Jordan Environment - 2022

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Environment - current issues

limited natural freshwater resources; declining water table; salinity; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; biodiversity and ecosystem damage/loss

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 32.09 micrograms per cubic meter (2016 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 25.11 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 6.04 megatons (2020 est.)

Climate

mostly arid desert; rainy season in west (November to April)

Land use

agricultural land: 11.4% (2018 est.)

arable land: 2% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 1% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 8.4% (2018 est.)

forest: 1.1% (2018 est.)

other: 87.5% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 92% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 0.98% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

total population growth rate v. urban population growth rate, 2000-2030

Revenue from forest resources

forest revenues: 0.02% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

coal revenues: 0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Major infectious diseases

note: widespread ongoing transmission of a respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is occurring throughout Jordan; as of 9 December 2022, Jordan has reported a total of 1,746,997 cases of COVID-19 or 17,122.16 cumulative cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 population with a total of 14,122 cumulative deaths or a rate of 138.4 cumulative deaths per 100,000 population

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 2,529,997 tons (2013 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually: 177,100 tons (2014 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 7% (2014 est.)

Major lakes (area sq km)

salt water lake(s): Dead Sea (shared with Israel and West Bank) - 1,020 sq km
note - endorheic hypersaline lake; 9.6 times saltier than the ocean; lake shore is 431 meters below sea level

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Indian Ocean drainage: (Persian Gulf) Tigris and Euphrates (918,044 sq km)

Major aquifers

Arabian Aquifer System

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 456.9 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

industrial: 32.5 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

agricultural: 554.7 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

Total renewable water resources

937 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Jordan on this page is re-published from the 2022 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Jordan 2022 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Jordan 2022 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.