Compare Pacific Ocean (2008) - Jordan (2008)

Compare Pacific Ocean (2008) z Jordan (2008)

	Pacific Ocean (2008)	Jordan (2008)

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% (male 1,018,934/female 977,645) 15-64 years: 63% (male 2,037,550/female 1,777,361) 65 years and over: 4% (male 117,279/female 124,424) (2007 est.)
Agriculture - products	-	citrus, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives; sheep, poultry, stone fruits, strawberries, dairy
Airports	-	17 (2007)
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 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways	-	total: 2 under 914 m: 2 (2007)
Area	total: 155.557 million sq km note: includes Bali Sea, Bering Sea, Bering Strait, Coral Sea, East China Sea, Gulf of Alaska, Gulf of Tonkin, Philippine Sea, Sea of Japan, Sea of Okhotsk, South China Sea, Tasman Sea, and other tributary water bodies	total: 92,300 sq km land: 91,971 sq km water: 329 sq km
Area - comparative	about 15 times the size of the US; covers about 28% of the global surface; larger than the total land area of the world	slightly smaller than Indiana
Background	The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the world's five oceans (followed by the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean, and Arctic Ocean). Strategically important access waterways include the La Perouse, Tsugaru, Tsushima, Taiwan, Singapore, and Torres Straits. The decision by the International Hydrographic Organization in the spring of 2000 to delimit a fifth ocean, the Southern Ocean, removed the portion of the Pacific Ocean south of 60 degrees south.	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. Municipal elections were held in July 2007 under a system in which 20% of seats in all municipal councils were reserved by quota for women. Parliamentary elections were held in November 2007 and saw independent pro-government candidates win the vast majority of seats. In November 2007, King Abdallah instructed his new prime minister to focus on socioeconomic reform, developing a healthcare and housing network for civilians and military personnel, and improving the educational system.
Birth rate	-	20.69 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Budget	-	revenues: $4.999 billion expenditures: $6.449 billion (2007 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	planetary air pressure systems and resultant wind patterns exhibit remarkable uniformity in the south and east; trade winds and westerly winds are well-developed patterns, modified by seasonal fluctuations; tropical cyclones (hurricanes) may form south of Mexico from June to October and affect Mexico and Central America; continental influences cause climatic uniformity to be much less pronounced in the eastern and western regions at the same latitude in the North Pacific Ocean; the western Pacific is monsoonal - a rainy season occurs during the summer months, when moisture-laden winds blow from the ocean over the land, and a dry season during the winter months, when dry winds blow from the Asian landmass back to the ocean; tropical cyclones (typhoons) may strike southeast and east Asia from May to December	mostly arid desert; rainy season in west (November to April)
Coastline	135,663 km	26 km
Constitution	-	1 January 1952; amended many times
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
Death rate	-	2.68 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Debt - external	-	$7.483 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Diplomatic representation from the US	-	chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Alan MISENHEIMER embassy: Abdun, 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
Diplomatic representation in the US	-	chief of mission: Ambassador ZEID Ra'ad Zeid al-Hussein, Prince chancery: 3504 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 966-2664 FAX: [1] (202) 966-3110
Disputes - international	some maritime disputes (see littoral states)	approximately two million Iraqis have fled the conflict in Iraq, with the majority taking refuge in Syria and Jordan; 2004 Agreement settles border dispute with Syria pending demarcation
Economic aid - recipient	-	ODA, $752 million (2005 est.)
Economy - overview	The Pacific Ocean is a major contributor to the world economy and particularly to those nations its waters directly touch. It provides low-cost sea transportation between East and West, extensive fishing grounds, offshore oil and gas fields, minerals, and sand and gravel for the construction industry. In 1996, over 60% of the world's fish catch came from the Pacific Ocean. Exploitation of offshore oil and gas reserves is playing an ever-increasing role in the energy supplies of the US, Australia, NZ, China, and Peru. The high cost of recovering offshore oil and gas, combined with the wide swings in world prices for oil since 1985, has led to fluctuations in new drillings.	Jordan is a small Arab country with insufficient supplies of water, oil, and other natural resources. Poverty, unemployment, and inflation are fundamental problems, but King ABDALLAH II, since assuming the throne in 1999, has undertaken some broad economic reforms in a long-term effort to improve living standards. Since Jordan's graduation from its most recent IMF program in 2002, Amman has continued to follow IMF guidelines, practicing careful monetary policy, making substantial headway with privatization, and opening the trade regime. Jordan's exports have significantly increased under the free trade accord with the US and Jordanian Qualifying Industrial Zones (QIZ), which allow Jordan to export goods duty free to the US. In 2006, Jordan reduced its debt-to-GDP ratio significantly. These measures have helped improve productivity and have made Jordan more attractive for foreign investment. Before the US-led war in Iraq, Jordan imported most of its oil from Iraq. Since 2003, however, Jordan has been more dependent on oil from other Gulf nations. The government ended subsidies for petroleum and other consumer goods in 2008 in an effort to control the budget. The main challenges facing Jordan are reducing dependence on foreign grants, reducing the budget deficit, attracting investments, and creating jobs.
