Country Profile: The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

Motto:

الله، الوطن، الملك
Allah - Al-Waṭan - Al-Malik 

God - Country - The King

History

The history of Jordan is too dense and too long to cover in what I was hoping to be a handful of succinct paragraphs. Know that what I write here is by no means an exhausted and fully descriptive history of what is now known as the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. See the bottom of this post for some suggestions on Middle Eastern and Jordanian reads.

Pre-colonization

According to archaeologists, there have been inhabitants in this region as far back as the Paleolithic period (or 500000 - 17000 BC). Three kingdoms sprouted out during the Iron Age (c. 1200-332 BCE) and next was the rise of the Nabatean kingdom who's capital was Petra (in the south of present day Jordan). From approximately 661 until 750 CE the Arab-Islamic Umayyad Empire, which was the first Muslim dynasty, took over Jordan and were succeeded by the Abbasids (750-1258). Jordan was ruled by various powers and empires until finally the the Ottomans, who captured and ruled major parts of the Arab World from 1516-1918 CE.

After World War I, the Ottoman Empire was broken up and similarly to what happened in Africa - random white guys as part of the The Council of the League of Nations redrew lines on a map and called it the Middle East.

Colonialization

In 1922, Transjordan took shape and was recognized as a state under British "supervision". At this point, Britain also had mandates over Palestine and Iraq while France was given the mandate over Syria and Lebanon. Abdullah I was made Emir (title of various Muslim [usually Arab] rulers) and the country was split into three administrative districts (north, central and south). Slowly the British mandate began to loosen and the period between the two world wars became sort of like a consolidation and institutionalization in Transjordan. On March 22, 1946, Abdullah negotiated the Anglo-Transjordanian Treaty that ended the British mandate and allowed for full independence for Transjordan. Shortly after on March 25th, Abdullah I was proclaimed king and officially changed the name from the Emirate of Transjordan to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan which was shortened in Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in 1949.

"A women's history can never be divorced from a nation's history of confrontation 

and struggles, especially in colonial contexts where women have been held prisoners to 

both the colonizer and the colonized, each of whom sought control oft er the other thought 

the control of women. The colonizer drew upon his Enlightenment universal ideal of female 

liberation as a means for subverting and dehumanizing the local male while the latter, the 

proverbial colonized and oppressed 'local' male, strove to control the female veiled body as 

means for holding on to tradition in the face of the modernizing efforts of the colonizer. " 

 - Salam Al-Mahadin in "Jordanian women in education: 

politics, pedagogy and gender discourses" (2004, p. 25)

Post-Colonialization 

In 1948, the British terminated their mandate over Palestine (which had been experiencing an influx of Jewish immigrants since the 1920s) and the Jews immediately proclaimed the independence of the state of Israel. The Arab Legion (Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Iraq) defended the Arabs of Palestine but lost. In the end, Jordan was left with the West Bank, over half a million refugees (whom received immediate citizenship) and the state of Israel remained. In 1951 King Abdullah I was assassinated and was succeeded by his eldest son, King Tala who only ruled for less than a year before his son, King Hussein took over in 1952.

Jordan saw another massive incoming of refugees in 1967 as a result of the Six-Day War. Jordan, Egypt, Syria, and Iraq fought against Israel who during the war took control of East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Prior to this (in 1966) Jordan had a Palestinian refugee population of 700,000 - afterwards it increased by another 300,000. Subsequently, there was the Jordanian Civil War (aka Black September) that started in September of 1970 and ended in July of 1971. It was fought between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Jordanian Armed Forces. Over the next decades the country experienced a couple of attempted military coups (all unsuccessful), several riots (usually over increased prices), numerous boycotted elections, a suicide bombing attack (leaving 60 dead) in 2005, and a handful of PMs appointed by the King.

Currently, Jordan is home to almost 1 million Syrian refugees in addition to 2 million Palestinian refugees, all of whom are fleeing either occupation or civil war in their country. Yes, it's true, the resurgence of Islamic militancy in the region does present a bit of a security threat in Jordan, particularly Amman. But as we have seen with the recent attacks in Paris, this heightened threat is worldwide.

