Jordan
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[edit] Basic Information
Estimated population(2009):
- 6,342,948
- 00-14 31.3% Male Female 973,538
- 15-64 69.5% Male 2,183,638 Female 1,904,420
- 65+ 4.0% Male 128,759 Female 138,410
| Total population | Male and Female | 6,342,948 | 100.0% | |
| Male 00-14yrs | 1,014,183 | Female 00-14yrs | 973,538 | 31.3% |
| Male 15-64 | 2,183,638 | Female 15-64 | 1,904,420 | 69.5% |
| Male 65+ | 128,759 | Female 65+ | 138,410 | 4.0% |
The People in Jordan People in Jordan have a Jordanian Nationality. Jordan is predominanitely arab(98%), there is a very small group of Circassian and Armenian which is about 2% total.
Religion The major religion is Islam, Jordan is about 92% Sunni Muslims, there are other religious groups.Christian make up 6% of Jordan, the majority are Greek Orthodox, but some are Roman Catholics, Syrian Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox and Protestant. There is a very small group of Shia Muslims and Druze which are about 2% of the population.
Language Arabic is the first language. English is widely used and is the official second language. English is mostly spoken by upper and middle class people. French is also taught in some schools as a third language.
[edit] Economic Development (2008)
GDP (purchase Power $31.61 Billion GDP per capita (PPP) $5,100 Industries Jordan is an exports clothing, fertilizers, potash, phosphate mining and pharmaceuticals.Jordan also works on petroleum refining, cement, inorganic chemicals, light manufacturing,and is a great tourist attraction.Jordan relies on Saudi Arabia for the majority of their imports (20.3%). Jordan also im ports machinery, transport equipment, iron and cereals from China, Germany and the U.S. (2008)
Exchange Rates Jordanian Dinars (JOD) per U.S dollar 0.709 (2008) [1]
[edit] Health, and Education
Infant mortality rate:
total: 14.97 deaths/1,000 live births male: 17.91 deaths/1,000 live births female: 11.86 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 78.87 years
male: 76.34 years female: 81.56 years (2009 est.)
Total fertility rate:
2.39 children born/woman (2009 est.) [2]
[edit] Brief History and Geography
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is located in the Middle East. It is located in the northwest of Saudi Arabia. [3]
Jordan was a colony of the UK after the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire following WWI. in the 1920s Jordan was separated from Palestine, it gained it's independence in 1946 and became called the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in 1950. Jordan was governed by King Hussein (1953-1999).In 1967, the west bank was lost to Israel, (the west bank was part of Palestine). In 1988 King Hussein took back the West Bank. In 1989, he created parliamentary elections. Political parties have been created in 1992. After a couple of years in 1994, King Hussein signed a peace treaty with Israel with the help of the United States (Clinton). King Hussein died in 1999 and his son King Abdallah II,took over the monarchy. After the war on Iraq, Jordan took in thousands of Iraqi's who had no place to go but Jordan.The parliament now has more women than ever (20% of parliament are reserved to women). King Abdallah is now focusing on the socioeconomics of the country, improving education and developing a better healthcare system.
[edit] Jordan's Legal System
Jordan has a mixed legal system based on civil law, Sharia Law (Islamic Law)and Customary law. [5]
[edit] The Constitution
On April 1928, Jordan's Organic law was developed. 1929 Jordan had its first election. In 1946, Jordan got there independence from Brittain, they adopted a new constitution in 1947. In 1952 it was ratified by King Talal.
[edit] Administrative Divisions
12 governorates (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah); Ajlun, Al 'Aqabah, Al Balqa', Al Karak, Al Mafraq, 'Amman, At Tafilah, Az Zarqa', Irbid, Jarash, Ma'an, Madaba [6]
[edit] Executive Branch
Head of the State: King Abdallah II The king must be sane, male Muslim, the son of Muslim parents, and born of a lawful wife.The king has the most powerful position in the government he: 1-appoints the prime minister, the president and members of the senate, judges and other senior government and military functionaries. 2-He commands the armed forces, approves and promulgates laws, declares war, concludes peace, and signs treaties (which in theory must be approved by the National Assembly). 3-The king convenes, opens, adjourns, suspends, or dissolves the legislature; he also orders, and may postpone, the holding of elections. 4-He has veto power that can be overridden only by a two-thirds vote of each house. [7] head of government: Prime Minister Nader al-DAHABI cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister in consultation with the monarch
[edit] Elections
The Monarch is not elected, Royal succession by male descent in the Hashimite dynasty. The oldest son gets to hold the throne after the death of his father. If the king dies without ever having a son his oldest brother has seniority. followed by the eldest son of the other brother according to their, again according to the oldest. If their is no suitable direct heir, then the National Assembly select a successor from the descendants of the founder, King Hussein Bin Ali. There are no elections held for the Prime Minister, he is appointed by the monarch. [8] In the late 1970's the Executive branch suspended parliament. The Executive took over the powers of the legislative branch. This lasted until 1984, this was called the ninth house of representatives. They ruled up until 1989. There were no party affiliations at this time.
