Jordan is a safe country. You can expect a warm welcome from the local people in Jordan.
Did you know that Jordan is home to more than 100,000 archaeological, religious and tourist sights? Petra, Dead Sea, Wadi Rum and Jerash, only to name a few.
So you can imagine, when I visit our office in Amman, I benefit from a wonderful mix between business and leisure. Playing host and looking after guests is an essential part of Jordanian culture so my team/colleagues will go out of their way to make sure I enjoy the stay.
- Jordan is a young state that occupies an ancient land, one that bears the traces of many civilizations. Separated from ancient Palestine by the Jordan River, the region played a prominent role in biblical history.
- The capital and largest city in the country is Amman—named for the Ammonites, who made the city their capital in the 13th century BCE. Amman was later a great city of Middle Eastern antiquity
- Jordan’s climate varies from Mediterranean in the west to desert in the east and south, but the land is generally arid. The proximity of the Mediterranean Sea is the major influence on climates, although continental air masses and elevation also modify it
- The overwhelming majority of the people are Arabs, principally Jordanians and Palestinians; there is also a significant minority of Bedouin… Jordanians of Bedouin heritage remain committed to the Hashemite regime, which has ruled the country since 1923, despite having become a minority there
- Although Jordan’s economy is relatively small and faces numerous obstacles, it is comparatively well diversified. Trade and finance combined account for nearly one-third of Jordan’s gross domestic product (GDP); transportation and communication, public utilities, and construction represent one-fifth of total GDP, and mining and manufacturing constitute nearly that proportion. Remittances from Jordanians working abroad are a major source of foreign exchange.
- Despite efforts by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to boost the private sector—including agreements to write off the country’s external debt and loans from the World Bank designed to revitalize Jordan’s economy—it was only in 1999 that the government began introducing a number of economic reforms. These efforts included Jordan’s entry into the World Trade Organization (in 2000) and the partial privatization of some state-owned enterprises.
- Jordan’s primary exports are clothing, chemicals and chemical products, and potash and phosphates; the main imports are machinery and apparatus, crude petroleum, and food products. Major sources of imports are Saudi Arabia, the United States, China, and the European Union (EU). Major destinations for exports are the United States, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia
- In 2018, the GDP per capita in Jordan amounted to around 4,341.04 U.S. dollars
- In 2019, Jordan's real gross domestic product increased by around 1.96 percent compared to the previous year.
- In 2021, the average inflation rate in Jordan amounted to about 1.65 percent compared to the previous year.
- In 2020, the unemployment rate in Jordan was at approximately 18.5 percent.
- In 2020, Jordan's trade deficit amounted to around 9.07 billion U.S. dollars.
- In 2019, the national debt of Jordan amounted to around 34.77 billion U.S. dollars.
- In 2021, Jordan's budget deficit amounted to around 7.69 percent of GDP.
- In 2016, tourism Direct GDP as 6%
- In 2019, tourism Inboud Expenditure over GDP : 15.7% vs 14.7 in 2018
- Revenues in Tourism : In 1995, tourism revenues amounted to 973.00 million USD, or about 14.46 percent of the gross national product. This corresponded to about 3.28 million tourists at that time and roughly 297 USD per person. Within 25 years, the country's dependence on tourism has decreased substantially. In the last year of the survey, the revenue now amounts to 1.75 billion USD, accounting for 4.0 percent of the gross national product. Each visitor now spends an average of 1,407 USD for his holiday in Jordan.
- Numbers of tourists :
- 2018?????4.92 million tourists??????(%of GNP 14.5% )
- 2019?????5.36 million tourists??????(%of GNP15.2%)
- 2020?????1.24 million tourists??????(%of GNP 4%)
- Many men like to relax after work in coffee shops where they can smoke an argeeleh, or “hubble-bubble” pipe.
- In 1978 King Hussein married an American of Syrian heritage, Lisa Halaby. She took the name Noor al-Hussein (Light of Hussein) when she converted to Islam.
- An interesting Jordanian craft is the packing of colored sand into bottles. Each layer is carefully added to form geometric or floral designs. Tiny funnels and brushes are used to place the grains of sand precisely. When finished, the bottle is stopped with a cork
- The Dead Sea, on Jordan's western border, is the lowest point on earth at 400 meters below sea level, as well as being the saltiest body of water in the world. Tourists flock to the sea to float in the extremely buoyant water - it's impossible to sink due to the salt.
- Petra was the capital city of the Nabataeans, a tribe of pre-Roman Arabs who dominated the region around the Sixth century BC. Located at the crossroads of ancient trade routes, the city survived on toll and taxes collected from traders
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