"Traditional boundaries were separated in place of colonial distinctions, while strategic support of different ethnic and religious groups created imbalances and patterns of destructive behavior that continue to rock the region. Without this legitimacy and with often conflicting goals, the instability and conflict plaguing the region has led to the displacing of millions of people both within national borders as IDPs and outside as refugees." - Will Clifton in "Jordan’s Refugee Crisis and Regional Implications" (2015, p. 2)

Government   

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is officially classified as a constitutional monarchy that is comprised of an Executive branch, a Legislative branch and a Judicial branch, just like the US. Under the Executive branch you find the Chief of State who is the King himself, the head of the government (aka the Prime Minister) and the cabinet. This monarchy is hereditary, the PM is appointed by the King and the cabinet is appointed by the PM "in consultation with" the King. The Legislative branch is made up of the Senate (aka the House of Notables) which has 60 seats - all of which are appointed by the King and have 4 year terms. There is a Chamber of Deputies (aka House of Representatives) that has 150 seats of which 108 are directly elected by vote - 15 of these seats are reserved for women! Gee 10%, how thoughtful! I wonder if they realize women are 50% of the population? According to my co-worker, in the past there was actually more women but because "they talk too much" - the public decided not to vote as many in this time around. But hey, I can't say much coming from the United States of America -- it isn't much better there. Lastly, there is the highest court (aka the Supreme Court) which consists of 7 judges under the Judicial branch. The chief justice is appointed by the King and the other judges are nominated by the Higher Judicial Council and approved by the King.

So from the looks of this research...the King has his hands in everything. Their national anthem is even called "As-salam al-malaki al-urdoni" which translates to "Long Live the King of Jordan", not too dissimilar to Britain's "God Save the Queen".

This is last years Christmas card from the Royal family.
The young man in the back left will be the next King.

After the 2010 elections, democracy was said to "still be far off". There was only 53% voter turn out in this election which is just enough to make it credible. Many called for a boycott of the 2013 Parliamentary elections to show that the citizens demand democracy. This article is written by a Jordanian political activists goes into detail on why he states that "Jordan's constitution is weighted in favor of King Abdullah's regime." Despite all of this, USAID and others believe that Jordan is slowly transitioning from a monarchy to democracy, due to both internal and external pressure.

According to Transparency International, Jordan is ranked 55/175 (175 is total number of countries) and scored a 49/100 (0=extremely corrupt/100=clean). TI uses their own index drawing on corruption-related data from expert and business surveys carried out by a variety of independent and reputable institutions to determine their ratings.

Since arriving here I haven't experienced all that much "corruption" as opposed to when I was in Cameroon. However, I am learning more about this thing they call wasta which many insists is not corruption... I'm skeptical. Once I learn more, I will write about this "wasta" thing which from what I can gather, is giving people money who do you favors who may later give you money when you do them a favor. It's more complicated than that, but I'm not totally aware of it yet.

 

Economy

According to the World Bank (of whom I'm not a fan but will resort to their data as I am far to lazy to collect and analyze my own), Jordan is classified as an "upper middle income" country with a total GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of $5,422 per capita. To put this in perspective - the US is almost $55,000 per capita while Senegal is only $1,061 per capita. GDP per capita, in simple terms, is pretty much what the average amount of money a person makes in the country. Economists take the total income of a country (plain old GDP) and divide by the number of inhabitants. You can see how this number is totally off. How many people do you know who work in the US and don't make $55,000 and make way more?

Although Jordan's economy is among the smallest in the Middle East it is rated as one of the top 10 most competitive economies in MENA (Middle East and North Africa). But sadly, Jordan doesn't really have any natural resources of their own and their government relies heavily on foreign assistance.

66.4% of their GDP comes from services, 29.8% from industry and a small 3.8% from agriculture. Their agricultural products include citrus, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, strawberries, stone fruits (like peaches or plums) and a few others. Their industries include tourism, information technology, clothing, fertilizers, phosphate mining, pharmaceuticals, petroleum refining, cement, inorganic chemicals and more.

According to the Jordan Economic Monitor (part of the World Bank), Jordan's economy is continuing to recover from the Arab Spring spillovers which include Egypt's gas disruptions, the neighboring Syrian and Iraqi conflicts and associated security incidents. Only 15% of their population falls below the poverty line and life expectancy is 74 years.

Looking past monetary figures (because we know this only paints parts of the picture), many professionals also use the Human Development Index (HDI). More recently experts have developed the Inequality-Adjusted Human Development Index, the Gender Development Index (GDI), the Gender Inequality Index (GII), and the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) which use a variety of means to attempt to determine what their title says. See the photos below for details on how they come up with these rankings and where Jordan ranks.

(Zoom in to read)

Culture

In terms of "ethnic groups", one may say Jordan is quite monolithic with 98% (this is debated - I've seen 97% too) being Arab and only 2% being Circassian, Assyrian, Chechen, Mandaean, Turkemen and Armenian. Approximately 97% are Muslim (predominantly Sunni) and just over 2% are Christian. There are also reports of Buddhists, Hindus, Jews and others but a very small almost unquantifiable amount.

