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The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a
constitutional monarchy with representative
government. The reigning monarch, His
Majesty King Abdullah II, is the Head of
State, the Chief Executive and the
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed forces. The
king exercises his executive authority
through the Prime Minister and the Council
of Ministers, or Cabinet. The cabinet is
responsible before the elected House of
Deputies which, along with the House of
Notables (Senate), constitutes the
legislative branch of the government. The
judicial branch is an independent branch of
the government. Since 1989, all elements of
the Jordanian political spectrum have
embarked together on a road to greater
democracy, liberalization and consensus
building. These reforms, which were guided
by the late King Hussein, have placed Jordan
on an irreversible road to democratization.
The result has been greater empowerment and
involvement of everyday citizens in Jordan's
civic life, contributing to increased
stability and institutionalization which
will benefit the country far into the
future.
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Basic Facts
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Population: 6,053,193 (July
2007 est.)
Geographic co-ordinates: 29 -
34 00 N, 35 - 39 E
Location: Jordan is located in
the heart of the Middle East, Northwest of Saudi
Arabia, south of Syria, Southwest of Iraq, and
east of Israel and the Occupied West Bank.
Jordan has access to the Red Sea via the port
city of Aqaba, located at the northern end of
the Gulf of Aqaba.
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Area |
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Total: 89,213 sq. km (34, 445
sq. miles)
Land: 88,884 sq. km (34, 318
sq. miles)
Water: 329 sq. km (127 sq.
miles)
Language: Arabic is the
official language, but English is widely spoken. |
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Geography and Climate
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Jordan has a combination of Mediterranean
and arid desert climates, with Mediterranean
climates prevailing in the north and west of
the country, while the majority of the
country is desert. Generally, the country
has warm, dry summers and mild, wet winters,
with annual average temperatures ranging
from 12 to 25 C (54 to 77 F) and summertime
highs reaching the 40s (105-115 F) in the
desert regions. Rainfall averages vary from
50mm (1.97 inches) annually in the desert to
as much as 800 mm (31.5 inches) in the
northern hills, some of which falls as snow.
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Language
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Arabic is the official
language, but English is widely spoken. |
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Currency and Exchange
Rates
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Jordan's currency is the Jordanian Dinar, or JD.
It is subdivided into 1000 fils, or 100 qirsh or
piasters. It appears in paper notes of 50, 20,
10, 5 and 1 JD denominations. Coins come in
denominations of 0.5 JD, 0.25 JD, and 100, 50,
25, 10 and 5 fils.
The rate of exchange is 1 JD = 1.4183 US $.
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Business Hours
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Fridays and Saturdays
government offices, banks and most offices are
closed. Government departments are open from
08:00 to 15:00 daily, Sunday to Thursday.
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Public Holidays |
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January 1: New Year
Shawal 1st: for Eid Al Fitr (4 days)
Thu'l-Hijjh - 10th: Eid Al Adha (5 days)
Muharram 1st: Hijra New Year
May 1: Labor Day
May 25: Independence Day
12 Rabi' 1: Prophet's Birthday
December 25: Christmas
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Time |
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Time is GMT (+ 2 in winter, + 3 in summer), or 7
hours ahead of US Eastern Standard Time. Summer
time is observed from April through September.”
[1]
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Jordan in a Nuclear Context
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According to
IEA electricity generation in 2005 was 9.654 GWh,
generated from gas and oil (roughly same
portion). The contemporary installed capacity is
about 2GWe. To meet the demand, electricity has
been imported from Egypt and Syria through
interconnection lines (8% of the total
consumption).
Jordan can be
considered as a country with relatively low
energy consumption (1598 kWh/capita compared to
an average 6 330 kWh/capita in Europe).
According to Jordanian Energy Plan it is assumed
to increase consumption by 2.5 times by 2030.
Jordan has almost no own natural reserves of
fossil fuels (3.5% of fuel is of domestic
production) and negligible use of renewable
(only solar and wind can be considered).
The Jordan
government is seriously considering using the
nuclear option in the country to produce
electrical energy and desalinized water in a
near future. A substantial demand (several
times) for electricity is expected and according
to the Jordanian authorities the water situation
in Jordan shows a permanent deficit with demand
exceeding resources by more than 30%.
One of the
pre conditions for the above program is to
develop the necessary infrastructure starting
from the legislative framework and the
enhancement of capability of the JNRC in order
to assure adequate control, from the point of
view of the nuclear and radiation safety of
related activities.
For this reason in 2007, the former JAEC (Jordan
Atomic Energy Commission), established in 2001
to carry out the duties related to Radiation
Protection and Nuclear Energy previously charged
to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources
(MEMR), was divided in two independent entities,
one still named JAEC and Jordan Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (JNRC) to separate
promotional (JAEC) and regulatory (JNRC)
functions of the state
In the last
two years, because of the rapidly increasing
cost of oil, and almost complete dependence on
foreign resources in a politically sensitive
area and availability of uranium ore, the
nuclear option is quite understandable option.
But on other side both technical and political
obstacles can be expected.
The Jordanian authorities consider also
the other options as follows:
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Natural
gas as a short term option,
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Renewable technologies are expected to
provide about 4 – 5% of consumption because
it cannot be used for any base load
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Oil
shale
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a medium term
option should be reserved for special uses.
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[1]
from the site of the Jordanian
Ministry of
Foreign Affairs.
[2]
fine-grained sedimentary rock rich in
hydrocarbons.
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