Compare Jordan (2006) - British Indian Ocean Territory (2002)

Compare Jordan (2006) z British Indian Ocean Territory (2002)

	Jordan (2006)	British Indian Ocean Territory (2002)

Administrative divisions	12 governorates (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah); Ajlun, Al 'Aqabah, Al Balqa', Al Karak, Al Mafraq, 'Amman, At Tafilah, Az Zarqa', Irbid, Jarash, Ma'an, Madaba	-
Age structure	0-14 years: 33.8% (male 1,018,070/female 976,442) 15-64 years: 62.4% (male 1,966,794/female 1,716,255) 65 years and over: 3.9% (male 111,636/female 117,563) (2006 est.)	-
Agriculture - products	wheat, barley, citrus, tomatoes, melons, olives; sheep, goats, poultry	-
Airports	17 (2006)	1 (2001)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 15 over 3,047 m: 7 2,438 to 3,047 m: 6 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2006)	total: 1 over 3,047 m: 1 (2002)
Airports - with unpaved runways	total: 2 under 914 m: 2 (2006)	-
Area	total: 92,300 sq km land: 91,971 sq km water: 329 sq km	total: 60 sq km land: 60 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes the entire Chagos Archipelago
Area - comparative	slightly smaller than Indiana	about 0.3 times the size of Washington, DC
Background	Following World War I and the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, the UK received a mandate to govern much of the Middle East. Britain separated out a semi-autonomous region of Transjordan from Palestine in the early 1920s, and the area gained its independence in 1946; it adopted the name of Jordan in 1950. The country's long-time ruler was King HUSSEIN (1953-99). A pragmatic leader, 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 November 2005 stated the government would focus on political reforms, improving conditions for the poor, and fighting corruption.	Established as a territory of the UK in 1965, a number of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) islands were transferred to the Seychelles when it attained independence in 1976. Subsequently, BIOT has consisted only of the six main island groups comprising the Chagos Archipelago. The largest and most southerly of the islands, Diego Garcia, contains a joint UK-US naval support facility. All of the remaining islands are uninhabited. Former agricultural workers, earlier residents in the islands, were relocated primarily to Mauritius but also to the Seychelles, between 1967 and 1973. In 2000, a British High Court ruling invalidated the local immigration order which had excluded them from the archipelago, but upheld the special military status of Diego Garcia.
Birth rate	21.25 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)	-
Budget	revenues: $2.8 billion expenditures: $4.688 billion; including capital expenditures of $1.092 billion (2005 est.)	-
Capital	name: Amman geographic coordinates: 31 57 N, 35 56 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Thursday in March; ends last Friday in September	-
Climate	mostly arid desert; rainy season in west (November to April)	tropical marine; hot, humid, moderated by trade winds
Coastline	26 km	698 km
Constitution	1 January 1952; amended 1954, 1955, 1958, 1960, 1965, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1984	-
Country name	conventional long form: Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan conventional short form: Jordan local long form: Al Mamlakah al Urduniyah al Hashimiyah local short form: Al Urdun former: Transjordan	conventional long form: British Indian Ocean Territory conventional short form: none abbreviation: BIOT
Death rate	2.65 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)	-
Debt - external	$8.528 billion (2005 est.)	-
Dependency status	-	overseas territory of the UK; administered by a commissioner, resident in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London
Diplomatic representation from the US	chief of mission: Ambassador David M. HALE embassy: Abdoun, Amman mailing address: P. O. Box 354, Amman 11118 Jordan; Unit 70200, Box 5, APO AE 09892-0200 telephone: [962] (6) 590-6000 FAX: [962] (6) 592-0121	none (overseas territory of the UK)
Diplomatic representation in the US	chief of mission: Ambassador Karim Tawfiq KAWAR chancery: 3504 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 966-2664 FAX: [1] (202) 966-3110	none (overseas territory of the UK)
Disputes - international	2004 Agreement settles border dispute with Syria pending demarcation	Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos Archipelago and its former inhabitants, who reside chiefly in Mauritius, but in 2001 were granted UK citizenship and the right to repatriation since eviction in 1965; repatriation is complicated by the US military lease of Diego Garcia, the largest island in the chain
Economic aid - recipient	ODA, $500 million (2004 est.)	-
Economy - overview	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.	All economic activity is concentrated on the largest island of Diego Garcia, where joint UK-US defense facilities are located. Construction projects and various services needed to support the military installations are done by military and contract employees from the UK, Mauritius, the Philippines, and the US. There are no industrial or agricultural activities on the islands. When the Ilois return, they plan to reestablish sugarcane production and fishing.