Don't forget this info graphic.
It puts things into perspective.

Looking the majority "Arab" population doesn't quite do justice for the small but various number of Bedouin tribes in the country. The name "bedouin" comes form the Arabic word badawi - which means "desert dweller". Traditionally, they live in tents and move from place to place in the desert, looking for food and water for their herds of camels, sheep and goats. Bedouins mainly live in the Arabian and Syrian deserts, the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt and the Sahara Desert. Total, they are about 4 million and share their lands with other cultural and religious groups. Like many others in Jordan, the majority speaks Arabic and practices Islam.

Map of where Bedouins are found

One thing I found particularly interesting is the 'classification' of Bedouins which depends on what animal species are the basis of their livelihood. First and most prestigious are the camel nomads, then come the sheep and goat nomads. Although many have 'transitioned' into a more modern style of life, many have remained nomadic but one thing that transcends lifestyle choices is their pride in their culture. Bedouins have their own music, dance, chanted poetry, and more.

Bedouin tribes and locations in Jordan

Military

The Jordanian Armed Forces, abbreviated as JAF, has an air-force, an army and a navy and/or coast guard (I found contradicting info) They are all under the control of the Commander-in-Chief who is none other than, the King himself. The main objectives are to: 1. Protect the Kingdom of Jordan borders from any invasion; 2. Protect the people inside the Kingdom and their rights; and 3. Protect the King of Jordan.

Jordan is the country with the 8th highest level of militarization according to the 2014 Global Military Index. Israel takes the cake on the most militarized country in the world, but to be fair, pretty much all countries Middle Eastern countries are highly militarized - with the exception of Qatar and Tunisia. This rating is created by looking at: Military expenditures as percentage of GDP; Military expenditures in relation to health spending; Military and paramilitary personnel in relation to population; Military reserves in relation to population; Military and paramilitary personnel in relation to physicians; and Heavy weapons in relation to population.

Recently, a Jordanian police captain killed five people (read the article) including two Americans. Also in October, Russia and Jordan decided to team up together to fight ISIS in the region. Another things - ISIS aka ISIL aka the Islamic State is called Da'esh here.

 

Geography

Nestled in the western middle of the Middle East (haha), Jordan borders Iraq, Israel, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Syria, and Saudi Arabia. It's about the size of Maine (tiny bit smaller) and is a landlocked country. Although Jordan is home to the Dead Sea, the Red Sea, the Jordan River (where Jesus was apparently baptized) and some springs, the country often suffers water shortages that have been worsening with the influx of refugees.

The Dead Sea is the lowest place on earth sitting below sea level, at 1,378 feet (420 meters)! The highest point Jabal Umm al Dami at 6082 feet (1854 meter) and right near the southern boarder of Saudi.

The country is comprised of 12 governorates (like regions): 'Ajlun, Al 'Aqabah, Al Balqa', Al Karak, Al Mafraq, Al'Asimah, At Tafilah, Az Zarqa', Irbid, Jarash, Ma'an, Madaba (FYI, "Al" is "The" in Arabic). Every governorate has a capital which has the same name as the govenorate - except for      Al Balqa whos capital is Salt. Ma'an, or so I'm told, is dangerous.

The 12 governorates of Jordan

The weather stays sunny here in Jordan, and according to this article, in one year Jordan sees over 310 days of sunshine! There are four seasons here but they are not extreme as they can get in some places, especially where I grew up in Wisconsin. In the winter months (December and January) temperatures can dip below freezing (and stay there for a little bit) and in the summer it gets quite hot, sometimes over 100F (38C) degrees, as it is a "desert". But the country is large and has a variety of elevations and climates so remember that this varies. For example in Amman right now (end of November) we are seeing a range of highs in the low to high 60s (once in a while dipping above 70 and below 60) while in the Dead Sea (only a couple hours away) its 70s and 80s most of the week.

Like almost ever corner of the world, desertification, drought and over-hunting have damaged the natural landscape. The Gulf of Aqaba has some of the best marine life in the Middle East and its coral reefs are "unmatched". 

 

Extra Information and Resources

This list is by no means exhausted.
It is my reference list for the information in this post (unless otherwise cited) and my reading list for continuing my learning on the region.

Colonial Effects: The Making of a National Identity in Jordan
History of Jordan
BBC Timeline
UNHCR
The World Factbook 
Building Democracy in Jordan: Women's Political Participation, Political Party Life and Democratic Elections