[edit] Legislative Branch
Jordan has a Bicameral Legislature called the National Assembly (Majlis Al-Umma), it is composed of the House of Representatives (Majlis Al-Nuwwab)and the Senate (Majlis Al-Ayan. The king appoints the senate members, consisting of fifty-five members for a four year term. The House of Representatives had 80 seats prior to 2001, now it consists of 110 members, 6 seats reserved for women, 9 for Christians, 3 for Circassions and 9 for Jordanian Bedouins. All candidates have to be 30 years of age or older. Elections are not mandatory and any Jordanian citizen 18 years or older can vote. Voters out come in the 2003 election was 58%. [9]
[edit] Political Parties
[edit] Courts
Jordan has three court systems, Civil courts, Military courts, and religious courts. Civil courts contain the magistrate's courts,courts of first instance, major felonies courts, courts of appeal and the court of Cassation (Supreme Court). The Magistrate's courts deal with criminal cases. They also deal with civil suits that are not exceeding JD750, they usually have one judge. In Amman, the Capital there are 14 magistrates in other cities 2-3 magistrates each. The courts of first instance hear cases that fall outside the Magistrate's courts jurisdiction. They also hear all criminal appeal cases that have a prison sentence of 2-3 weeks as well as any civil suits that are exceeding JD750. The major felonies court hears cases that have a prison sentence over than three years. This court hears cases that deal with murder, manslaughter, rape and sexual assaults, there is only one court and is located in the major city Amman. Three judges preside appeals are made to the Court of Cassation. Courts of Appeal hear all the cases brought by the magistrate's courts and the courts of first instance, three judges preside over these courts. the court of Cassation has fifteen judges but normally five judges hear the cases. They deal with jurisdiction issues, it also hears cases that deal with habeas corpus petitions. Military Courts deal with any crimes that affect the national security of the country. The cases that are heard include drugs or weapon smuggling, Espionage and military personnel. Religious courts have jurisdiction over all family matters, marriage, divorce, adoption and custody. Jordan does not allow civil marriages, therefore they are not performed in civil courts. There are religious courts for Muslims based on Sharia'a Law (Islamic Law) and there are courts based on Christianity. There are several other courts Juvenile courts, police court, land settlement courts, income tax court, customs court and tribal courts. [10]
[edit] Punishment
Jordan is one of many countries that use the death penalty for crimes such as murder or Espionage. Life prison sentences were imposed for felonies that are intended on negatively affecting the national security. Homicide that results from beating or hitting someone and serious forms of theft. Shorter imprisonment was prescribed for these same offenses if mitigating circumstances warranted. Terrorist activity and membership in terrorist organizations, counterfeiting, forgery of official documents, and abduction are also punishable by prison. [11]
Misdemeanors include,gambling in public places, bribery, perjury, simple forgery, slander, embezzlement, assault and battery, and disturbing the peace. There are some crimes that are made criminal because they violate Sharia, desertion of a child, abortion, marrying a girl under the age of sixteen, openly ridiculing the Prophet Muhammad, and breaking the fast of Ramadan. [12]
Jordan has three prisons, two of which have been shut down, the main prison in Juwaidah holds about 5,448 prisoners as of 2002. [13]
[edit] Law Enforcement
Police in Jordan are run by the army. The head of the police is the army general.[14]
[edit] Crime Rates and Public Opinion
Crime rates are very low in Jordan in comparison to other countries. In the table provided, there is a comparison between Jordan, U.S.A and Sweden. As seen in the table, Jordan has a substantially lower crime rate than both the U.S and Sweden. Some crimes maybe under reported, but this is a substantial difference.
| Category | U.S.A | Sweden | Jordan |
| Total Offenses | 537.4 | 12,620.3 | 897.5 |
| Murder | 8.9 | 9.5 | 6.9 |
| Rape | 39.2 | 20.6 | 0.9 |
| Theft (all kinds) | 489.1 | 7410 | 160.4 |
| Violent Theft | 237.71 | 60.5 | 1.1 |
| Auto Theft | 591.2 | 616.1 | 15.7 |
| Drug Offenses | No Data | 358.48 | 6.7 |
| Source: International Crime Statistics.
