Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

اَلمَمْلَكَة اَلأُرْدُنِيَّة اَلهَاشِمِيَّة Al-Mamlakah al-ʾUrduniyyah al-Hāšimiyyah Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan


Motto الله، الوطن، المليك Allah Al-Watan Al-Malek God, Fatherland, The King
Anthem عاش المليك The Royal Anthem of Jordan


Capital	Amman

Government	Constitutional monarchy
King
- From 1999	Abdullah II
Prime Minister
- From 2011	Marouf al-Bakhit

Legislature	National Assembly
- Upper house	Senate
- Lower house	House of Representatives

History
- May 25, 1946	End of British League of Nations mandate

Area	92,300 km²

Population
- July 2010	6,407,085
Density	69.4/km²

GDP	July 2010 (PPP)
- Total	US$ 38.1 billion
- Per capita	US$ 5,956

Currency	Jordanian dinar

Emirate of Transjordan
v

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a constitutional monarchy in Southwest Asia.

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. Jordan lost the West Bank to Israel in the 1967 war and barely managed to defeat Palestinian rebels who attempted to overthrow the monarchy in 1970. King HUSSEIN in 1988 permanently relinquished Jordanian claims to the West Bank. In 1989, he reinstituted parliamentary elections and initiated a gradual political liberalization; political parties were legalized in 1992. 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. In 2003, Jordan staunchly supported the Coalition ouster of SADDAM in Iraq and, following the outbreak of insurgent violence in Iraq, absorbed thousands of displaced Iraqis. 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 2010 and saw independent pro-government candidates win the vast majority of seats. Beginning in January 2011 in the wake of unrest in Tunisia and Egypt, several thousand Jordanians staged weekly demonstrations and marches in Amman and other cities throughout Jordan to protest government corruption, rising prices, rampant poverty, and high unemployment. In response, King Abdallah replaced his prime minister and formed a National Dialogue Commission with a reform mandate. Some opposition groups also called for sweeping political and constitutional reforms, particularly on a controversial election law.^[1]

Economy

Jordan's economy is among the smallest in the Middle East, with insufficient supplies of water, oil, and other natural resources, underlying the government's heavy reliance on foreign assistance. Other economic challenges for the government include chronic high rates of poverty, unemployment, inflation, and a large budget deficit. Since assuming the throne in 1999, King ABDALLAH has implemented significant economic reforms, such as opening the trade regime, privatizing state-owned companies, and eliminating most fuel subsidies, which in the past few years have spurred economic growth by attracting foreign investment and creating some jobs. The global economic slowdown, however, has depressed Jordan's GDP growth. Export-oriented sectors such as manufacturing, mining, and the transport of re-exports have been hit the hardest. The Government approved two supplementary budgets in 2010, but sweeping tax cuts planned for 2010 did not materialize because of Amman's need for additional revenue to cover excess spending. The budget deficit is likely to remain high, at 5-6% of GDP, and Amman likely will continue to depend heavily on foreign assistance to finance the deficit in 2011. Jordan's financial sector has been relatively isolated from the international financial crisis because of its limited exposure to overseas capital markets. Jordan is currently exploring nuclear power generation to forestall energy shortfalls.^[2]