel: none identified
Jordan-Saudi Arabia: Jordan and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement to demarcate their maritime borders in 2007
Jordan-Syria: the two countries signed an agreement in 2005 to settle the border dispute based on a 1931 demarcation accord; the two countries began demarcation in 2006
Jordan-West Bank: none identified
" }, "Refugees and internally displaced persons": { "refugees (country of origin)": { "text": "2.4 million (Palestinian refugees) (2020); 12,866 (Yemen), 6,013 Sudan (2021); 33,951 (Iraq) (mid-year 2022); 659,457 (Syria) (2023)" }, "stateless persons": { "text": "64 (2022)" } }, "Illicit drugs": { "text": "primarily a transshipment country for amphetamine tablets originating in Lebanon and Syria and destined for Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Gulf countries; the government is increasingly concerned about domestic consumption of illicit drugs" } } }