Jordan (country) (in Arabic, al-Mamlakah al-Urdunniyah al-Hashemiyah), officially Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, kingdom in the Middle East, bordered on the north by Syria, on the east by Iraq and Saudi Arabia, on the south by Saudi Arabia and the Gulf of Aqaba, and on the west by Israel and the West Bank. The area of Jordan is 89,556 sq km (34,578 sq mi) since an exchange of territory with Saudi Arabia in 1965. Amman is the capital and largest city of Jordan.


POPULATION

Jordan has a population of 5,611,202 (2004 estimate), yielding an average population density of 61 people per sq km (159 per sq mi). Average life expectancy at birth in 2004 was 76 years for men and 81 years for women, while the infant mortality rate was 18 per 1,000 live births; the annual average rate of population increase was 2.67 per cent

LANGUAGE

The official language is Standard Arabic, which is a second language taught in most schools (although some still use the vernacular) and used in official domains and as a lingua franca to communicate with other Arab states. The more popular Arabic language is South Levantine Spoken Arabic, which is a mother tongue for 3.5 million people. At least two other Arabic languages are used by minorities, and four other indigenous languages (Adyghe, Armenian, Chechen, and Domari) are also spoken.

RELIGION

Islam is the state religion. The great majority of the Jordanian people are Sunni Muslims. Shiite Muslims form a small minority. Christians, about one third of whom belong to the Greek Orthodox Church, make up about 8 per cent of the population. Arabic the official language.