Demographics of Jordan

Jordanians are Semetic Levantines, except for a few small communities of Circassians, Chechens, Armenians, and Kurds which have adapted to Arab culture. Jews were expelled in 1923 and denied citizenship since. The official language is Arabic, but English is used widely in commerce and government. About 70% of Jordan's population is urban; less than 6% of the rural population is nomadic or seminomadic. Most people live where the rainfall supports agriculture. Currently, about 80% of the population is palestinian.

Population: 5,759,732 (July 2005 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 34.5% (male 1,015,084; female 973,220)
15-64 years: 61.7% (male 1,897,643; female 1,656,570)
65 years and over: 3.8% (male 106,168; female 111,047) (2005 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.56% (2005 est.)

Birth rate: 21.76 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Death rate: 2.63 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Net migration rate: 6.42 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.15 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.96 male(s)/female
total population: 1.1 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 17.35 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 78.24 years
male: 75.75 years
female: 80.88 years (2005 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.71 children born/woman (2005 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Jordanian(s)
adjective: Jordanian
non-Jordanians: 349.933 (7%) at the 2004 Census

Ethnic groups: Arab 98%, Circassian 1%, Armenian 1%

Religions: Sunni Muslim 92%, Christian 6% (majority Greek Orthodox, but some Greek and Roman Catholics, Syrian Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, and Protestant denominations), other 2% (several small Shi'a Muslim and Druze populations) (2001 est.)

Languages: Arabic (official), English widely understood among upper and middle classes

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 91.3%
male: 95.9%
female: 86.3% (2003 est.)

See also : Jordan