Electricity - consumption	7.959 billion kWh (2003)	NA kWh
Electricity - exports	4 million kWh (2003)	-
Electricity - imports	972 million kWh (2003)	-
Electricity - production	7.517 billion kWh (2003)	NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by the US military
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m highest point: Jabal Ram 1,734 m	lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location on Diego Garcia 15 m
Environment - current issues	limited natural fresh water resources; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification	NA
Environment - international agreements	party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements	-
Ethnic groups	Arab 98%, Circassian 1%, Armenian 1%	-
Exchange rates	Jordanian dinars per US dollar - 0.709 (2005), 0.709 (2004), 0.709 (2003), 0.709 (2002), 0.709 (2001)	-
Executive branch	chief of state: King ABDALLAH II (since 7 February 1999); Prince HUSSEIN (born 1994), eldest son of King ABDALLAH, is first in line to inherit the throne head of government: Prime Minister Marouf al-BAKHIT (since 24 November 2005); Deputy Prime Minister Ziad FARIZ (since 24 November 2005) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister in consultation with the monarch elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; prime minister appointed by the monarch	chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952) head of government: Commissioner Alan HUCKLE (since 2001); Administrator Louise SAVILL (since NA); note - both reside in the UK cabinet: NA elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; commissioner and administrator appointed by the monarch
Exports	0 bbl/day (2004 est.)	-
Exports - commodities	clothing, phosphates, fertilizers, potash, vegetables, manufactures, pharmaceuticals	-
Exports - partners	US 29.4%, Iraq 15.6%, India 8.8%, Saudi Arabia 5.9% (2005)	-
Fiscal year	calendar year	-
Flag description	three equal horizontal bands of black (top), representing the Abbassid Caliphate, white, representing the Ummayyad Caliphate, and green, representing the Fatimid Caliphate; a red isosceles triangle on the hoist side, representing the Great Arab Revolt of 1916, and bearing a small white seven-pointed star symbolizing the seven verses of the opening Sura (Al-Fatiha) of the Holy Koran; the seven points on the star represent faith in One God, humanity, national spirit, humility, social justice, virtue, and aspirations; design is based on the Arab Revolt flag of World War I	white with six blue wavy horizontal stripes; the flag of the UK is in the upper hoist-side quadrant; the striped section bears a palm tree and yellow crown centered on the outer half of the flag
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 3.3% industry: 28.7% services: 68% (2005 est.)	-
GDP - real growth rate	5.8% (2005 est.)	-
Geographic coordinates	31 00 N, 36 00 E	6 00 S, 71 30 E
Geography - note	strategic location at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba and as the Arab country that shares the longest border with Israel and the occupied West Bank	archipelago of 2,300 islands; Diego Garcia, largest and southernmost island, occupies strategic location in central Indian Ocean; island is site of joint US-UK military facility
Heliports	1 (2006)	-
Highways	-	total: NA km paved: short stretch of paved road of NA km between port and airfield on Diego Garcia unpaved: NA km
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: 3.3% highest 10%: 29.8% (1997)	-
Imports	100,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)	-
Imports - commodities	crude oil, textile fabrics, machinery, transport equipment, manufactured goods	-
Imports - partners	Saudi Arabia 20.9%, China 8%, Germany 7.1%, US 6.2%, South Korea 4.1% (2005)	-
Independence	25 May 1946 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration)	-
Industrial production growth rate	7.5% (2005 est.)	-
Industries	textiles, phosphate mining, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, petroleum refining, cement, potash, inorganic chemicals, light manufacturing, tourism	-
Infant mortality rate	total: 16.76 deaths/1,000 live births male: 20.04 deaths/1,000 live births female: 13.28 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)	-
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	4.5% (2005 est.)	-
International organization participation	ABEDA, AFESD, AMF, CAEU, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, LAS, MIGA, MINUSTAH, MONUC, NAM, OIC, ONUB, OPCW, OSCE (partner), PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNOCI, UNOMIG, UNRWA, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO	-
Internet Service Providers (ISPs)	-	1 (2000)
Irrigated land	750 sq km (2003)	0 sq km (1998 est.)