Electricity - consumption	-	8.49 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - exports	-	4 million kWh (2005)
Electricity - imports	-	741 million kWh (2005)
Electricity - production	-	9.074 billion kWh (2005)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench -10,924 m highest point: sea level 0 m	lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m highest point: Jabal Ram 1,734 m
Environment - current issues	endangered marine species include the dugong, sea lion, sea otter, seals, turtles, and whales; oil pollution in Philippine Sea and South China Sea	limited natural fresh water resources; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification
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 (2007), 0.709 (2006), 0.709 (2005), 0.709 (2004), 0.709 (2003)
Executive branch	-	chief of state: King ABDALLAH II (since 7 February 1999); Prince HUSSEIN (born 1994), eldest son of King ABDALLAH II, is considered to be first in line to inherit the throne head of government: Prime Minister Nader al-DAHABI (since 25 November 2007) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister in consultation with the monarch elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; prime minister appointed by the monarch
Exports	-	0 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Exports - commodities	-	clothing, pharmaceuticals, potash, phosphates, fertilizers, vegetables, manufactures
Exports - partners	-	US 25.2%, Iraq 16.9%, India 8%, Saudi Arabia 5.8%, Syria 4.7% (2006)
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
GDP - composition by sector	-	agriculture: 3.7% industry: 10.5% services: 85.8% (2007 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	-	5.7% (2007 est.)
Geographic coordinates	0 00 N, 160 00 W	31 00 N, 36 00 E
Geography - note	the major chokepoints are the Bering Strait, Panama Canal, Luzon Strait, and the Singapore Strait; the Equator divides the Pacific Ocean into the North Pacific Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean; dotted with low coral islands and rugged volcanic islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean	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
Heliports	-	1 (2007)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	-	lowest 10%: 2.7% highest 10%: 30.6% (2003)
Imports	-	106,400 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Imports - commodities	-	crude oil, textile fabrics, machinery, transport equipment, manufactured goods
Imports - partners	-	Saudi Arabia 23.2%, Germany 8.3%, China 8%, US 5.3% (2006)
Independence	-	25 May 1946 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration)
Industrial production growth rate	-	7.7% (2007 est.)
Industries	-	clothing, phosphate mining, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, petroleum refining, cement, potash, inorganic chemicals, light manufacturing, tourism
Infant mortality rate	-	total: 16.16 deaths/1,000 live births male: 19.33 deaths/1,000 live births female: 12.81 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	-	5.4% (2007 est.)
International organization participation	-	ABEDA, AFESD, AMF, CAEU, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAS, MIGA, MINUSTAH, MONUC, NAM, OIC, OPCW, OSCE (partner), PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNOCI, UNOMIG, UNRWA, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Irrigated land	-	750 sq km (2003)
Judicial branch	-	Court of Cassation; Supreme Court (court of final appeal)
Labor force	-	1.563 million (2007 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
Land use	-	arable land: 3.32% permanent crops: 1.18% other: 95.5% (2005)
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
Legislative branch	-	bicameral National Assembly or Majlis al-'Umma consists of the Senate, also called the House of Notables or Majlis al-Ayan (55 seats; members appointed by the monarch from designated categories of public figures to serve four-year terms) and the Chamber of Deputies, also called the House of Representatives or 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: Chamber of Deputies - last held 20 November 2007 (next to be held in 2011) election results: Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - IAF 5.5 %, independents and other 94.5%; seats by party - IAF 6, independents and other 104; note - seven women will serve in the next Assembly - six of whom filled women's quota seats and one was directly elected
Life expectancy at birth	-	total population: 78.55 years male: 76.04 years female: 81.22 years (2007 est.)
Literacy	-	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 89.9% male: 95.1% female: 84.7% (2003 est.)
