The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
المملكة الأردنية الهاشمية
Al-Mamlakah Al-Urdunnīyah Al-Hāshimīyah |
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Map of Jordan showing influential governorate centers
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Capital and largest city |
Amman 31°57′N 35°56′E / 31.950°N 35.933°E |
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Official languages | Arabic | ||||
Ethnic groups |
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Religion | Sunni Islam | ||||
Demonym | Jordanian | ||||
Government | Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy | ||||
• King
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Abdullah II | ||||
Hani Al-Mulki | |||||
Legislature | Parliament | ||||
Senate | |||||
House of Representatives | |||||
Independence from Britain | |||||
11 April 1921 | |||||
25 May 1946 | |||||
Area | |||||
• Total
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89,341 km2 (34,495 sq mi) (112th) | ||||
Population | |||||
• January 2017 estimate
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9,560,018 | ||||
• November 2015 census
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9,531,712 | ||||
• Density
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107/km2 (277.1/sq mi) (100th) | ||||
GDP (PPP) | 2016 estimate | ||||
• Total
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$86.193 billion (87th) | ||||
• Per capita
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$11,124 (86th) | ||||
GDP (nominal) | 2016 estimate | ||||
• Total
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$39.453 billion (92nd) | ||||
• Per capita
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$5,092 (95th) | ||||
Gini (2011) | 35.4 medium |
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HDI (2014) |
0.748 high · 80th |
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Currency | Dinar (JOD) | ||||
Time zone | EET (UTC+2) | ||||
• Summer (DST)
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EEST (UTC+3) | ||||
Drives on the | right | ||||
Calling code | +962 | ||||
ISO 3166 code | JO | ||||
Internet TLD |
.jo .الاردن |
Jordan (/ˈdʒɔːrdən/; Arabic: الأردن Al-Urdunn), officially The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (Arabic: المملكة الأردنية الهاشمية Al-Mamlakah Al-Urdunnīyah Al-Hāshimīyah), is an Arab kingdom in Western Asia, on the East Bank of the Jordan River. Jordan is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the east and south, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north, Israel, Palestine and the Dead Sea to the west and the Red Sea in its extreme south-west. Jordan is strategically located at the crossroads of Asia, Africa and Europe. The capital, Amman, is Jordan's most populous city as well as the country's economic, political and cultural centre.
What is now Jordan has been inhabited by humans since the Paleolithic period. Three stable kingdoms emerged there at the end of the Bronze Age: Ammon, Moab and Edom. Later rulers include the Nabataean Kingdom, the Roman Empire, and the Ottoman Empire. After the Great Arab Revolt against the Ottomans in 1916 during World War I, the Ottoman Empire was partitioned by Britain and France. The Emirate of Transjordan was established in 1921 by the then Emir Abdullah I and became a British protectorate. In 1946, Jordan became an independent state officially known as The Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan. Jordan captured the West Bank during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and the name of the state was changed to The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in 1949. Jordan is a founding member of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and is one of two Arab states to have signed a peace treaty with Israel. The country is a constitutional monarchy, but the king holds wide executive and legislative powers.