Judicial branch	Court of Cassation; Supreme Court (court of final appeal)	-
Labor force	1.46 million (2005 est.)	-
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture: 5% industry: 12.5% services: 82.5% (2001 est.)	-
Land boundaries	total: 1,635 km border countries: Iraq 181 km, Israel 238 km, Saudi Arabia 744 km, Syria 375 km, West Bank 97 km	0 km
Land use	arable land: 3.32% permanent crops: 1.18% other: 95.5% (2005)	arable land: NEGL permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (1998 est.)
Languages	Arabic (official), English widely understood among upper and middle classes	-
Legal system	based on Islamic law and French codes; judicial review of legislative acts in a specially provided High Tribunal; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction	the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply
Legislative branch	bicameral National Assembly or Majlis al-'Umma consists of the Senate, also called the House of Notables (Majlis al-Ayan) (55 seats; members appointed by the monarch from designated categories of public figures; members serve four-year terms) and the House of Representatives, also called the House of Deputies (Majlis al-Nuwaab) (110 seats; members elected by popular vote on the basis of proportional representation to serve four-year terms); note - six seats are reserved for women and are allocated by a special electoral panel if no women are elected elections: House of Representatives - last held 17 June 2003 (next to be held in 2007) election results: House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - independents and other 89.6%, IAF 10.4%; seats by party - independents and other 92, IAF 18; note - one of the six quota seats was given to a female IAF candidate note: the House of Representatives has been convened and dissolved by the monarch several times since 1974; in November 1989, the first parliamentary elections in 22 years were held; political parties were not legalized until 1992; King ABDALLAH delayed the 2001 elections until 2003	-
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 78.4 years male: 75.9 years female: 81.05 years (2006 est.)	-
Literacy	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 91.3% male: 95.9% female: 86.3% (2003 est.)	-
Location	Middle East, northwest of Saudi Arabia	Southern Asia, archipelago in the Indian Ocean, about one-half the way from Africa to Indonesia
Map references	Middle East	Political Map of the World
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 3 nm	exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 3 NM
Merchant marine	total: 25 ships (1000 GRT or over) 346,698 GRT/501,060 DWT by type: bulk carrier 2, cargo 9, container 2, passenger/cargo 6, petroleum tanker 2, roll on/roll off 4 foreign-owned: 11 (UAE 11) registered in other countries: 15 (Bahamas 2, Panama 13) (2006)	-
Military - note	-	defense is the responsibility of the UK; the US lease on Diego Garcia expires in 2016
Military branches	Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF): Royal Jordanian Land Force, Royal Jordanian Navy, Royal Jordanian Air Force (Al-Quwwat al-Jawwiya al-Malakiya al-Urduniya), Special Operations Command (Socom); Public Security Directorate (normally falls under Ministry of Interior, but comes under JAF in wartime or crisis situations) (2006)	-
Military expenditures - dollar figure	$1.4 billion (2005 est.)	-
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	11.4% (2005 est.)	-
National holiday	Independence Day, 25 May (1946)	-
Nationality	noun: Jordanian(s) adjective: Jordanian	-
Natural hazards	droughts; periodic earthquakes	NA
Natural resources	phosphates, potash, shale oil	coconuts, fish, sugarcane
Net migration rate	6.26 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)	-
Pipelines	gas 426 km; oil 49 km (2006)	-
