Cultural Demography
The total population of Jordan is over six million. Most Jordanians are Arabs, except for a few small communities of Circassians, Armenians and Kurds who have adapted to Arab culture. The official language is Arabic, but English is used widely in commerce and government. About 70 percent of Jordan's population is urban; less than six percent of the rural population is nomadic or semi-nomadic. About 2.5 million Palestinian Arabs, including more than 950,000 registered refugees and displaced people, reside in Jordan (many as citizens).
Health and Welfare
In terms of health and welfare, Jordan's infant mortality rate is 15.57 deaths per 1,000 live births, according to recent estimates. Life expectancy at birth for the total population is 78.71 years -- 76.19 years of age for males, and 81.39 years of age for females. According to recent estimates, population growth was estimated at 2.56 percent , and the fertility rate at 2.71 children per woman.
The literacy rate for the total population is 89.9 percent, and is not gender balanced. While 95.1 percent of males are functionally literate, a significantly lower rate of 84.7 percent is attributable to females.
About 4.5 percent of GDP in this country is spent on health expenditures. Access to water and sanitation in this country is regarded to be good although there may be obstacles in rural areas.
Human Development
A notable measure of human development is the Human Development Index (HDI), which is formulated by the United Nations Development Program. The HDI is a composite of several indicators, which measure a country's achievements in three main arenas of human development: longevity, knowledge and education, as well as economic standard of living. In a ranking of 169 countries, the HDI places Jordan in the high human development category, at 82nd place.
Note: Although the concept of human development is complicated and cannot be properly captured by values and indices, the HDI, which is calculated and updated annually, offers a wide-ranging assessment of human development in certain countries, not based solely upon traditional economic and financial indicators.