International Criminal Police Association (INTERPOL), Lyon, France, 1994. |
[edit] Rights
[edit] Family Law
Legal marital age is fifteen, males marital age is sixteen. Anyone under the age of 18 must get parental permission for marriage. Polygamy is allowed in Jordan, but there are some restrictions. The man must provide separate houses for each wife. He must treat all the wives equally, no more than four wives and must declare his marital status.Judicial divorce is allowed from either side, man or woman. A woman gets child custody until puberty.[16] Inheritance based on Sharia'a Law, Males get twice as much as the females. (males are the care takers therefore they get more). The male is the head of the household. Women have rights in Jordan just like any other man legally, they have the right to vote. also Jordan is the first country in the middle east to allow women in the police force and in the army.
[edit] Social Inequality
[edit] Human Rights
What are the fundamental rights protected by this legal system? What does this legal system say about equality? Are any classes or categories of people specifically protected or specifically discriminated against? December 4:
Jordan is part of many human rights programs including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.[17] but Jordan does not follow any of them. Freedom of Speech, association and Expression is also limited in Jordan, especially political speech. People can suffer a lot if they make any kind of critic towards the monarchy or public political figures.
In practice Jordan has specific discrimination, Jordanians are treating differently than non-Jordanians. Jordanians get specific treatments, for example, Jordanian high school graduates go to public universities even if they score really bad on their final exams whereas others have to do real well to be able to go to public colleges. This may not be in the Laws but it is done in practice.
There are obvious class struggles in Jordan, poor, middle and upper class. There is a huge gap, the middle class is really small. the majority of the country is the lower class who live in really bad poverty. This is very clear from the way of life in Jordan.
when it comes to discrimination, there is a great deal of discrimination from the Jordanian descendants and the palestinian descendants, even though they all carry the Jordanian citizenship they are not all treated equally.
[edit] Works Cited
- ↑ Central Intelligence Agency. 2009. The World Fatbook, "Country Comparison: Population." Website accessed 09/24/2009, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/jo.html
- ↑ Central Intelligence Agency. 2009. The World Fatbook, "Country Comparison: Population." Website accessed 09/24/2009,https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/jo.html
- ↑ The CIA world Factbook. Jordan. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/jo.html
- ↑ Central Intelligence Agency. 2009. The World Fatbook, "Country Comparison: Population." Website accessed 09/24/2009, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/jo.html
- ↑ http://www.juriglobe.ca/eng/sys-juri/class-poli/droit-musulman.php
- ↑ The CIA World Factbook.https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world factbook/geos/jo.html
- ↑ 10/16/2009.http://countrystudies.us/jordan/54.htm
- ↑ Country Studies.Jordan-The Government.10/16/2009.http://countrystudies.us/jordan/54.htm
- ↑ www.Mena-Electionguide.org
- ↑ Empassy of the United States.Jordanian Legal System.11/6/2009.http://jordan.usembassy.gov/acs_jordanian_legal_system.html
- ↑ http://www.photius.com/countries/jordan/national_security/jordan_national_security_criminal_code.html
- ↑ http://www.photius.com/countries/jordan/national_security/jordan_national_security_criminal_code.html
- ↑ A global encyclopedia. Prisons and Prison Systems. 11/5/2009.://books.google.com/books?id=RTH31DgbTzgC&pg=PA149&lpg=PA149&dq=prison+rates+in+amman&source=bl&ots=1bsdDbUobj&sig=u3Mop5MzPGMdXV9KeCMF4_lSrZw&hl=en&ei=LDv0SoumPJXCNaP7jekF&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CB
- ↑ Nations Encyclopedia.Jordan.11/5/2009.://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-7486.html
- ↑ The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The Judicial Branch. 11/5/2009.http://www.kinghussein.gov.jo/government4.html
- ↑ http://www.law.emory.edu/ifl/legal/jordan.htm
- ↑ http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/middle_east/jordan/hrd_jordan.htm