Political parties and leaders	al-Ahd Party; Arab Islamic Democratic Movement [Yusuf ABU BAKR, president]; Arab Land Party [Dr. Ayishah Salih HIJAZAYN, secretary general]; Arab Socialist Ba'th Party [Taysir al-HIMSI, secretary general]; Ba'th Arab Progressive Party [Fu'ad DABBUR, secretary general]; Freedom Party; Future Party; Islamic Action Front or IAF [Zaki Sa'ed BANI IRSHEID, secretary general]; Islamic Center Party [Marwan al-FAURI, secretary general]; Jordanian Arab Ansar Party; Jordanian Arab New Dawn Party; Jordanian Arab Party; Jordanian Citizens' Rights Movement; Jordanian Communist Party [Munir HAMARINAH, secretary general]; Jordanian Communist Workers Party; Jordanian Democratic Left Party [Musa MA'AYTEH, secretary general]; Jordanian Democratic Popular Unity Party [Sa'id Dhiyab Ali MUSTAFA, secretary general]; Jordanian Generations Party [Muhammad KHALAYLEH, secretary general]; Jordanian Green Party [Muhammad BATAYNEH, secretary general]; Jordanian Labor Party [Dr. Mazin Sulayman Jiryis HANNA, secretary general]; Jordanian Peace Party; Jordanian People's Committees Movement; Jordanian People's Democratic Party (Hashd) [Ahmad YUSUF, secretary general]; Jordanian Rafah Party; Jordanian Renaissance Party; Mission Party; Nation Party [Ahmad al-HANANDEH, secretary general]; National Action Party (Haqq) [Tariq al-KAYYALI, secretary general]; National Constitutional Party [Abdul Hadi MAJALI, secretary general]; National Popular Democratic Movement [Mahmud al-NUWAYHI, secretary general]; Progressive Party [Fawwaz al-ZUBI, secretary general]	-
Political pressure groups and leaders	Anti-Normalization Committee [Ali Abu SUKKAR, president vice chairman]; Jordan Bar Association [Hussein Mujalli, chairman]; Jordanian Press Association [Sayf al-SHARIF, president]; Muslim Brotherhood [Salem AL-FALAHAT, secretary general]	-
Population	5,906,760 (July 2006 est.)	no indigenous inhabitants note: approximately 1,200 former agricultural workers resident in the Chagos Archipelago, often referred to as Chagossians or Ilois, were relocated to Mauritius and the Seychelles around the time of the construction of UK-US military facilities; in 2001, there were approximately 1,500 UK and US military personnel and 2,000 civilian contractors living on the island of Diego Garcia (July 2002 est.)
Population below poverty line	30% (2001 est.)	-
Population growth rate	2.49% (2006 est.)	-
Ports and harbors	-	Diego Garcia
Radio broadcast stations	AM 6, FM 5, shortwave 1 (1999)	AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998)
Radios	-	NA
Railways	total: 505 km narrow gauge: 505 km 1.050-m gauge (2005)	-
Religions	Sunni Muslim 92%, Christian 6% (majority Greek Orthodox, but some Greek and Roman Catholics, Syrian Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, and Protestant denominations), other 2% (several small Shi'a Muslim and Druze populations) (2001 est.)	-
Sex ratio	at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.15 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.95 male(s)/female total population: 1.1 male(s)/female (2006 est.)	-
Suffrage	18 years of age; universal	-
Telephone system	general assessment: service has improved recently with increased use of digital switching equipment, but better access to the telephone system is needed in the rural areas and easier access to pay telephones is needed by the urban public domestic: microwave radio relay transmission and coaxial and fiber-optic cable are employed on trunk lines; considerable use of mobile cellular systems; Internet service is available international: country code - 962; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat, 1 Arabsat, and 29 land and maritime Inmarsat terminals; fiber-optic cable to Saudi Arabia and microwave radio relay link with Egypt and Syria; connection to international submarine cable FLAG (Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe); participant in MEDARABTEL; international links total about 4,000	general assessment: separate facilities for military and public needs are available domestic: all commercial telephone services are available, including connection to the Internet international: international telephone service is carried by satellite (2000)
Telephones - main lines in use	617,300 (2004)	NA
Telephones - mobile cellular	1,594,500 (2004)	-
Television broadcast stations	20 (plus 96 repeaters) (1995)	1 (1997)
Terrain	mostly desert plateau in east, highland area in west; Great Rift Valley separates East and West Banks of the Jordan River	flat and low (most areas do not exceed four meters in elevation)
Total fertility rate	2.63 children born/woman (2006 est.)	-
Unemployment rate	12.5% official rate; unofficial rate is approximately 30% (2004 est.)	-
Waterways	-	none

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