: phosphates, potash, shale oil

_#_Land use: arable land 4%; permanent crops 0.5%; meadows and
pastures 1%; forest and woodland 0.5%; other 94%; includes irrigated 0.5%

_#_Environment: lack of natural water resources; deforestation;
overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification

_*_People
_#_Population: 3,412,553 (July 1991), growth rate 4.2% (1991)

_#_Birth rate: 46 births/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Net migration rate: 1 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Infant mortality rate: 38 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

_#_Life expectancy at birth: 70 years male, 73 years female (1991)

_#_Total fertility rate: 7.1 children born/woman (1991)

_#_Nationality: noun--Jordanian(s); adjective--Jordanian

_#_Ethnic divisions: Arab 98%, Circassian 1%, Armenian 1%

_#_Religion: Sunni Muslim 92%, Christian 8%

_#_Language: Arabic (official); English widely understood among
upper and middle classes

_#_Literacy: 80% (male 89%, female 70%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)

_#_Labor force: 572,000 (1988); agriculture 20%, manufacturing and
mining 20% (1987 est.)

_#_Organized labor: about 10% of labor force

_#_Note: 1.5-1.7 million Palestinians live on the East Bank (55-60%
of the population), most are Jordanian citizens

_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

_#_Type: constitutional monarchy

_#_Capital: Amman

_#_Administrative divisions: 8 governorates (muhafazat,
singular--muhafazah); Al Balqa, Al Karak, Al Mafraq,
Amman, At Tafilah, Az Zarqa, Irbid, Maan

_#_Independence: 25 May 1946 (from League of Nations mandate under
British administration; formerly Trans-Jordan)

_#_Constitution: 8 January 1952

_#_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

_#_National holiday: Independence Day, 25 May (1946)

_#_Executive branch: monarch, prime minister, deputy prime minister,
Cabinet

_#_Legislative branch: bicameral National Assembly (Majlis al-Umma)
consists of an upper house or House of Notables (Majlis al-Aayan) and a
lower house or House of Deputies (Majlis al-Nuwaab); note--the
House of Deputies was dissolved by King Hussein on 30 July 1988 as
part of Jordanian disengagement from the West Bank and in November 1989
the first parliam