|
Global Circuit TICC - Technology,
Immigration, Courses & Career Fair
November 2007
Korea >> China
>> Philippines
>> India >>
UAE >> Jordan
>> Oman
Please click country's name to view more information
Jordan
 For
most of its history since independence from British administration
in 1946, Jordan was ruled by King HUSSEIN (1953-99). A pragmatic
ruler, he successfully navigated competing pressures from the
major powers (US, USSR, and UK), various Arab states, Israel,
and a large internal Palestinian population, despite several
wars and coup attempts. In 1989 he reinstituted parliamentary
elections and gradual political liberalization; in 1994 he signed
a peace treaty with Israel. King ABDALLAH II, the son of King
HUSSEIN, assumed the throne following his father's death in
February 1999. Since then, he has consolidated his power and
undertaken an aggressive economic reform program. Jordan acceded
to the World Trade Organization in 2000, and began to participate
in the European Free Trade Association in 2001. After a two-year
delay, parliamentary and municipal elections took place in the
summer of 2003. The prime minister appointed in December 2005
said the government would focus on political reforms, improving
conditions for the poor, and fighting corruption.
Economy
Jordan is a small Arab country with inadequate supplies of water
and other natural resources such as oil. Debt, poverty, and
unemployment are fundamental problems, but King ABDALLAH, since
assuming the throne in 1999, has undertaken some broad economic
reforms in a long-term effort to improve living standards. Amman
in the past three years has worked closely with the IMF, practiced
careful monetary policy, and made substantial headway with privatization.
The government also has liberalized the trade regime sufficiently
to secure Jordan's membership in the WTO (2000), a free trade
accord with the US (2001), and an association agreement with
the EU (2001). These measures have helped improve productivity
and have put Jordan on the foreign investment map. Jordan imported
most of its oil from Iraq, but the US-led war in Iraq in 2003
made Jordan more dependent on oil from other Gulf nations forcing
the Jordanian government to raise retail petroleum product prices
and the sales tax base. Jordan's export market, which is heavily
dependent on exports to Iraq, was also affected by the war but
recovered quickly while contributing to the Iraq recovery effort.
The main challenges facing Jordan are reducing dependence on
foreign grants, reducing the budget deficit, and creating investment
incentives to promote job creation.
| Population |
5,759,732 (July 2005 est.) |
| Age structure |
0-14 years: 34.5% (male 1,015,084/female
973,220)
15-64 years: 61.7% (male 1,897,643/female 1,656,570)
65 years and over: 3.8% (male 106,168/female 111,047)
(2005 est.)
|
| Median age |
total: 22.62 years
male: 23.25 years
female: 21.94 years (2005 est.) |
| Population growth rate |
2.56% (2005 est.) |
| Net migration rate |
6.42 migrant(s)/1,000 population
(2005 est.) |
| GDP (purchasing power parity) |
$27.7 billion (2005 est.)
|
| GDP (official exchange rate) |
$11.86 billion (2005 est.)
|
| GDP - real growth rate |
5.5% (2005 est.) |
| Investment (gross fixed) |
20.9% of GDP (2005 est.) |
|