Location	body of water between the Southern Ocean, Asia, Australia, and the Western Hemisphere	Middle East, northwest of Saudi Arabia
Map references	Political Map of the World	Middle East
Maritime claims	-	territorial sea: 3 nm
Merchant marine	-	total: 30 ships (1000 GRT or over) 410,472 GRT/564,643 DWT by type: bulk carrier 2, cargo 11, container 3, passenger/cargo 8, petroleum tanker 2, roll on/roll off 4 foreign-owned: 15 (UAE 15) registered in other countries: 15 (Bahamas 2, Panama 11, Syria 2) (2007)
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 - percent of GDP	-	8.6% (2006)
National holiday	-	Independence Day, 25 May (1946)
Nationality	-	noun: Jordanian(s) adjective: Jordanian
Natural hazards	surrounded by a zone of violent volcanic and earthquake activity sometimes referred to as the "Pacific Ring of Fire"; subject to tropical cyclones (typhoons) in southeast and east Asia from May to December (most frequent from July to October); tropical cyclones (hurricanes) may form south of Mexico and strike Central America and Mexico from June to October (most common in August and September); cyclical El Nino/La Nina phenomenon occurs in the equatorial Pacific, influencing weather in the Western Hemisphere and the western Pacific; ships subject to superstructure icing in extreme north from October to May; persistent fog in the northern Pacific can be a maritime hazard from June to December	droughts; periodic earthquakes
Natural resources	oil and gas fields, polymetallic nodules, sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, fish	phosphates, potash, shale oil
Net migration rate	-	6.11 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Pipelines	-	gas 426 km; oil 49 km (2007)
Political parties and leaders	-	al-Ahd Party; Arab Islamic Democratic Movement [Yusuf ABU BAKR]; Arab Land Party [Dr. Ayishah Salih HIJAZAYN]; Arab Socialist Ba'th Party [Taysir al-HIMSI]; Ba'th Arab Progressive Party [Fu'ad DABBUR]; Freedom Party; Future Party; Islamic Action Front or IAF [Zaki Sa'ed BANI IRSHEID]; Islamic Center Party [Marwan al-FAURI]; Jordanian Arab Ansar Party; Jordanian Arab New Dawn Party; Jordanian Arab Party; Jordanian Citizens' Rights Movement; Jordanian Communist Party [Munir HAMARINAH]; Jordanian Communist Workers Party; Jordanian Democratic Left Party [Musa MA'AYTEH]; Jordanian Democratic Popular Unity Party [Sa'id Dhiyab Ali MUSTAFA]; Jordanian Generations Party [Muhammad KHALAYLEH]; Jordanian Green Party [Muhammad BATAYNEH]; Jordanian Labor Party [Dr. Mazin Sulayman Jiryis HANNA]; Jordanian Peace Party; Jordanian People's Committees Movement; Jordanian People's Democratic Party (Hashd) [Ahmad YUSUF]; Jordanian Rafah Party; Jordanian Renaissance Party; Mission Party; Nation Party [Ahmad al-HANANDEH]; National Action Party (Haqq) [Tariq al-KAYYALI]; National Constitutional Party [Abdul Hadi MAJALI]; National Popular Democratic Movement [Mahmud al-NUWAYHI]; Progressive Party [Fawwaz al-ZUBI]
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, controller general]
Population	-	6,053,193 (July 2007 est.)
Population below poverty line	-	14.2% (2002)
Population growth rate	-	2.412% (2007 est.)
Radio broadcast stations	-	FM 31 (2007)
Railways	-	total: 505 km narrow gauge: 505 km 1.050-m gauge (2006)
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: 1.042 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.146 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.943 male(s)/female total population: 1.102 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
Suffrage	-	18 years of age; universal
Telephone system	-	general assessment: service has improved recently with increased use of digital switching equipment; microwave radio relay transmission and coaxial and fiber-optic cable are employed on trunk lines; growing mobile-cellular usage in both urban and rural areas is reducing use of fixed-line services; internet penetration remains modest and slow-growing domestic: 1995 telecommunications law opened all non-fixed-line services to private competition; in 2005, monopoly over fixed-line services terminated and the entire telecommunications sector was opened to competition; mobile-cellular usage is increasing rapidly and teledensity is approaching 75 per 100 persons international: country code - 962; landing point for the Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG) submarine cable network that provides links to Asia, Middle East, Europe; 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; participant in Medarabtel
Telephones - main lines in use	-	614,000 (2006)
Telephones - mobile cellular	-	4.343 million (2006)
Television broadcast stations	-	22 (2007)
Terrain	surface currents in the northern Pacific are dominated by a clockwise, warm-water gyre (broad circular system of currents) and in the southern Pacific by a counterclockwise, cool-water gyre; in the northern Pacific, sea ice forms in the Bering Sea and Sea of Okhotsk in winter; in the southern Pacific, sea ice from Antarctica reaches its northernmost extent in October; the ocean floor in the eastern Pacific is dominated by the East Pacific Rise, while the western Pacific is dissected by deep trenches, including the Mariana Trench, which is the world's deepest	mostly desert plateau in east, highland area in west; Great Rift Valley separates East and West Banks of the Jordan River
Total fertility rate	-	2.55 children born/woman (2007 est.)
Transportation - note	Inside Passage offers protected waters from southeast Alaska to Puget Sound (Washington state)	-
Unemployment rate	-	13.5% official rate; unofficial rate is approximately 30% (2007 est.)

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